Declares host variables in an Embedded SQL program. Host variables are used to exchange data with the database.
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION; ... C declarations EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION; char *emp_lname, initials[5]; int dept; EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;
A declaration section is a section of C variable declarations surrounded by the BEGIN DECLARE SECTION and END DECLARE SECTION statements. A declaration section makes the SQL preprocessor aware of C variables that are used as host variables. Not all C declarations are valid inside a declaration section.