spaces in MySQL functions

[hoonew]

Did you know...

Using SUM as an example, seems true with all functions:
SUM (...) doesn't work, but SUM(...) does (note the space between the
function and the argument list)? I just spent painful minutes banging
my head over this one.

Is this strange, or am I just the last one to know about it?

FWIW, I'm running 4.1.9-nt

[Thomas Bartkus]

"hoonew" <ho****@ino.now> wrote in message
news:VhWAe.103450$gc6.72029@okepread04...

Did you know...

Using SUM as an example, seems true with all functions:
SUM (...) doesn't work, but SUM(...) does (note the space between the
function and the argument list)? I just spent painful minutes banging
my head over this one.

Is this strange, or am I just the last one to know about it?

FWIW, I'm running 4.1.9-nt

I don't think it's strange.

In fact, it surprised me that any common language *permits* a space between
a function and it's argument list. I just never see it done that way and
MySQL obviously doesn't like it. Surprisingly, my C compiler and Python
interperter permit it! But I had to try it because, never having put that
kind of space in my code, I never noticed.

However, now that I know -

I think I'll continue to fall back on the fact that -
the *absence* of whitespace between a function and it's arguments seems to
make everything happy :-)
Thomas Bartkus