Data-Object Aliases in SQL Server

Question

I'm looking to alias an object -- mainly tables -- in SQL Server. There is the concept of "Alias" in SQL Server, but this refers to at the Server/Instance level and I am looking to persistently alias db objects.

As an example:

SELECT * 
FROM [MyDB].[MySchema].[MySalesTables]

Instead being able to use:

SELECT * 
FROM sales

I know I can temporarily alias a table/field by doing:

SELECT * 
FROM [MyDB].[MySchema].[MySalesTables] AS sales

But I'm wondering if there is a management layer in SQL Server (or even SSMS) where I can just add aliases to my most common table names so that I can refer to them more easily.

David Browne - Microsoft · Accepted Answer · 2022-01-28 17:19:31Z

1

Yes. It's called a synonym. eg

CREATE SYNONYM MyEmployee   
FOR AdventureWorks2012.HumanResources.Employee;

answered Jan 28, 2022 at 17:19

David Browne - Microsoft

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2 Comments

David542 Over a year ago

perfect, yes that was what I was looking for -- thank you. Out of curiosity, what if I am user A with my database and that database has a synonym "Employee", and you are User B and you have another database that has a synonym "Employee" and you share your database with me. What happens if I type in "Employee" for a table name? Or are synonyms resolved at the database (or cluster?) level.

David Browne - Microsoft Over a year ago

A synonym is an object inside a particular database and schema. The same name resolution rules apply for a synonym as a table or a view.

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