diff --git a/src/client/src/tscSQLParser.c b/src/client/src/tscSQLParser.c
index 2699ad2eb67e83aec072395a13d78afda36e113b..64f88b373da256e0561dbe11cd5b3c05c4f15dd8 100644
--- a/src/client/src/tscSQLParser.c
+++ b/src/client/src/tscSQLParser.c
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ static int32_t validateColumnName(char* name);
 static int32_t setKillInfo(SSqlObj* pSql, struct SSqlInfo* pInfo, int32_t killType);
 static int32_t setCompactVnodeInfo(SSqlObj* pSql, struct SSqlInfo* pInfo);
 
-static bool validateOneTags(SSqlCmd* pCmd, TAOS_FIELD* pTagField);
+static int32_t validateOneTag(SSqlCmd* pCmd, TAOS_FIELD* pTagField);
 static bool hasTimestampForPointInterpQuery(SQueryInfo* pQueryInfo);
 static bool hasNormalColumnFilter(SQueryInfo* pQueryInfo);
 
@@ -307,31 +307,6 @@ static int32_t invalidOperationMsg(char* dstBuffer, const char* errMsg) {
   return tscInvalidOperationMsg(dstBuffer, errMsg, NULL);
 }
 
-int32_t tscErrorMsgWithCode(int32_t code, char* dstBuffer, const char* errMsg, const char* sql) {
-  const char* msgFormat1 = "%s:%s";
-  const char* msgFormat2 = "%s:\'%s\' (%s)";
-  const char* msgFormat3 = "%s:\'%s\'";
-
-  const int32_t BACKWARD_CHAR_STEP = 0;
-
-  if (sql == NULL) {
-    assert(errMsg != NULL);
-    sprintf(dstBuffer, msgFormat1, tstrerror(code), errMsg);
-    return code;
-  }
-
-  char buf[64] = {0};  // only extract part of sql string
-  strncpy(buf, (sql - BACKWARD_CHAR_STEP), tListLen(buf) - 1);
-
-  if (errMsg != NULL) {
-    sprintf(dstBuffer, msgFormat2, tstrerror(code), buf, errMsg);
-  } else {
-    sprintf(dstBuffer, msgFormat3, tstrerror(code), buf);  // no additional information for invalid sql error
-  }
-
-  return code;
-}
-
 static int convertTimestampStrToInt64(tVariant *pVar, int32_t precision) {
   int64_t     time = 0;
   strdequote(pVar->pz);
@@ -1418,6 +1393,7 @@ static bool validateTableColumnInfo(SArray* pFieldList, SSqlCmd* pCmd) {
   const char* msg = "illegal number of columns";
   const char* msg1 = "first column must be timestamp";
   const char* msg2 = "row length exceeds max length";
+  const char* msg3 = "duplicated column names";
   const char* msg4 = "invalid data type";
   const char* msg5 = "invalid binary/nchar column length";
   const char* msg6 = "invalid column name";
@@ -1466,7 +1442,7 @@ static bool validateTableColumnInfo(SArray* pFieldList, SSqlCmd* pCmd) {
 
     // field name must be unique
     if (has(pFieldList, i + 1, pField->name) == true) {
-      tscErrorMsgWithCode(TSDB_CODE_TSC_DUP_COL_NAMES, tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), pField->name, NULL);
+      invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg3);
       return false;
     }
 
@@ -1488,6 +1464,8 @@ static bool validateTagParams(SArray* pTagsList, SArray* pFieldList, SSqlCmd* pC
 
   const char* msg1 = "invalid number of tag columns";
   const char* msg2 = "tag length too long";
+  const char* msg3 = "duplicated column names";
+  //const char* msg4 = "timestamp not allowed in tags";
   const char* msg5 = "invalid data type in tags";
   const char* msg6 = "invalid tag name";
   const char* msg7 = "invalid binary/nchar tag length";
@@ -1518,7 +1496,7 @@ static bool validateTagParams(SArray* pTagsList, SArray* pFieldList, SSqlCmd* pC
     }
 
     if (has(pTagsList, i + 1, p->name) == true) {
-      tscErrorMsgWithCode(TSDB_CODE_TSC_DUP_COL_NAMES, tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), p->name, NULL);
+      invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg3);
       return false;
     }
   }
@@ -1545,7 +1523,7 @@ static bool validateTagParams(SArray* pTagsList, SArray* pFieldList, SSqlCmd* pC
     TAOS_FIELD* p = taosArrayGet(pTagsList, i);
 
