About this book

The Adaptive Server Reference Manual includes four guides to Sybase^® Adaptive Server^® Enterprise and the Transact-SQL^® language:

Building Blocks describes the “parts” of Transact-SQL: datatypes, built-in functions, global variables, expressions and identifiers, reserved words, and SQLSTATE errors. Before you can use Transact-SQL sucessfully, you must understand what these building blocks do and how they affect the results of Transact-SQL statements.
Commands (this book) provides reference information about the Transact-SQL commands, which you use to create statements.
Procedures provides reference information about system procedures, catalog stored procedures, extended stored procedures, and dbcc stored procedures. All procedures are created using Transact-SQL statements.
Tables is reference information about the system tables, which store information about your server, databases, users, and other details of your server. It also provides information about the tables in the dbccdb and dbccalt databases.

Audience

The Adaptive Server Reference Manual is intended as a reference tool for Transact-SQL users of all levels.

How to use this book

Chapter 1, “Commands,” lists the Adaptive Server commands in a table that provides the name and a brief description. Each command name is listed in Table 1-1.

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.

Other sources of information

Use the Sybase Getting Started CD, the SyBooks CD, and the Sybase Product Manuals Web site to learn more about your product:

The Getting Started CD contains release bulletins and installation guides in PDF format, and may also contain other documents or updated information not included on the SyBooks CD. It is included with your software. To read or print documents on the Getting Started CD, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download at no charge from the Adobe Web site using a link provided on the CD.
The SyBooks CD contains product manuals and is included with your software. The Eclipse-based SyBooks browser allows you to access the manuals in an easy-to-use, HTML-based format.

Some documentation may be provided in PDF format, which you can access through the PDF directory on the SyBooks CD. To read or print the PDF files, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Refer to the SyBooks Installation Guide on the Getting Started CD, or the README.txt file on the SyBooks CD for instructions on installing and starting SyBooks.
The Sybase Product Manuals Web site is an online version of the SyBooks CD that you can access using a standard Web browser. In addition to product manuals, you will find links to EBFs/Maintenance, Technical Documents, Case Management, Solved Cases, newsgroups, and the Sybase Developer Network.

To access the Sybase Product Manuals Web site, go to Product Manuals.

Sybase certifications on the Web

Technical documentation at the Sybase Web site is updated frequently.

Finding the latest information on product certifications

Point your Web browser to Technical Documents.
Click Certification Report.
In the Certification Report filter select a product, platform, and timeframe and then click Go.
Click a Certification Report title to display the report.

Finding the latest information on component certifications

Point your Web browser to Availability and Certification Reports.
Either select the product family and product under Search by Base Product; or select the platform and product under Search by Platform.
Select Search to display the availability and certification report for the selection.

Creating a personalized view of the Sybase Web site (including support pages)

Set up a MySybase profile. MySybase is a free service that allows you to create a personalized view of Sybase Web pages.

Point your Web browser to Technical Documents.
Click MySybase and create a MySybase profile.

Sybase EBFs and software maintenance

Finding the latest information on EBFs and software maintenance

Point your Web browser to the Sybase Support Page.
Select EBFs/Maintenance. If prompted, enter your MySybase user name and password.
Select a product.
Specify a time frame and click Go. A list of EBF/Maintenance releases is displayed.

Padlock icons indicate that you do not have download authorization for certain EBF/Maintenance releases because you are not registered as a Technical Support Contact. If you have not registered, but have valid information provided by your Sybase representative or through your support contract, click Edit Roles to add the “Technical Support Contact” role to your MySybase profile.
Click the Info icon to display the EBF/Maintenance report, or click the product description to download the software.

Conventions

The following sections describe conventions used in this manual.

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 most 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. Complex commands are formatted using modified Backus Naur Form (BNF) notation.

Table 1 shows the conventions for syntax statements that appear in this manual:

**Table 1: Font and syntax conventions for this manual**
Element	Example
Command names,procedure names, utility names, adatabase names, datatypes, nd other keywords display in sans serif font.	select sp_configure master database
Book names, file names, variables, and path names are in italics.	System Administration Guide sql.ini file column_name $SYBASE/ASE directory
Variables—or words that stand for values that you fill in—when they are part of a query or statement, are in italics in Courier font.	`select column_name from table_name where search_conditions`
Type parentheses as part of the command.	`compute row_aggregate (column_name)`
Double colon, equals sign indicates that the syntax is written in BNF notation. Do not type this symbol. Indicates “is defined as”.	`::=`
Braces mean that you must choose at least one of the enclosed options. Do not type the braces.	`{cash, check, credit}`
Brackets mean that to choose one or more of the enclosed options is optional. Do not type the brackets.	`[cash \| check \| credit]`
The comma means you may choose as many of the options shown as you want. Separate your choices with commas as part of the command.	`cash, check, credit`
The pipe or vertical bar( \| ) means you may select only one of the options shown.	`cash \| check \| credit`
An ellipsis (...) means you can repeat the last unit as many times as you like.	`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.

Syntax statements (displaying the syntax and all options for a command) appear as follows:
```
sp_dropdevice [device_name]
```
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. Italic font shows user-supplied words.
Examples showing the use of Transact-SQL commands are printed like this:
```
select * from publishers
```

Examples of output from the computer appear as follows:

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)

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.

Adaptive Server 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. For more information, see the System Administration Guide.

Accessibility features

This document is available in an HTML version that is specialized for accessibility. You can navigate the HTML with an adaptive technology such as a screen reader, or view it with a screen enlarger.

Adaptive Server HTML documentation has been tested for compliance with U.S. government Section 508 Accessibility requirements. Documents that comply with Section 508 generally also meet non-U.S. accessibility guidelines, such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines for Web sites.

You might need to configure your accessibility tool for optimal use. Some screen readers pronounce text based on its case; for example, they pronounce ALL UPPERCASE TEXT as initials, and MixedCase Text as words. You might find it helpful to configure your tool to announce syntax conventions. Consult the documentation for your tool.

For information about how Sybase supports accessibility, see Sybase Accessibility. The Sybase Accessibility site includes links to information on Section 508 and W3C standards.

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.

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