[einhverfr]

In one of my other posts in the object-relational series I noted that select * has very different implications in an object-relational vs a strictly relational model. In a strictly relational model you want your SQL query to define your data structures on output. In an object-relational model often times you want your data structures to be formed properly so the db can do other object-relational stuff with them later. So there select * becomes very useful as a way of ensuring that the data structures on output can be simply re-used later.

Of course if you are doing pure physical storage queries, select * is probably not what you want but if you have a logical model built up, you may want to do select * from it in order to ensure that your output matches some specific set of rules.