Teradata SQL Statements and Requests - Interactive Teradata Query Facility

A Teradata SQL “request” is one or more Teradata SQL statements that are submitted as a single unit of work. A request is considered complete, or terminated, when either the “End of Text” character or the request “terminator” is encountered. The request terminator is a semicolon that is the last non-blank character on an input line. (A request terminator is optional except when the request appears within a Teradata SQL macro or is entered through ITEQ.)

A single-statement request consists of a solitary statement. For example:

SELECT * FROM Personnel.Employee;

A multi-statement request consists of two or more statements separated by semicolons. For example, this statement:

INSERT INTO TestDB.TA (Name) VALUES (’NameA’)

; SELECT * FROM TestDB.TA;

and this statement:

INSERT INTO TestDB.TA (Name) VALUES (’NameA’)

; SELECT * FROM TestDB.TA;

are both multi-statement requests. The first semicolon is a statement separator and the second semicolon is a request terminator.

Teradata SQL statements are used to:

Define data: create, alter, modify, or drop databases and their objects (tables, views, and macros).

Manipulate data: insert, update, or delete the contents of tables and views.

Select data: query the contents of tables and views.

Create, modify, or drop macros: stored sequences of Teradata SQL statements that are executed as a single operation.

Control data: create, modify, or drop user space; grant or revoke access privileges on user space and databases.

For detailed information on the structure of Teradata SQL requests and the syntax of each Teradata SQL statement, refer to SQL Fundamentals (B035-1141).