table alias not usable

[dlgandalf]

Hi

I have got something in the likings of

select name from ([ long subquery]) AS subQTable where price = (
select max(price) from subQTable
)

why is this giving an error in mysql (newest stable 5.xx)
what's the use of giving the table an alias if i can't use it any where else

[mattyblah]

i believe aliasing only helps when you are trying to reference columns, not the table itself. so if I had the following:

select columns from reallylongnamedtable inner join reallylongnamedothertable on reallylongnamedtable.for_key = reallylongnamedothertable.prim_key

it would be easier to write:

select columns from reallylongnamedtable a inner join reallylongnamedothertable b on a.for_key = b.prim_key

hope that makes sense.

[dlgandalf]

but why MUST a alias be given when using a derived table? (the one in my topic start)
If I'd leave it out, mysql would give an error.

[mattyblah]

not only must an alias be used but you also need to qualify each column in the subquery i believe (no count(*) or other aggregates without providing a column name). I'm not sure why a subquery needs to be aliased...