SQL not recognizing column alias in where clause

Question

I am only a beginner in SQL, but I\'ve come across this annoying error. SQL is having an issue with the WHERE clause of this script:

SELECT
  ITEM_ID, ITEM_P         


        

Answer 1

An alias can be used in a query select list to give a column a different name. You can use the alias in GROUP BY, ORDER BY, or HAVING clauses to refer to the column.

Standard SQL disallows references to column aliases in a WHERE clause. This restriction is imposed because when the WHERE clause is evaluated, the column value may not yet have been determined.

So, the following query is illegal:

SQL> SELECT empno AS employee, deptno AS department, sal AS salary
  2  FROM emp
  3  WHERE employee = 7369;
WHERE employee = 7369
      *
ERROR at line 3:
ORA-00904: "EMPLOYEE": invalid identifier


SQL>

The column alias is allowed in:

• GROUP BY
• ORDER BY
• HAVING

You could refer to the column alias in WHERE clause in the following cases:

1. Sub-query
2. Common Table Expression(CTE)

For example,

SQL> SELECT * FROM
  2  (
  3  SELECT empno AS employee, deptno AS department, sal AS salary
  4  FROM emp
  5  )
  6  WHERE employee = 7369;

  EMPLOYEE DEPARTMENT     SALARY
---------- ---------- ----------
      7369         20        800

SQL> WITH DATA AS(
  2  SELECT empno AS employee, deptno AS department, sal AS salary
  3  FROM emp
  4  )
  5  SELECT * FROM DATA
  6  WHERE employee = 7369;

  EMPLOYEE DEPARTMENT     SALARY
---------- ---------- ----------
      7369         20        800

SQL>