Documentation conventions

This section lists the typographic and graphical conventions used in this documentation.

Syntax conventions

The following conventions are used in the SQL syntax descriptions:

Keywords All SQL keywords appear in uppercase, like the words ALTER TABLE in the following example:
```
ALTER TABLE [ owner.]table-name
```
Placeholders Items that must be replaced with appropriate identifiers or expressions are shown like the words owner and table-name in the following example:
```
ALTER TABLE [ owner.]table-name
```
Repeating items Lists of repeating items are shown with an element of the list followed by an ellipsis (three dots), like column-constraint in the following example:
```
ADD column-definition [ column-constraint, ... ]
```
One or more list elements are allowed. In this example, if more than one is specified, they must be separated by commas.
Optional portions Optional portions of a statement are enclosed by square brackets.
```
RELEASE SAVEPOINT [ savepoint-name ]
```
These square brackets indicate that the savepoint-name is optional. The square brackets should not be typed.
Options When none or only one of a list of items can be chosen, vertical bars separate the items and the list is enclosed in square brackets.
```
[ ASC | DESC ]
```
For example, you can choose one of ASC, DESC, or neither. The square brackets should not be typed.
Alternatives When precisely one of the options must be chosen, the alternatives are enclosed in curly braces and a bar is used to separate the options.
```
[ QUOTES { ON | OFF } ]
```
If the QUOTES option is used, one of ON or OFF must be provided. The brackets and braces should not be typed.

Operating system conventions

SQL Anywhere runs on a variety of platforms, including Windows, Windows Mobile, Unix, Linux, and Mac OS X. To simplify references to operating systems, the documentation groups the supported operating systems as follows:

Windows The Microsoft Windows family of operating systems for desktop and laptop computers. The Windows family includes Windows Vista and Windows XP.
Windows Mobile Windows Mobile provides a Windows user interface and additional functionality, such as small versions of applications like Word and Excel. Windows Mobile is most commonly used on mobile devices.
Limitations or variations in SQL Anywhere are commonly based on the underlying operating system, and seldom on the particular variant used (Windows Mobile).
Unix Unless specified, Unix refers to Linux, Mac OS X, and Unix platforms.

File name conventions

In many cases, references to file and directory names are similar on all supported platforms, with simple transformations between the various forms. To simplify the documentation in these cases, Windows conventions are used. In other cases, where the details are more complex, the documentation shows all relevant forms.

Here are the conventions used to simplify the documentation of file and directory names:

install-dir During the installation process, you choose where to install SQL Anywhere. The documentation refers to this location using the convention install-dir.
After installation is complete, the environment variable SQLANY11 specifies the location of the installation directory containing the SQL Anywhere components (install-dir).

For example, the documentation may refer to a file as install-dir\readme.txt. On Windows platforms, this reference is equivalent to %SQLANY11%\readme.txt. On Unix platforms, this reference is equivalent to $SQLANY11/readme.txt.

For more information about the default location of install-dir, see SQLANY11 environment variable.
Uppercase and lowercase directory names On Windows, directory names often use mixed case. References to directory names can use any case, since the Windows file system is not case sensitive.
Unix file systems are case sensitive. The use of mixed-case is less common.

The SQL Anywhere installation program follows operating system conventions for its directory structure. On Windows, the installation contains directories such as Bin32 and Documentation. On Unix, these directories are called bin32 and documentation.

The documentation often uses the mixed case forms of directory names. Usually, you can convert a mixed case directory name to lowercase for the equivalent directory name on Unix platforms. For example, the directory MobiLink is mobilink on Unix platforms.
Slashes separating parts of directory names The documentation uses backslashes as the directory separator. For example, the PDF form of the documentation is found in the directory install-dir\Documentation\en\pdf, which is the Windows form.
On Unix platforms, replace the backslash with the forward slash. The PDF documentation is found in the directory install-dir/Documentation/en/pdf.
Executable files The documentation shows executable file names using Windows conventions, with a suffix such as .exe or .bat. On Unix platforms, executable file names have no suffix.
For example, on Windows, the network database server is dbsrv11.exe. On Unix, Linux, and Mac OS X, it is dbsrv11.
samples-dir The installation process allows you to choose where to install the samples that are included with SQL Anywhere, and the documentation refers to this location using the convention samples-dir.
After installation is complete, the environment variable SQLANYSAMP11 specifies the location of the directory containing the samples (samples-dir). From the Windows Start menu, choosing Programs » SQL Anywhere 11 » Sample Applications And Projects opens a Windows Explorer window in this directory.

For more information about the default location of samples-dir, by operating system, see Samples directory.
Environment variables The documentation refers to setting environment variables. On Windows, environment variables are referred to using the syntax %ENVVAR%. On Unix, Linux, and Mac OS X, environment variables are referred to using the syntax $ENVVAR or ${ENVVAR}.
Unix, Linux, and Mac OS X environment variables are stored in shell and login startup files, such as .cshrc or .tcshrc.

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