How to Enter SQL Statements

SQL is a free-form language, like C or PASCAL, that generally ignores whitespace characters like TAB, LINEFEED, and extra blank spaces between statements or statement elements. At least one blank character or other delimiter, however, must separate keywords and identifiers from other syntax tokens.

SQL is lettercase-insensitive, except within quoted strings; see also Identifier. In an ANSI-compliant database, if you do not delimit the owner of an object by single ( ' ) quotation marks, and the ANSIOWNER environment variable was not set to 1 when the database server was initialized, the database server stores the owner name in uppercase letters.

Statement descriptions are provided in this manual to help you to enter SQL statements successfully. A statement description includes this information:

• A brief introduction that explains what the statement does
• A syntax diagram that shows how to enter the statement correctly
• A syntax table that explains each input parameter in the syntax diagram
• Rules of usage, typically with examples that illustrate these rules

For some statements, this information is provided for individual clauses.

Most statement descriptions conclude with references to related information in this manual and in other manuals.

Chapter 2 provides descriptions of each SQL statement, arranged in alphabetical order. Chapter 3 describes each of the SPL statements, using the same format.

The major aids for entering SQL statements include:

• The combination of the syntax diagram and syntax table
• The examples of syntax that appear in the rules of usage
• The references to related information