Syntax
The following diagram indicates the basic structure of an SQL statement.
statement_keyword { expressions | functions | keywords | clauses | phrases } [[,]...] [;]
- statement_keyword
- The name of the statement.
- expressions
- Literals, name references, or operations using names and literals.
- functions
- The name of a function and its arguments, if any.
- keywords
- Special values introducing clauses or phrases or representing special objects, such as NULL. Most keywords are reserved words and cannot be used in names.
- clauses
- Subordinate statement qualifiers.
- phrases
- Data attribute phrases.
- ;
- The Teradata SQL statement separator and request terminator.
Typical SQL Statement
A typical SQL statement consists of a statement keyword, one or more column names, a database name, a table name, and one or more optional clauses introduced by keywords. For example, in the following single-statement request, the statement keyword is SELECT:
SELECT deptno, name, salary FROM personnel.employee WHERE deptno IN(100, 500) ORDER BY deptno, name ;
The select list for this statement is made up of object names:
- Deptno, name, and salary (the column names)
- Personnel (the database name)
- Employee (the table name)
The search condition, or WHERE clause, is introduced by the keyword WHERE.
WHERE deptno IN(100, 500)
The sort order, or ORDER BY, clause is introduced by the keywords ORDER BY.
ORDER BY deptno, name
Related Topics
For more information about the elements that appear in an SQL statement:
- Statement_keyword, see Keywords.
- Keywords, see Keywords.
- Object names, see Object Names.
- Expressions, see Expressions.
- Functions, see Functions.
- Separators, see Separators.
- Terminators, see Terminators.
For the distinction between statement and request, see SQL Statements and SQL Requests.