At 12:53 AM 7/05/2004 +0000, you wrote:

> > About parens in the FROM clause, I'm not clear what you are talking
> > about. Could you give an example?
>
>Well here is an example... ala MS Access
>
>SELECT foobar
>FROM LamMaker INNER JOIN (LamColor INNER JOIN (LamOrder INNER JOIN
>OrderItem ON LamOrder.CustOrder = OrderItem.CustOrder) ON LamColor.ID
>= OrderItem.Color) ON LamMaker.ID = LamColor.LamMaker

Look, may I respectfully suggest that you put all vestigial associations of
"Access" with "SQL" behind you? "Access SQL" isn't SQL, it's an SQL-like
language layer over a very idosyncratic, proprietary, flat database format
and the Jet query engine that some trainee wrote to access it. The
statements constructed by the Access query builder rarely have exact
logical equivalents in standard SQL.

Standard SQL is (by nature) fairly neutral about rules based on principles
other than logic (although the hands of the Rich and Inflential can be
detected in some weird areas of the argument). Get hold of the Borland
Language Reference - it's mostly correct for Firebird. Stay clear of the
"LocalSQL" that Borland devised for Paradox back in the early 90's, for
Delphi. It's really limited and out of date.

Helen