Use of Segment Descriptions

The syntax diagram within each segment description is not a stand-alone diagram. Rather, it is a subdiagram of the syntax of the SQL statements (in SQL Statements) or of SPL statements (in SPL Statements) that can include the segment.

SQL or SPL syntax descriptions can refer to segment descriptions in two ways:

• A subdiagram reference in a syntax diagram can list a segment name and the page in this manual where the segment description begins.
• The Syntax column of the table that immediately follows a syntax diagram can list a segment name and the page where the segment description begins.

If the syntax diagram for a statement includes a reference to a segment, turn to that segment description to see the complete syntax for the segment.

For example, if you want to write a CREATE VIEW statement that includes a database and database server qualifiers of the view name, first look up the syntax diagram for the CREATE VIEW statement in Chapter 2. The table beneath that diagram refers to the Database Object Name segment for the syntax of view. Then use the Database Object Name segment syntax to enter a valid CREATE VIEW statement that also specifies the database and database server name for the view (and for Extended Parallel Server, the coserver identifier). In the following example, the CREATE VIEW statement defines a view called name_only in the sales database on the boston database server:

CREATE VIEW sales@boston:name_only AS
      SELECT customer_num, fname, lname FROM customer;

Besides the Data Types and Expressions syntax segments that this chapter documents, Chapter 5 provides additional syntax segments that are referenced in the syntax diagrams of this manual.