About this book The SQL Reference in its two volumes defines the SQL language used by DB2 Universal Database Version 8, and includes: Information about relational database concepts, language elements, functions, and the forms of queries(Volume 1) Information about the syntax and semantics of SQL statements(Volume 2) Who should use this book This book is intended for anyone who wants to use the Structured Query Language(SQL) to access a database. It is primarily for programmers and database administrators but it can also be used by those who access databases through the command line processor(CLP This book is a reference rather than a tutorial. It assumes that you will be writing application programs and therefore presents the full functions of the database manager How this book is structured This book contains information about the following major topics Chapter 1,Concepts"on page 1 discusses the basic concepts of relational databases and SQL Chapter 2, "Language elements"on page 61 describes the basic syntax of SQL and the language elements that are common to many SQL statements Chapter 3, Functions"on page 247 contains syntax diagrams, semantic descriptions, rules, and usage examples of SQL column and scalar Chapter 4,"Queries"on page 553 describes the various forms of a query Appendix A, "SQL limits"on page 607 lists SQL limitations Ppendix B, "SQLCA (SQL communications area)"on page 615 describes the SQlCa structure. Appendix C, "SQLDA (SQL descriptor area)"on page 621 describes the SQLDA structure Appendix D, "Catalog views"on page 633 describes the database catalog Appendix E, "Federated systems"on page 759 describes options and type mappings for Federated Systems. ht IBM Corp. 1993-2002About this book The SQL Reference in its two volumes defines the SQL language used by DB2 Universal Database Version 8, and includes: v Information about relational database concepts, language elements, functions, and the forms of queries (Volume 1). v Information about the syntax and semantics of SQL statements (Volume 2). Who should use this book This book is intended for anyone who wants to use the Structured Query Language (SQL) to access a database. It is primarily for programmers and database administrators, but it can also be used by those who access databases through the command line processor (CLP). This book is a reference rather than a tutorial. It assumes that you will be writing application programs and therefore presents the full functions of the database manager. How this book is structured This book contains information about the following major topics: v Chapter 1, “Concepts” on page 1 discusses the basic concepts of relational databases and SQL. v Chapter 2, “Language elements” on page 61 describes the basic syntax of SQL and the language elements that are common to many SQL statements. v Chapter 3, “Functions” on page 247 contains syntax diagrams, semantic descriptions, rules, and usage examples of SQL column and scalar functions. v Chapter 4, “Queries” on page 553 describes the various forms of a query. v Appendix A, “SQL limits” on page 607 lists SQL limitations. v Appendix B, “SQLCA (SQL communications area)” on page 615 describes the SQLCA structure. v Appendix C, “SQLDA (SQL descriptor area)” on page 621 describes the SQLDA structure. v Appendix D, “Catalog views” on page 633 describes the database catalog views. v Appendix E, “Federated systems” on page 759 describes options and type mappings for Federated Systems. © Copyright IBM Corp. 1993 - 2002 xi