From: Peter Dimov (pdimov_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-10-07 14:23:54
Nicola Musatti wrote:
> Peter Dimov wrote:
>> Nicola Musatti wrote:
>>
>>> On the other hand if I'm using a dynamic representation that only
>>> relies
>>> on a limited subset of the fields involved in the query I'd use '*'
>>> so as to limit the conditions that could break my code. In similar
>>> cases I wouldn't rely on field order but rather on matching by name.
>>
>> Why not simply select the limited subset on which you rely?
>
> You're right. Actually the only case where it's meaningful to use
> 'select *' is when you don't know which columns you're looking for or
> you don't care. That is, you're either exploring the data or writing a
> context independent tool.
Even so, it is better to extract the schema first, to guard against
selecting large BLOBs.