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About This Book

About This Book

The Adaptive Server Reference Manual is a guide to Sybase(R) Adaptive Server(TM) and the Transact-SQL(R) language. This book includes information about Transact-SQL commands, built-in functions, procedures, datatypes, the system tables, expressions and identifiers, SQLSTATE errors, and reserved words.

Audience

The Adaptive Server Reference Manual is intended as a reference tool for Transact-SQL users of all levels. It provides basic syntax and usage information for every command, function, system procedure, catalog stored procedure, and extended stored procedure.

How to Use This Book

This manual consists of the following chapters:

• Chapter 1, "Transact-SQL Commands," contains reference information for every Transact-SQL command. Particularly complex commands, such as select, are divided into subsections. For example, there are reference pages on the compute clause and on the group by and having clauses of the select command.
• Chapter 2, "Transact-SQL Functions," contains reference information for the Adaptive Server aggregate functions, datatype conversion functions, date functions, mathematical functions, row aggregate functions, string functions, system functions, and text and image functions.
• Chapter 3, "System Procedures," contains reference pages for Adaptive Server system procedures.
• Chapter 4, "Catalog Stored Procedures," contains reference pages for Adaptive Server catalog stored procedures.
• Chapter 5, "System Extended Stored Procedures," contains reference pages for Adaptive Server system extended stored procedures.
• Chapter 6, "dbcc Stored Procedures," contains reference pages for Adaptive Server dbcc stored procedures.
• Chapter 7, "System and User-Defined Datatypes," describes the system and user-defined datatypes that are supplied with Adaptive Server and indicates how to use them to create user-defined datatypes.
• Chapter 8, "System Tables," contains information about all of the system tables in the master database, the auditing database, and in any user databases (such as pubs2).
• Appendix A, "Expressions, Identifiers, and Wildcard Characters" contains information about using the Transact-SQL language.
• Appendix B, "Reserved Words," contains information about the Transact-SQL and SQL92 keywords.
• Appendix C, "SQLSTATE Codes and Messages," contains information about Adaptive Server's SQLSTATE status codes and the associated messages.

Related Documents

The following documents comprise the Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise documentation:

• The Release Bulletin for your platform - contains last-minute information that was too late to be included in the books.

  A more recent version of the Release Bulletin may be available on the World Wide Web. To check for critical product or document information that was added after the release of the product CD, use SyBooks(TM)-on-the-Web.

• The Adaptive Server installation documentation for your platform - describes installation and upgrade procedures for all Adaptive Server and related Sybase products.
• The Adaptive Server configuration documentation for your platform - describes configuring a server, creating network connections, configuring for optional functionality, such as auditing, installing most optional system databases, and performing operating system administration tasks.
• What's New in Adaptive Server Enterprise Release 11.5? - describes the new features in Adaptive Server release 11.5, the system changes added to support those features, and the changes that may affect your existing applications.
• Navigating the Documentation for Adaptive Server - an electronic interface for using Adaptive Server. This online document provides links to the concepts and syntax in the documentation that are relevant to each task.
• Transact-SQL User's Guide - documents Transact-SQL, Sybase's enhanced version of the relational database language. This manual serves as a textbook for beginning users of the database management system. This manual also contains descriptions of the pubs2 and pubs3 sample databases.
• System Administration Guide - provides in-depth information about administering servers and databases. This manual includes instructions and guidelines for managing physical resources and user and system databases, and specifying character conversion, international language, and sort order settings.
• Performance and Tuning Guide - explains how to tune Adaptive Server for maximum performance. This manual includes information about database design issues that affect performance, query optimization, how to tune Adaptive Server for very large databases, disk and cache issues, and the effects of locking and cursors on performance.
• The Utility Programs manual for your platform - documents the Adaptive Server utility programs, such as isql and bcp, which are executed at the operating system level.
• Security Administration Guide - explains how to use the security features provided by Adaptive Server to control user access to data. This manual includes information about how to add users to Adaptive Server, administer both system and user-defined roles, grant database access to users, and manage remote Adaptive Servers.
• Security Features User's Guide - provides instructions and guidelines for using the security options provided in Adaptive Server from the perspective of the non-administrative user.
• Error Messages and Troubleshooting Guide - explains how to resolve frequently occurring error messages and describes solutions to system problems frequently encountered by users.
• Component Integration Services User's Guide for Adaptive Server Enterprise and OmniConnect - explains how to use the Adaptive Server Component Integration Services feature to connect remote Sybase and non-Sybase databases.
• Adaptive Server Glossary - defines technical terms used in the Adaptive Server documentation.

Other Sources of Information

Use the SyBooks(TM) and SyBooks-on-the-Web online resources to learn more about your product:

• SyBooks documentation is on the CD that comes with your software. The DynaText browser, also included on the CD, allows you to access technical information about your product in an easy-to-use format.

