This manual, the Transact-SQL User’s Guide, documents Transact-SQL®, an enhanced version of the SQL relational database language. The Transact-SQL User’s Guide is intended for both beginners and those who have experience with other implementations of SQL.
Users of the Sybase® Adaptive Server™ Enterprise database management systems who are unfamiliar with SQL can consider this guide as a textbook and start at the beginning. Novice SQL users should concentrate on the first part of this book. The second part describes advanced topics.
This manual is useful both as a review, for those acquainted with other versions of SQL, and as a guide to Transact-SQL enhancements. SQL experts should study the capabilities and features that Transact-SQL has added to standard SQL, especially the material on stored procedures.
This book is a complete guide to Transact-SQL. It contains an introductory chapter, which gives an overview of SQL. The remaining chapters are divided into two subjects: Basic Concepts and Advanced Topics.
Chapter 1, “SQL Building Blocks,” describes the naming conventions used by SQL and the enhancements (also known as extensions) added by Transact-SQL. It also includes a description of how to get started with Transact-SQL using the isql utility. Sybase recommends that all users read this chapter.
Chapters 2–9 introduce you to the basic functionality of SQL. Users new to SQL should become familiar with the concepts described in these chapters before moving on to Chapters 10–18. Experienced users of SQL may want to skim through these chapters to learn about the Transact-SQL extensions introduced there and to review the material.
Chapters 10–18 describe Transact-SQL in more detail. Most of the Transact-SQL extensions are described here. Users familiar with SQL, but not Transact-SQL, should concentrate on these chapters.
The examples in this guide are based on the pubs2 and, where noted, pubs3 sample databases. For best use of the Transact-SQL User’s Guide, new users should work through the examples. Ask your System Administrator how to get a clean copy of pubs2 and pubs3. For a complete description of these databases, see Appendix A, “The pubs2 Database,” and Appendix B, “The pubs3 Database.”
You can use Transact-SQL with the Adaptive Server standalone program isql. The isql program is a utility program called directly from the operating system.
The Sybase® Adaptive Server® Enterprise documentation set consists of the following:
The release bulletin for your platform – contains last-minute information that was too late to be included in the books.
A more recent version of the release bulletin may be available on the World Wide Web. To check for critical product or document information that was added after the release of the product CD, use the Sybase Technical Library.
The Installation Guide for your platform – describes installation, upgrade, and configuration procedures for all Adaptive Server and related Sybase products.
What’s New in Adaptive Server Enterprise? – describes the new features in Adaptive Server version 12.5.1, the system changes added to support those features, and the changes that may affect your existing applications.
ASE Replicator User’s Guide – describes how to use the ASE Replicator feature of Adaptive Server to implement basic replication from a primary server to one or more remote Adaptive Servers.
Component Integration Services User’s Guide – explains how to use the Adaptive Server Component Integration Services feature to connect remote Sybase and non-Sybase databases.
Configuring Adaptive Server Enterprise for your platform – provides instructions for performing specific configuration tasks for Adaptive Server.
EJB Server User’s Guide – explains how to use EJB Server to deploy and execute Enterprise JavaBeans in Adaptive Server.
Error Messages and Troubleshooting Guide – explains how to resolve frequently occurring error messages and describes solutions to system problems frequently encountered by users.
Full-Text Search Specialty Data Store User’s Guide – describes how to use the Full-Text Search feature with Verity to search Adaptive Server Enterprise data.
Glossary – defines technical terms used in the Adaptive Server documentation.
Historical Server User’s Guide – describes how to use Historical Server to obtain performance information for SQL Server® and Adaptive Server.
Java in Adaptive Server Enterprise – describes how to install and use Java classes as data types, functions, and stored procedures in the Adaptive Server database.
Job Scheduler User's Guide – provides instructions on how to install and configure, and create and schedule jobs on a local or remote Adaptive Server using the command line or a graphical user interface (GUI).
Monitor Client Library Programmer’s Guide – describes how to write Monitor Client Library applications that access Adaptive Server performance data.
Monitor Server User’s Guide – describes how to use Monitor Server to obtain performance statistics from SQL Server and Adaptive Server.
Performance and Tuning Guide – is a series of four books that explains how to tune Adaptive Server for maximum performance:
Basics – the basics for understanding and investigating performance questions in Adaptive Server.
Locking – describes how the various locking schemas can be used for improving performance in Adaptive Server.
Optimizer and Abstract Plans – describes how the optimizer processes queries and how abstract plans can be used to change some of the optimizer plans.
Monitoring and Analyzing – explains how statistics are obtained and used for monitoring and optimizing performance.
Quick Reference Guide – provides a comprehensive listing of the names and syntax for commands, functions, system procedures, extended system procedures, datatypes, and utilities in a pocket-sized book.
