Using dynamic SQL

A static SQL statement is one for which all the information is known at compile time. For example, the following SELECT statement is a static SQL statement because all information needed for its execution is present at compile time. 
EXEC SQL select company into :cmp_name from customer where customer_num 
= 101;

However, in some applications the programmer does not know the contents, or possibly even the types, of SQL statements that the program needs to execute. For example, a program might prompt the user to enter a select statement, so that the programmer has no idea what columns are accessed when the program is run. Such applications require dynamic SQL. Dynamic SQL allows the program to build an SQL statement at run time, so that the contents of the statement can be determined by user input.

These topics describe the following dynamic SQL information:
  • How to execute a dynamic SQL statement, the SQL statements to use, and the types of statements that you can execute dynamically
  • How to execute SQL statements when you know most of the information about the statement at compile time