     if (has(pFieldList, 0, p->name) == true) {
-      tscErrorMsgWithCode(TSDB_CODE_TSC_DUP_COL_NAMES, tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), p->name, NULL);
+      invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg3);
       return false;
     }
   }
@@ -1556,7 +1534,7 @@ static bool validateTagParams(SArray* pTagsList, SArray* pFieldList, SSqlCmd* pC
 /*
  * tags name /column name is truncated in sql.y
  */
-bool validateOneTags(SSqlCmd* pCmd, TAOS_FIELD* pTagField) {
+int32_t validateOneTag(SSqlCmd* pCmd, TAOS_FIELD* pTagField) {
   const char* msg3 = "tag length too long";
   const char* msg4 = "invalid tag name";
   const char* msg5 = "invalid binary/nchar tag length";
@@ -1571,8 +1549,7 @@ bool validateOneTags(SSqlCmd* pCmd, TAOS_FIELD* pTagField) {
 
   // no more max columns
   if (numOfTags + numOfCols >= TSDB_MAX_COLUMNS) {
-    invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg7);
-    return false;
+    return invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg7);
   }
 
   // no more than 6 tags
@@ -1580,8 +1557,7 @@ bool validateOneTags(SSqlCmd* pCmd, TAOS_FIELD* pTagField) {
     char msg[128] = {0};
     sprintf(msg, "tags no more than %d", TSDB_MAX_TAGS);
 
-    invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg);
-    return false;
+    return invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg);
   }
 
   // no timestamp allowable
@@ -1591,8 +1567,7 @@ bool validateOneTags(SSqlCmd* pCmd, TAOS_FIELD* pTagField) {
   //}
 
   if ((pTagField->type < TSDB_DATA_TYPE_BOOL) || (pTagField->type > TSDB_DATA_TYPE_UBIGINT)) {
-    invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg6);
-    return false;
+    return invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg6);
   }
 
   SSchema* pTagSchema = tscGetTableTagSchema(pTableMetaInfo->pTableMeta);
@@ -1604,20 +1579,17 @@ bool validateOneTags(SSqlCmd* pCmd, TAOS_FIELD* pTagField) {
 
   // length less than TSDB_MAX_TASG_LEN
   if (nLen + pTagField->bytes > TSDB_MAX_TAGS_LEN) {
-    invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg3);
-    return false;
+    return invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg3);
   }
 
   // tags name can not be a keyword
   if (validateColumnName(pTagField->name) != TSDB_CODE_SUCCESS) {
-    invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg4);
-    return false;
+    return invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg4);
   }
 
   // binary(val), val can not be equalled to or less than 0
   if ((pTagField->type == TSDB_DATA_TYPE_BINARY || pTagField->type == TSDB_DATA_TYPE_NCHAR) && pTagField->bytes <= 0) {
-    invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg5);
-    return false;
+    return invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg5);
   }
 
   // field name must be unique
@@ -1625,15 +1597,14 @@ bool validateOneTags(SSqlCmd* pCmd, TAOS_FIELD* pTagField) {
 
   for (int32_t i = 0; i < numOfTags + numOfCols; ++i) {
     if (strncasecmp(pTagField->name, pSchema[i].name, sizeof(pTagField->name) - 1) == 0) {
-      tscErrorMsgWithCode(TSDB_CODE_TSC_DUP_COL_NAMES, tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), pTagField->name, NULL);
-      return false;
+      return tscErrorMsgWithCode(TSDB_CODE_TSC_DUP_COL_NAMES, tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), pTagField->name, NULL);
     }
   }
 
-  return true;
+  return TSDB_CODE_SUCCESS;
 }
 
-bool validateOneColumn(SSqlCmd* pCmd, TAOS_FIELD* pColField) {
+int32_t validateOneColumn(SSqlCmd* pCmd, TAOS_FIELD* pColField) {
   const char* msg1 = "too many columns";
   const char* msg3 = "column length too long";
   const char* msg4 = "invalid data type";
@@ -1649,18 +1620,15 @@ bool validateOneColumn(SSqlCmd* pCmd, TAOS_FIELD* pColField) {
   
   // no more max columns
   if (numOfCols >= TSDB_MAX_COLUMNS || numOfTags + numOfCols >= TSDB_MAX_COLUMNS) {
-    invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg1);
-    return false;
+    return invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg1);
   }
 
   if (pColField->type < TSDB_DATA_TYPE_BOOL || pColField->type > TSDB_DATA_TYPE_UBIGINT) {
-    invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg4);
-    return false;
+    return invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg4);
   }
 
   if (validateColumnName(pColField->name) != TSDB_CODE_SUCCESS) {
-    invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg5);
-    return false;
+    return invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg5);
   }
 