Reference Manual – is a series of four books that contains the following detailed Transact-SQL® information:
Building Blocks – Transact-SQL datatypes, functions, global variables, expressions, identifiers and wildcards, and reserved words.
Commands – Transact-SQL commands.
Procedures – Transact-SQL system procedures, catalog stored procedures, system extended stored procedures, and dbcc stored procedures.
Tables – Transact-SQL system tables and dbcc tables.
System Administration Guide – provides in-depth information about administering servers and databases. This manual includes instructions and guidelines for managing physical resources, security, user and system databases, and specifying character conversion, international language, and sort order settings.
System Tables Diagram – illustrates system tables and their entity relationships in a poster format. Available only in print version.
Transact-SQL User’s Guide – documents Transact-SQL, Sybase’s enhanced version of the relational database language. This manual serves as a textbook for beginning users of the database management system. This manual also contains descriptions of the pubs2 and pubs3 sample databases.
Using Adaptive Server Distributed Transaction Management Features – explains how to configure, use, and troubleshoot Adaptive Server DTM features in distributed transaction processing environments.
Using Sybase Failover in a High Availability System – provides instructions for using Sybase’s Failover to configure an Adaptive Server as a companion server in a high availability system.
Utility Guide – documents the Adaptive Server utility programs, such as isql and bcp, which are executed at the operating system level.
Web Services User’s Guide – explains how to configure, use, and troubleshoot Web Services for Adaptive Server.
XA Interface Integration Guide for CICS, Encina, and TUXEDO – provides instructions for using the Sybase DTM XA interface with X/Open XA transaction managers.
XML Services in Adaptive Server Enterprise – describes the Sybase native XML processor and the Sybase Java-based XML support, introduces XML in the database, and documents the query and mapping functions that comprise XML Services.
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The following sections describe conventions used in this manual.
SQL is a free-form language. There are no rules about the number of words you can put on a line or where you must break a line. However, for readability, all examples and most syntax statements in this manual are formatted so that each clause of a statement begins on a new line. Clauses that have more than one part extend to additional lines, which are indented. Complex commands are formatted using modified Backus Naur Form (BNF) notation.
Table 1 shows the conventions for syntax statements that appear in this manual:
Element |
Example |
|---|---|
Command names,procedure names, utility names, and other keywords display in sans serif font. |
select sp_configure |
Database names and datatypes are in sans serif font. |
master database |
Book names, file names, variables, and path names are in italics. |
System Administration Guide sql.ini file column_name $SYBASE/ASE directory |
Variables—or words that stand for values that you fill in—when they are part of a query or statement, are in italics in Courier font. |
select column_name from table_name where search_conditions |
Type parentheses as part of the command. |
compute row_aggregate (column_name) |
Double colon, equals sign indicates that the syntax is written in BNF notation. Do not type this symbol. Indicates “is defined as”. |
::= |
Curly braces mean that you must choose at least one of the enclosed options. Do not type the braces. |
{cash | check | credit}
|
Brackets mean that to choose one or more of the enclosed options is optional. Do not type the brackets. |
[cash | check | credit] |
The comma means you may choose as many of the options shown as you want. Separate your choices with commas as part of the command. |
cash, check, credit |
The pipe or vertical bar( | ) means you may select only one of the options shown. |
cash | check | credit |
An ellipsis (...) means that you can repeat the last unit as many times as you like. |
buy thing = price [cash | check | credit] [, thing = price [cash | check | credit] ]... You must buy at least one thing and give its price. You may choose a method of payment: one of the items enclosed in square brackets. You may also choose to buy additional things: as many of them as you like. For each thing you buy, give its name, its price, and (optionally) a method of payment. |
Syntax statements (displaying the syntax and all options for a command) appear as follows:
sp_dropdevice [device_name]
For a command with more options:
select column_name from table_name where search_conditions
In syntax statements, keywords (commands) are in normal font and identifiers are in lowercase. Italic font shows user-supplied words.
Examples showing the use of Transact-SQL commands are printed like this:
select * from publishers
Examples of output from the computer appear as follows:
pub_id pub_name city state ------- --------------------- ----------- ----- 0736 New Age Books Boston MA 0877 Binnet & Hardley Washington DC 1389 Algodata Infosystems Berkeley CA (3 rows affected)
In this manual, most of the examples are in lowercase. However, you can disregard case when typing Transact-SQL keywords. For example, SELECT, Select, and select are the same.
Adaptive Server’s sensitivity to the case of database objects, such as table names, depends on the sort order installed on Adaptive Server. You can change case sensitivity for single-byte character sets by reconfiguring the Adaptive Server sort order. For more information, see the System Administration Guide.
Each Sybase installation that has purchased a support contract has one or more designated people who are authorized to contact Sybase Technical Support. If you cannot resolve a problem using the manuals or online help, please have the designated person contact Sybase Technical Support or the Sybase subsidiary in your area.
