How to drop the column name which contain dot

Question

Using SQL server 2008

column name is : file.retry

I want to drop the column file.retry. while running the below query getting the exception

ALTER TABLE FILEQ DROP COLUMN file.retry

Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 2
Incorrect syntax near '.'.

How to solve this issue. Any one can help please

I found this, which seems like it answers your problem: http://dba.stackexchange.com/questions/1166/is-it-okay-to-put-dots-in-sql-server-database-names Try wrapping the table name in brackets [ ] — MartinMouritzen, Jul 23 '16 at 07:54
There's a basic recommendation to avoid any name which needs to be enclosed in brackets (or Standard SQL's double quotes). — dnoeth, Jul 23 '16 at 09:09
Possible duplicate of [How to deal with SQL column names that look like SQL keywords?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/285775/how-to-deal-with-sql-column-names-that-look-like-sql-keywords) — maraca, Jul 23 '16 at 09:59

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 23 '16 at 07:56

8

Surround file.retry in square brackets like so [file.retry] to avoid the interpreter trying to parse it as a table.column identifier.

ALTER TABLE FILEQ DROP COLUMN [file.retry]

answered Jul 23 '16 at 07:56

Jonathon Ogden

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 23 '16 at 07:57

2

Use square brackets around the column name

ALTER TABLE FILEQ DROP COLUMN [file.retry]

answered Jul 23 '16 at 07:57

ScaisEdge

2 Answers2