Interactive SQL and Sybase Central provide a text completion option that can supply object names for you. You can configure text completion to complete the name of any or all the following object types: tables, views, columns, stored procedures, and system functions.

For SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and DESCRIBE statements, the list of possible suggestions is relative to where you are typing within the statement. For example, consider the following SQL statement:

SELECT EmployeeID FROM Employees as e WHERE e.EmployeeID>=20;

If you open the text completion window after SELECT, the list contains column names in the Employees table, and stored procedures and SQL functions.

If you open the text completion window after FROM, the list contains only tables and stored procedures.

If you open the text completion window after the e in the WHERE clause, the list contains only columns in the table whose alias is e.

To use text completion

1. In Interactive SQL, type the first letter of a database object name in the SQL Statements pane.

2. Press Ctrl+Space or Ctrl+Shift+Space.

   A window appears listing the names of database objects that begin with the letter(s) you typed. In the following example, it shows all database objects that begin with the letter F.

   

   If you do not see the object name you want, press Tab to view a complete list of database objects (based on the filtering options you set—by default, all database objects appear in the list).

3. Select the object name from the list and then press Enter.

   The object name appears in the SQL Statements pane.

You can configure the text completion settings from the Options window in Interactive SQL or when you are in a text editor window in Sybase Central.