Error Message:
Msg 209, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Ambiguous column name ‘%.*ls’.
Severity level:
16.
Description:
This error message appears when SQL Server is not able to uniquely resolve the column name in the statement.
Consequences:
The SQL statement cannot be parsed and further execution is stopped.
Resolution:
Error of the Severity level 16 are generated by the user and can be fixed by the SQL Server user.
Versions:
All versions of SQL Server.
Example(s):
SELECT OrderID
FROM Northwind..Orders o
JOIN Northwind..[Order Details] od
ON o.OrderID = od.OrderID
SELECT o.OrderID
FROM Northwind..Orders o
JOIN Northwind..[Order Details] od
ON OrderID = od.OrderID
Remarks:
In the first example it is unclear from which table the OrderID column should be retrieved in the SELECT list as it happens to be in both tables. The second example illustrates that this error is not only raised in the SELECT list. The error applies to all parts of a query. In the second example the OrderID column in the JOIN clause cannot be resolved.