mysql> select * from coordsys; +-------------+--------------------------------+ | ID_COORDSYS | COORDSYS_NAME | +-------------+--------------------------------+ | 1 | Solar Disc | | 2 | Heliographic | | 3 | Heliocentric Ecliptic | | 4 | Geocentric Inertial | | 5 | Geocentric Solar Magnetosferic | | 6 | Galactic | | 7 | SOHOcentric Ecliptic | | 10 | SDC | | 11 | Solar Disc Polar | | 12 | N/A | | 13 | Solar Cropped | +-------------+--------------------------------+ 11 rows in set (0.02 sec) mysql> select 'test' from coordsys; +------+ | test | +------+ | test | | test | | test | | test | | test | | test | | test | | test | | test | | test | | test | +------+ 11 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql> select * from coordsys; +-------------+--------------------------------+ | ID_COORDSYS | COORDSYS_NAME | +-------------+--------------------------------+ | 1 | Solar Disc | | 2 | Heliographic | | 3 | Heliocentric Ecliptic | | 4 | Geocentric Inertial | | 5 | Geocentric Solar Magnetosferic | | 6 | Galactic | | 7 | SOHOcentric Ecliptic | | 10 | SDC | | 11 | Solar Disc Polar | | 12 | N/A | | 13 | Solar Cropped | +-------------+--------------------------------+ 11 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql> select *,'test' from coordsys; +-------------+--------------------------------+------+ | ID_COORDSYS | COORDSYS_NAME | test | +-------------+--------------------------------+------+ | 1 | Solar Disc | test | | 2 | Heliographic | test | | 3 | Heliocentric Ecliptic | test | | 4 | Geocentric Inertial | test | | 5 | Geocentric Solar Magnetosferic | test | | 6 | Galactic | test | | 7 | SOHOcentric Ecliptic | test | | 10 | SDC | test | | 11 | Solar Disc Polar | test | | 12 | N/A | test | | 13 | Solar Cropped | test | +-------------+--------------------------------+------+ 11 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql> select 'test', * from coordsys; ERROR 1064 (00000): You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '* from coordsys' at line 1