How Can I Use Hyphens in My Database Table Field Names?

Working with Hyphens in Database Table Field Names: A Practical Guide

Database systems often restrict the use of hyphens (-) in table and field names, leading to errors when attempting to use such names directly. This is a common issue, as illustrated by the example of renaming a 'product' field to 'ds-product' resulting in an error.

The solution is to use delimited identifiers. These allow the inclusion of special characters like hyphens, spaces, and international characters, even reserved words, within your field names. The method involves enclosing the field name within backticks (`) in MySQL, or double quotes (" ") in standard SQL.

This technique enables the creation of field names such as 'ds-product', adhering to specific naming conventions. For MySQL users, activating the ANSI_QUOTES SQL mode offers an alternative; it permits the use of double quotes for field name delimiting.

In summary, using delimited identifiers (backticks or double quotes) or enabling ANSI_QUOTES provides a straightforward solution for incorporating hyphens and other special characters into your database field names, ensuring compatibility and flexibility in your database design.

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