-- no modifiers A 2 B 3 C \N D 1 1 D 2 A 3 B \N C A 2 B 3 C \N D 1 1 D 2 A 3 B \N C -- with ASC/DESC modifiers A 2 B 3 C \N D 1 D 1 C \N B 3 A 2 A 2 B 3 C \N D 1 D 1 C \N B 3 A 2 -- with NULLS FIRST/LAST modifiers \N C 1 D 2 A 3 B 1 D 2 A 3 B \N C \N C 1 D 2 A 3 B 1 D 2 A 3 B \N C -- SELECT * A 2 B 3 C \N D 1 A 2 B 3 C \N D 1 -- the trouble starts when "order by all is all" is ambiguous -- columns B 3 10 D 1 20 A 2 30 C \N 40 B D A C B 3 10 D 1 20 A 2 30 C \N 40 B 3 10 D 1 20 A 2 30 C \N 40 B D A C B 3 10 D 1 20 A 2 30 C \N 40 -- column aliases D 1 A 2 B 3 C \N D 1 A 2 B 3 C \N -- expressions A 2 B 3 D 1 \N A 2 B 3 D 1 \N -- ORDER BY ALL loses its special meaning when used in conjunction with other columns B 3 10 D 1 20 A 2 30 C \N 40 B 3 10 D 1 20 A 2 30 C \N 40