<Newbie> Problem with Server-Name in Connect to Remote Server

Dear group,

kindly please answer me my newbie question :-)

I want to connect to a remote SQL-Server using sp_addlinkedservers and
"openquery". I tried and tried and I couldn't get it to work. Then i
found out, that it works with a different server which doesn't have
the '-' character within its servername.

So

sp_addlinkedserver 'ULI-SERVER'
select * from openquery(uli-server, 'select * from
northwind.dbo.sometable')

yields a syntax error ("Incorrect syntax near '-'")

sp_addlinkedserver 'someotherserver'
select * from openquery(someotherserver, 'select * from
northwind.dbo.sometable')

is working

Am I doing something wrong ? Is there a workaround ? Do I have to
rename servers which would be tedious for us.

Thanks for any hints

Greetings from Vienna

UliUli (uli2003wien@.lycos.at) writes:
> kindly please answer me my newbie question :-)
> I want to connect to a remote SQL-Server using sp_addlinkedservers and
> "openquery". I tried and tried and I couldn't get it to work. Then i
> found out, that it works with a different server which doesn't have
> the '-' character within its servername.
> So
> sp_addlinkedserver 'ULI-SERVER'
> select * from openquery(uli-server, 'select * from
> northwind.dbo.sometable')
> yields a syntax error ("Incorrect syntax near '-'")
> sp_addlinkedserver 'someotherserver'
> select * from openquery(someotherserver, 'select * from
> northwind.dbo.sometable')
> is working
>
> Am I doing something wrong ? Is there a workaround ? Do I have to
> rename servers which would be tedious for us.

- is not a legal character in identifiers. Whence the syntax error.

Fortunately, the rememdy is simple:

select * from openquery([uli-server],
'select * from northwind.dbo.sometable')

Whenever you have a name in SQL Server which does not adhere to the
grammar for identifiers, but the name in brackets. (Or in double quotes,
if you want stick to ANSI standards.)

--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esquel@.sommarskog.se

Books Online for SQL Server SP3 at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techin.../2000/books.asp