sql server select column by number

Question

Can I select specific columns by the number of the columns in SQL? Something like

SELECT columns(0), columns(3), columns(5), columns(8) FROM TABLE
         


        

Answer 1

SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
    WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'myTable' AND ORDINAL_POSITION = '3'

This statement returns the third column of your table

You would need to write a transact SQL statement like

DECLARE @columnname nvarchar(100), @sql nvarchar(500)

SELECT @columnname = ORDINAL_POSITION FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
            WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'myTable' AND ORDINAL_POSITION = '3'

SET @sql = 'SELECT ' + @columnname + ' FROM mytable'

EXEC @sql