SQL exclude a column using SELECT * [except columnA] FROM tableA?

Question

We all know that to select all columns from a table, we can use

SELECT * FROM tableA

Is there a way to exclude column(s) from a table witho

Answer 1

No.

Maintenance-light best practice is to specify only the required columns.

At least 2 reasons:

• This makes your contract between client and database stable. Same data, every time
• Performance, covering indexes

Edit (July 2011):

If you drag from Object Explorer the Columns node for a table, it puts a CSV list of columns in the Query Window for you which achieves one of your goals