asterisk (*) specifies all columns of the named tables in the FROM clause : Query Select « Query « SQL Server / T-SQL Tutorial

5>
6> CREATE TABLE employee(
7>    id          INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
8>    first_name  VARCHAR(10),
9>    last_name   VARCHAR(10),
10>    salary      DECIMAL(10,2),
11>    start_Date  DATETIME,
12>    region      VARCHAR(10),
13>    city        VARCHAR(20),
14>    managerid   INTEGER
15> );
16> GO
1> INSERT INTO employee VALUES (1, 'Jason' ,  'Martin', 5890,'2005-03-22','North','Vancouver',3);
2> GO

(1 rows affected)
1> INSERT INTO employee VALUES (2, 'Alison',  'Mathews',4789,'2003-07-21','South','Utown',4);
2> GO

(1 rows affected)
1> INSERT INTO employee VALUES (3, 'James' ,  'Smith',  6678,'2001-12-01','North','Paris',5);
2> GO

(1 rows affected)
1> INSERT INTO employee VALUES (4, 'Celia' ,  'Rice',   5567,'2006-03-03','South','London',6);
2> GO

(1 rows affected)
1> INSERT INTO employee VALUES (5, 'Robert',  'Black',  4467,'2004-07-02','East','Newton',7);
2> GO

(1 rows affected)
1> INSERT INTO employee VALUES (6, 'Linda' ,  'Green' , 6456,'2002-05-19','East','Calgary',8);
2> GO

(1 rows affected)
1> INSERT INTO employee VALUES (7, 'David' ,  'Larry',  5345,'2008-03-18','West','New York',9);
2> GO

(1 rows affected)
1> INSERT INTO employee VALUES (8, 'James' ,  'Cat',    4234,'2007-07-17','West','Regina',9);
2> GO

(1 rows affected)
1> INSERT INTO employee VALUES (9, 'Joan'  ,  'Act',    6123,'2001-04-16','North','Toronto',10);
2> GO

(1 rows affected)
1>
2> select * from employee;
3> GO
id          first_name last_name  salary       start_Date              region     city                 managerid
----------- ---------- ---------- ------------ ----------------------- ---------- -------------------- -----------
          1 Jason      Martin          5890.00 2005-03-22 00:00:00.000 North      Vancouver                      3
          2 Alison     Mathews         4789.00 2003-07-21 00:00:00.000 South      Utown                          4
          3 James      Smith           6678.00 2001-12-01 00:00:00.000 North      Paris                          5
          4 Celia      Rice            5567.00 2006-03-03 00:00:00.000 South      London                         6
          5 Robert     Black           4467.00 2004-07-02 00:00:00.000 East       Newton                         7
          6 Linda      Green           6456.00 2002-05-19 00:00:00.000 East       Calgary                        8
          7 David      Larry           5345.00 2008-03-18 00:00:00.000 West       New York                       9
          8 James      Cat             4234.00 2007-07-17 00:00:00.000 West       Regina                         9
          9 Joan       Act             6123.00 2001-04-16 00:00:00.000 North      Toronto                       10

(9 rows affected)
1>
2>
3>
4>
5> drop table employee;
6> GO
1>

1.1.Query Select
	1.1.1.	The basic syntax of the SELECT statement
	1.1.2.	The operators you can use in a search condition
	1.1.3.	Both uppercase and lowercase statements are acceptable, a query could be written as follows:
	1.1.4.	Operator Precedence
	1.1.5.	asterisk (*) specifies all columns of the named tables in the FROM clause
	1.1.6.	A SELECT statement that retrieves rows with non-zero values
	1.1.7.	A SELECT statement that retrieves two columns and a calculated value for a specific Billing
	1.1.8.	retrieve specific columns
	1.1.9.	A SELECT statement that retrieves three columns from each row, sorted in descending sequence by Billing total
	1.1.10.	A SELECT statement that returns an empty result set
	1.1.11.	SELECT 1.0 + 3.0 / 4.0 -- Returns 1.75
	1.1.12.	SELECT (1.0 + 3.0) / 4.0 -- Returns 1.00
	1.1.13.	The specification column_name [as] column_heading
	1.1.14.	Table alias
	1.1.15.	add a WHERE clause and group by
	1.1.16.	A SELECT statement that uses the CHAR function to format output
	1.1.17.	Use local variable in a select statement
	1.1.18.	Using SELECT to Create a Script