Group by not working for me

Question

say I had a list of part numbers:
0104589
0119493
0119787
0134490
0245849
0204056
0287694
0294886
0308956
0388690
0406990
0588006
0590880
but I just wanted a list of the first two numbers
using the query:
<cfquery name="qrySeriesList" datasource="erpdb01">
SELECT Left(t_item,2)
FROM
dbo.ttiitm001#companyNumberSet01Array[loopCompanyNumberSet01Array]#
ORDER BY t_item
/cfquery>
I would get
01
01
01
01
02
02
02
02
03
03
04
05
05
but I don't want any duplicates - thus I only want
01
02
03
04
05
So I tried query:
<cfquery name="qrySeriesList" datasource="erpdb01">
SELECT Left(t_item,2) AS series
FROM
dbo.ttiitm001#companyNumberSet01Array[loopCompanyNumberSet01Array]#
GROUP BY series
ORDER BY series
</cfquery>
but I get - invalid colun name "series"
what to do?

Answer 1

> <cfquery name="qrySeriesList"
datasource="erpdb01">
> SELECT Left(t_item,2)
> FROM
dbo.ttiitm001#companyNumberSet01Array[loopCompanyNumberSet01Array]#
> GROUP BY Left(t_item,2)
> ORDER BY Left(t_item,2)
> </cfquery>
Of the two suggestions Phil offered, that is the poor cousin,
in my view.
You don't actually *want* a grouped result, you want to know
the distinct
[first two chars].
Whilst both might work, your option doesn't accurately
self-document your
requirement. This will not matter today, tomorrow, or next
Monday.
But you or someone else will look @ that code in December and
go "WTF is
this all about?".
I recommend swapping your solution out for the "distinct"
variation.
Adam