Using Examples

To understand the main syntax diagram and subdiagrams for a statement, study the examples of syntax that appear in the rules of usage for each statement. These examples have two purposes:

To show how to accomplish specific tasks with the statement or its clauses
To show how to use syntax of the statement or its clauses in a concrete way

Tip: An efficient way to understand a syntax diagram is to find an example of the syntax and compare it with the keywords and parameters in the syntax diagram. By mapping the concrete elements of the example to the abstract elements of the syntax diagram, you can understand the syntax diagram and use it more effectively.

For an explanation of the conventions used in the examples in this publication, see the syntax diagram section of the Introduction.

These code examples are program fragments to illustrate valid syntax, rather than complete SQL programs. In some code examples, ellipsis ( . . . ) symbols indicate that additional code has been omitted. To save space, however, ellipses are not shown at the beginning or end of the program fragments.