ORDER BY with numeric column ref on SELECT * to fix #125 (#2189)

Co-authored-by: copilot-swe-agent[bot] <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: mathiasrw <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Mathias Wulff <[email protected]>

Author: Copilot

src/424select.js

@@ -357,7 +357,11 @@ yy.Select.prototype.compileSelect2 = function (query, params) {
 	if (this.orderColumns && this.orderColumns.length > 0) {
 		this.orderColumns.forEach(function (v, idx) {
 			var key = '$$$' + idx;
-			if (v instanceof yy.Column && query.xcolumns[v.columnid]) {
+			// Handle positional column reference (for SELECT * with ORDER BY numeric)
+			if (v._useColumnIndex !== undefined) {
+				// Use Object.keys to get column names and access by index
+				s += "var keys=Object.keys(r);r['" + key + "']=r[keys[" + v.columnIndex + ']];';
+			} else if (v instanceof yy.Column && query.xcolumns[v.columnid]) {
 				s += "r['" + key + "']=r['" + v.columnid + "'];";
 			} else if (v instanceof yy.ParamValue && query.xcolumns[params[v.param]]) {
 				s += "r['" + key + "']=r['" + params[v.param] + "'];";
@@ -528,7 +532,11 @@ yy.Select.prototype.compileSelectGroup2 = function (query) {
 			//			console.log(411,v);
 			var key = '$$$' + idx;
 			//			console.log(427,v,query.groupColumns,query.xgroupColumns);
-			if (v instanceof yy.Column && query.groupColumns[v.columnid]) {
+			// Handle positional column reference (for SELECT * with ORDER BY numeric)
+			if (v._useColumnIndex !== undefined) {
+				// Use Object.keys to get column names and access by index
+				s += "var keys=Object.keys(r);r['" + key + "']=r[keys[" + v.columnIndex + ']];';
+			} else if (v instanceof yy.Column && query.groupColumns[v.columnid]) {
 				s += "r['" + key + "']=r['" + v.columnid + "'];";
 			} else {
 				s += "r['" + key + "']=" + v.toJS('g', '') + ';';

src/426orderby.js

@@ -35,12 +35,36 @@ yy.Select.prototype.compileOrder = function (query, params) {
 			// console.log(ord.expression instanceof yy.Column);
 
 			if (ord.expression instanceof yy.NumValue) {
-				if (ord.expression.value > self.columns.length) {
+				// Validate that column number is at least 1
+				if (ord.expression.value < 1) {
 					throw new Error(
-						`You are trying to order by column number ${ord.expression.value} but you have only selected ${self.columns.length} columns.`
+						`Invalid column number ${ord.expression.value}. Column numbers must be at least 1.`
 					);
 				}
+
 				var v = self.columns[ord.expression.value - 1];
+				// Check if we're dealing with SELECT * case
+				var hasWildcard =
+					self.columns.length === 1 &&
+					self.columns[0] instanceof yy.Column &&
+					self.columns[0].columnid === '*';
+
+				if (hasWildcard) {
+					// With SELECT *, use positional ordering (resolved at runtime)
+					// Skip validation as we don't know the column count at compile time
+					v = {_useColumnIndex: true, columnIndex: ord.expression.value - 1};
+				} else {
+					// With explicit columns, validate the column number
+					if (ord.expression.value > self.columns.length) {
+						throw new Error(
+							`You are trying to order by column number ${ord.expression.value} but you have only selected ${self.columns.length} columns.`
+						);
+					}
+					// Also check if the resolved column is a wildcard (shouldn't happen but be safe)
+					if (v instanceof yy.Column && v.columnid === '*') {
+						v = {_useColumnIndex: true, columnIndex: ord.expression.value - 1};
+					}
+				}
 			} else {
 				var v = ord.expression;
 			}

test/test125B.js

@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+if (typeof exports === 'object') {
+	var assert = require('assert');
+	var alasql = require('..');
+}
+
+describe('Test 125B - ORDER BY with numeric column reference', function () {
+	it('1. ORDER BY 1 with simple SELECT', function (done) {
+		var data = [
+			{name: 'John', age: 30, city: 'New York'},
+			{name: 'Jane', age: 25, city: 'Boston'},
+			{name: 'Bob', age: 35, city: 'Chicago'},
+		];
+
+		var res = alasql('SELECT name, age, city FROM ? ORDER BY 1', [data]);
+		assert.deepEqual(res, [
+			{name: 'Bob', age: 35, city: 'Chicago'},
+			{name: 'Jane', age: 25, city: 'Boston'},
+			{name: 'John', age: 30, city: 'New York'},
+		]);
+		done();
+	});
+
+	it('2. ORDER BY 2 DESC with simple SELECT', function (done) {
+		var data = [
+			{name: 'John', age: 30, city: 'New York'},
+			{name: 'Jane', age: 25, city: 'Boston'},
+			{name: 'Bob', age: 35, city: 'Chicago'},
+		];
+
+		var res = alasql('SELECT name, age, city FROM ? ORDER BY 2 DESC', [data]);
+		assert.deepEqual(res, [
+			{name: 'Bob', age: 35, city: 'Chicago'},
+			{name: 'John', age: 30, city: 'New York'},
+			{name: 'Jane', age: 25, city: 'Boston'},
+		]);
+		done();
+	});
+
+	it('3. ORDER BY 1, 2 with multiple columns', function (done) {
+		var data = [
+			{name: 'John', age: 30, city: 'New York'},
+			{name: 'Jane', age: 25, city: 'Boston'},
+			{name: 'John', age: 25, city: 'Chicago'},
+		];
+
+		var res = alasql('SELECT name, age FROM ? ORDER BY 1, 2', [data]);
+		assert.deepEqual(res, [
+			{name: 'Jane', age: 25},
+			{name: 'John', age: 25},
+			{name: 'John', age: 30},
+		]);
+		done();
+	});
+
+	it('4. ORDER BY 1 with SELECT *', function (done) {
+		var data = [
+			{name: 'John', age: 30},
+			{name: 'Jane', age: 25},
+			{name: 'Bob', age: 35},
+		];
+
+		var res = alasql('SELECT * FROM ? ORDER BY 1', [data]);
+		assert.deepEqual(res, [
+			{name: 'Bob', age: 35},
+			{name: 'Jane', age: 25},
+			{name: 'John', age: 30},
+		]);
+		done();
+	});
+});