SQLite alias (AS) not working in the same query - sql

Question

I'm stuck in an (apparently) extremely trivial task that I can't make work , and I really feel no chance than to ask for advice.
I used to deal with PHP/MySQL more than 10 years ago and I might be quite rusty now that I'm dealing with an SQLite DB using Qt5.
Basically I'm selecting some records while wanting to make some math operations on the fetched columns. I recall (and re-read some documentation and examples) that the keyword "AS" is going to conveniently rename (alias) a value.
So for example I have this query, where "X" is an integer number that I render into this big Qt string before executing it with a QSqlQuery. This query lets me select all the electronic components used in a Project and calculate how many of them to order (rounding to the nearest multiple of 5) and the total price per component.
SELECT Inventory.id, UsedItems.pid, UsedItems.RefDes, Inventory.name, Inventory.category,
Inventory.type, Inventory.package, Inventory.value, Inventory.manufacturer,
Inventory.price, UsedItems.qty_used as used_qty,
UsedItems.qty_used*X AS To_Order,
ROUND((UsedItems.qty_used*X/5)+0.5)*5*CAST((X > 0) AS INT) AS Nearest5,
Inventory.price*Nearest5 AS TotPrice
FROM Inventory
LEFT JOIN UsedItems ON Inventory.id=UsedItems.cid
WHERE UsedItems.pid='1'
ORDER BY RefDes, value ASC
So, for example, I aliased UsedItems.qty_used as used_qty. At first I tried to use it in the next field, multiplying it by X, writing "used_qty*X AS To_Order" ... Query failed. Well, no worries, I had just put the original tab.field name and it worked.
Going further, I have a complex calculation and I want to use its result on the next field, but the same issue popped out: if I alias "ROUND(...)" AS Nearest5, and then try to use this value by multiplying it in the next field, the query will fail.
Please note: the query WORKS, but ONLY if I don't use aliases in the following fields, namely if I don't use the alias Nearest5 in the TotPrice field. I just want to avoid re-writing the whole ROUND(...) thing for the TotPrice field.
What am I missing/doing wrong? Either SQLite does not support aliases on the same query or I am using a wrong syntax and I am just too stuck/confused to see the mistake (which I'm sure it has to be really stupid).

Answer 1

Column aliases defined in a SELECT cannot be used:
For other expressions in the same SELECT.
For filtering in the WHERE.
For conditions in the FROM clause.
Many databases also restrict their use in GROUP BY and HAVING.
All databases support them in ORDER BY.
This is how SQL works. The issue is two things:
The logic order of processing clauses in the query (i.e. how they are compiled). This affects the scoping of parameters.
The order of processing expressions in the SELECT. This is indeterminate. There is no requirement for the ordering of parameters.
For a simple example, what should x refer to in this example?
select x as a, y as x
from t
where x = 2;
By not allowing duplicates, SQL engines do not have to make a choice. The value is always t.x.

Answer 2

You can try with nested queries.
A SELECT query can be nested in another SELECT query within the FROM clause;
multiple queries can be nested, for example by following the following pattern:
SELECT *,[your last Expression] AS LastExp From (SELECT *,[your Middle Expression] AS MidExp FROM (SELECT *,[your first Expression] AS FirstExp FROM yourTables));
Obviously, respecting the order that the expressions of the innermost select query can be used by subsequent select queries:
the first expressions can be used by all other queries, but the other intermediate expressions can only be used by queries that are further upstream.
For your case, your query may be:
SELECT *, PRC*Nearest5 AS TotPrice FROM (SELECT *, ROUND((UsedItems.qty_used*X/5)+0.5)*5*CAST((X > 0) AS INT) AS Nearest5 FROM (SELECT Inventory.id, UsedItems.pid, UsedItems.RefDes, Inventory.name, Inventory.category, Inventory.type, Inventory.package, Inventory.value, Inventory.manufacturer, Inventory.price AS PRC, UsedItems.qty_used*X AS To_Order FROM Inventory LEFT JOIN UsedItems ON Inventory.id=UsedItems.cid WHERE UsedItems.pid='1' ORDER BY RefDes, value ASC))