MySQL Workbench reports “is not valid at this position for this server version” error

Question

For the following SQL query:

SELECT COUNT (distinct first_name) from actor;

I receive the following error message:

\"SELECT         


        

Answer 1

I know this isn't the exact problem you stated, but this was the same error message I was getting. The message is so generic that it could be anything...

So, from one newbie to another:

For me, the error occurred when I nested one query within another. I had a ; at the end of the first query and forgot to take it out. That threw the error. Once I deleted the ; in the inner query and added one at the end of the new query the error resolved.

Error:

Select
From (....
    Select
    From
    Where
    Group by
    Order ;     <== offending ;
) as ...
Where
Group by
Order

No Error:

Select
From (....
    Select
    From
    Where
    Group by
    Order
) as ...
Where
Group by
Order ;   <== correct placement