'%.*ls' has more columns than were specified in the column list.

Error Message:
Msg 8158, Level 16, State 1, Line 2
'%.*ls' has more columns than were specified in the column list.

Severity level:
16.

Description:
This error message appears when you derive a table and specify less column aliases as columns are contained in the SELECT list.

Consequences:
The T-SQL statement can be parsed, but causes the error at runtime.

Resolution:
Errors of the Severity Level 16 are generated by the user and are corrigible by the user. The statement cannot be executed this way. You must specify (either explicitly or implicitly) a column name of each column of a derived table.

Versions:
All versions of SQL Server.

Example(s):
USE Northwind
SELECT *
  FROM
   (SELECT CustomerID, MAX(OrderDate)
      FROM dbo.Orders
     GROUP BY CustomerID) AS x(CustomerID)

Remarks:
In the above example we try to derive a table x in which we specify only one column alias CustomerID. Because x has more than one column, the error is raised.