A derived table is a named virtual table containing data obtained through the evaluation of the select expression in the FROM clause. The derived table is named by specifying the correlation name. You must specify a correlation name for a derived table. This may determine which column names the user can specify in the select list or subsequent clauses. The select list and subsequent clauses can reference only the correlation name and the column names of the derived table and cannot reference the table or column names that defined the derived table. Following is an example of a derived table using the personnel database. This example finds all departments that have less than 3 rows in the JOB_HISTORY table. SQL> SELECT * cont> FROM (SELECT DEPARTMENT_CODE, COUNT(*) cont> FROM JOB_HISTORY cont> WHERE JOB_END IS NULL cont> GROUP BY DEPARTMENT_CODE) cont> AS DEPT_INFO (D_CODE, D_COUNT) cont> WHERE D_COUNT < 3; D_CODE D_COUNT ENG 2 MCBS 1 MSMG 1 MTEL 2 PERS 2 SUSA 2 6 rows selected