  Refer to Installing SyBooks in your documentation package for instructions on installing and starting SyBooks.

• SyBooks-on-the-Web is an HTML version of SyBooks that you can access using a standard Web browser.

  To use SyBooks-on-the-Web, go to http://www.sybase.com, and choose Documentation.

Conventions Used in This Manual

Formatting SQL Statements

SQL is a free-form language: there are no rules about the number of words you can put on a line or where you must break a line. However, for readability, all examples and syntax statements in this manual are formatted so that each clause of a statement begins on a new line. Clauses that have more than one part extend to additional lines, which are indented.

SQL Syntax Conventions

The conventions for syntax statements in this manual are as follows:

Table 1: Syntax statement conventions

Key	Definition
command	Command names, command option names, utility names, utility flags, and other keywords are in bold Courier in syntax statements and in bold Helvetica in paragraph text.
variable	Variables, or words that stand for values that you fill in, are in italics.
{ }	Curly braces indicate that you choose at least one of the enclosed options. Do not include braces in your option.
[ ]	Brackets mean choosing one or more of the enclosed options is optional. Do not include brackets in your option.
( )	Parentheses are to be typed as part of the command.
|	The vertical bar means you may select only one of the options shown.
,	The comma means you may choose as many of the options shown as you like, separating your choices with commas to be typed as part of the command.

• Syntax statements (displaying the syntax and all options for a command) are printed like this:

  sp_dropdevice [device_name]

  or, for a command with more options:

  select column_name 
      from table_name 
      where search_conditions 

  In syntax statements, keywords (commands) are in normal font and identifiers are in lowercase: normal font for keywords, italics for user-supplied words.

• Examples showing the use of Transact-SQL commands are printed like this:

  select * from publishers

• Examples of output from the computer are printed like this:

  pub_id        pub_name                        city            state 
  -------        -------------------                        -----------            -----
  0736        New Age Books                        Boston            MA 
  0877        Binnet & Hardley                        Washington            DC 
  1389        Algodata Infosystems                        Berkeley            CA 
  
  (3 rows affected)

Case

In this manual, most of the examples are in lowercase. However, you can disregard case when typing Transact-SQL keywords. For example, SELECT, Select, and select are the same.

Note that Adaptive Server's sensitivity to the case of database objects, such as table names, depends on the sort order installed on Adaptive Server. You can change case sensitivity for single-byte character sets by reconfiguring the Adaptive Server sort order. See "Changing the Default Character Set, Sort Order, or Language" in Chapter 13, "Configuring Character Sets, Sort Orders, and Languages" in the System Administration Guide for more information.

Obligatory Options {You Must Choose At Least One}

• Curly Braces and Vertical Bars: Choose one and only one option.

  {die_on_your_feet | live_on_your_knees |
  live_on_your_feet}

• Curly Braces and Commas: Choose one or more options. If you choose more than one, separate your choices with commas.

  {cash, check, credit}

Optional Options [You Don't Have to Choose Any]

• One Item in Square Brackets: You don't have to choose it.

  [anchovies]

• Square Brackets and Vertical Bars: Choose none or only one.

  [beans | rice | sweet_potatoes]

• Square Brackets and Commas: Choose none, one, or more than one option. If you choose more than one, separate your choices with commas.

  [extra_cheese, avocados, sour_cream]

Ellipsis: Do It Again (and Again)...

An ellipsis (...) means that you can repeat the last unit as many times as you like. In this syntax statement, buy is a required keyword:

buy thing = price [cash | check | credit] 
    [, thing = price [cash | check | credit] ]... 

You must buy at least one thing and give its price. You may choose a method of payment: one of the items enclosed in square brackets. You may also choose to buy additional things: as many of them as you like. For each thing you buy, give its name, its price, and (optionally) a method of payment.

Expressions

Adaptive Server syntax statements use several different types of expressions.

Table 2: Types of expressions used in syntax statements 

Usage	Definition
expression	Can include constants, literals, functions, column identifiers, variables or parameters
logical expression	An expression that returns TRUE, FALSE or UNKNOWN
constant expression	An expression that always returns the same value, such as "5+3" or "ABCDE"
float_expr	Any floating-point expression or expression that implicitly converts to a floating value
integer_expr	Any integer expression, or an expression that implicitly converts to an integer value
numeric_expr	Any numeric expression that returns a single value
char_expr	Any expression that returns a single character-type value
binary_expression	An expression that returns a single binary or varbinary value

If You Need Help

Each Sybase installation that has purchased a support contract has one or more designated people who are authorized to contact Sybase Technical Support. If you cannot resolve a problem using the manuals or online help, please have the designated person contact Sybase Technical Support or the Sybase subsidiary in your area.