UltraLite SQL language elements

Each SQL statement contains one or more keywords. SQL keywords are case insensitive, but throughout the documentation, keywords are indicated in uppercase. Some keywords cannot be used as identifiers without surrounding them in double quotes. These are called reserved words.

Identifiers are the names of objects in the database, such as user IDs, tables, and columns.

Strings are used to hold character data in the database. UltraLite supports the same rules for strings as SQL Anywhere.

Comments are used to attach explanatory text to SQL statements or statement blocks. The UltraLite runtime does not execute comments.

Numbers are used to hold numerical data in the database.

As with SQL Anywhere, NULL is a special value that is different from any valid value for any data type. However, the NULL value is a legal value in any data type. NULL is used to represent unknown (no value) or inapplicable information.

You can use special values in expressions, and as column defaults when you create tables.

Many of the date and time functions use dates built from date and time parts. UltraLite and SQL Anywhere support the same date parts.

Expressions are formed by combining data, often in the form of column references, with operators or functions.

A search condition is the criteria for a WHERE clause, a HAVING clause, an ON phrase in a join, or an IF expression. A search condition is also called a predicate.

Operators are used to compute values, which may in turn be used as operands in a higher-level expression.

You cannot use SQL variables (including global variables) in UltraLite applications.