   SSchema* pSchema = tscGetTableSchema(pTableMeta);
@@ -1671,25 +1639,22 @@ bool validateOneColumn(SSqlCmd* pCmd, TAOS_FIELD* pColField) {
   }
 
   if (pColField->bytes <= 0) {
-    invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg6);
-    return false;
+    return invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg6);
   }
 
   // length less than TSDB_MAX_BYTES_PER_ROW
   if (nLen + pColField->bytes > TSDB_MAX_BYTES_PER_ROW) {
-    invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg3);
-    return false;
+    return invalidOperationMsg(tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), msg3);
   }
 
   // field name must be unique
   for (int32_t i = 0; i < numOfTags + numOfCols; ++i) {
     if (strncasecmp(pColField->name, pSchema[i].name, sizeof(pColField->name) - 1) == 0) {
-      tscErrorMsgWithCode(TSDB_CODE_TSC_DUP_COL_NAMES, tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), pColField->name, NULL);
-      return false;
+      return tscErrorMsgWithCode(TSDB_CODE_TSC_DUP_COL_NAMES, tscGetErrorMsgPayload(pCmd), pColField->name, NULL);
     }
   }
 
-  return true;
+  return TSDB_CODE_SUCCESS;
 }
 
 /* is contained in pFieldList or not */
@@ -6108,8 +6073,9 @@ int32_t setAlterTableInfo(SSqlObj* pSql, struct SSqlInfo* pInfo) {
     }
 
     TAOS_FIELD* p = taosArrayGet(pFieldList, 0);
-    if (!validateOneTags(pCmd, p)) {
-      return TSDB_CODE_TSC_INVALID_OPERATION;
+    int32_t ret = validateOneTag(pCmd, p);
+    if (ret != TSDB_CODE_SUCCESS) {
+      return ret;
     }
   
     tscFieldInfoAppend(&pQueryInfo->fieldsInfo, p);
@@ -6286,8 +6252,9 @@ int32_t setAlterTableInfo(SSqlObj* pSql, struct SSqlInfo* pInfo) {
     }
 
     TAOS_FIELD* p = taosArrayGet(pFieldList, 0);
-    if (!validateOneColumn(pCmd, p)) {
-      return TSDB_CODE_TSC_INVALID_OPERATION;
+    int32_t ret = validateOneColumn(pCmd, p);
+    if (ret != TSDB_CODE_SUCCESS) {
+      return ret;
     }
   
     tscFieldInfoAppend(&pQueryInfo->fieldsInfo, p);
@@ -8702,8 +8669,6 @@ static STableMeta* extractTempTableMetaFromSubquery(SQueryInfo* pUpstream) {
 
     n += 1;
   }
-  info->numOfColumns = n;
-  
 
   return meta;
 }
diff --git a/src/client/src/tscUtil.c b/src/client/src/tscUtil.c
index 591a6bba344eaffb93117668e7a3dcc91761abad..583f50aecd5fb7e1dba71b019631758373ed058f 100644
--- a/src/client/src/tscUtil.c
+++ b/src/client/src/tscUtil.c
@@ -4096,6 +4096,31 @@ int32_t tscInvalidOperationMsg(char* msg, const char* additionalInfo, const char
   return TSDB_CODE_TSC_INVALID_OPERATION;
 }
 
+int32_t tscErrorMsgWithCode(int32_t code, char* dstBuffer, const char* errMsg, const char* sql) {
+  const char* msgFormat1 = "%s:%s";
+  const char* msgFormat2 = "%s:\'%s\' (%s)";
+  const char* msgFormat3 = "%s:\'%s\'";
+
+  const int32_t BACKWARD_CHAR_STEP = 0;
+
+  if (sql == NULL) {
+    assert(errMsg != NULL);
+    sprintf(dstBuffer, msgFormat1, tstrerror(code), errMsg);
+    return code;
+  }
+
+  char buf[64] = {0};  // only extract part of sql string
+  strncpy(buf, (sql - BACKWARD_CHAR_STEP), tListLen(buf) - 1);
+
+  if (errMsg != NULL) {
+    sprintf(dstBuffer, msgFormat2, tstrerror(code), buf, errMsg);
+  } else {
+    sprintf(dstBuffer, msgFormat3, tstrerror(code), buf);  // no additional information for invalid sql error
+  }
+
+  return code;
+}
+
 bool tscHasReachLimitation(SQueryInfo* pQueryInfo, SSqlRes* pRes) {
   assert(pQueryInfo != NULL && pQueryInfo->clauseLimit != 0);
   return (pQueryInfo->clauseLimit > 0 && pRes->numOfClauseTotal >= pQueryInfo->clauseLimit);