Introduction to Database Options

Database options control many aspects of database behavior including compatibility, error handling, and concurrency.

For example, you can use database options for the purposes such as:

You set options with the SET OPTION statement, which has this general syntax:

SETEXISTING ] [ TEMPORARY ] OPTION
... [ userid. | PUBLIC. ]option-name = [ option-value ]

Specify a user ID or group name to set the option only for that user or group. Every user belongs to the PUBLIC group. If no user ID or group is specified, the option change is applied to the currently logged on user ID that issued the SET OPTION statement.

For example, this statement applies a change to the PUBLIC user ID, a user group to which all users belong:

SET OPTION Public.login_mode = standard
Note: When you set an option to TEMPORARY without specifying a user or group, the new option value takes effect only for the currently logged on user ID that issued the statement, and only for the duration of the connection. When you set an option to TEMPORARY for the PUBLIC group, the change remains in place for as long as the database is running—when the database shuts down, TEMPORARY options for the PUBLIC group revert back to their permanent value.

When you set an option without issuing the TEMPORARY keyword, the new option value is permanent for the user or group who issued the statement.

See Scope and Duration of Database Options, Temporary Options, and SET OPTION Statement for more information on temporary versus permanent option values.

The maximum length of option-value, when set to a string, is 127 bytes.

Note: For all database options that accept integer values, Sybase IQ truncates any decimal option-value setting to an integer value. For example, the value 3.8 is truncated to 3.
Warning!  Do not change option settings while fetching rows.
Related concepts
Scope and Duration of Database Options
Temporary Options
Related reference
SET OPTION Statement