 <chapter id="syntax">
  <title>SQL Syntax</title>

  <abstract>
   <para>
    A description of the general syntax of SQL.
   </para>
  </abstract>

  <para>
   <acronym>SQL</acronym> manipulates sets of data. The language is
   composed of various <firstterm>key words</firstterm>. Arithmetic
   and procedural expressions are allowed. We will cover these topics
   in this chapter; subsequent chapters will include details on data
   types, functions, and operators.
  </para>

  <sect1>
   <title>Key Words</title>

   <para>
    <acronym>SQL92</acronym> defines <firstterm>key words</firstterm> 
    for the language
    which have specific meaning. Some key words are
    <firstterm>reserved</firstterm>, which indicates that they are
    restricted to appear in only certain contexts. Other key words are
    <firstterm>not restricted</firstterm>, which indicates that in certain 
    contexts they
    have a specific meaning but are not otherwise constrained.
   </para>

   <para>
    <productname>Postgres</productname> implements an extended subset of the
    <acronym>SQL92</acronym> and <acronym>SQL3</acronym> languages. Some language
    elements are not as restricted in this implementation as is
    called for in the language standards, in part due
    to the extensibility features of <productname>Postgres</productname>. 
   </para>

   <para>
    Information on <acronym>SQL92</acronym> and <acronym>SQL3</acronym> key words
    is derived from <xref linkend="DATE97" endterm="DATE97">.
   </para>

   <sect2>
    <title>Reserved Key Words</title>

    <para>
     <acronym>SQL92</acronym> and <acronym>SQL3</acronym> have 
     <firstterm>reserved key words</firstterm> which are not allowed 
     as identifiers and not allowed in any usage other than as fundamental
     tokens in <acronym>SQL</acronym> statements.
     <productname>Postgres</productname> has additional key words
     which have similar restrictions. In particular, these key words
     are not allowed as column or table names, though in some cases
     they are allowed to be column labels (i.e. in AS clauses).
    </para>

    <tip>
     <para>
      Any string can be specified as an identifier if surrounded by
      double quotes (<quote>like this!</quote>). Some care is required since
      such an identifier will be case sensitive
      and will retain embedded whitespace other special characters.
     </para>
    </tip>

    <para>
     The following are <productname>Postgres</productname>
     reserved words which are neither <acronym>SQL92</acronym>
     nor <acronym>SQL3</acronym> reserved words. These are allowed
     to be present as column labels, but not as identifiers:

     <programlisting>
ABORT ANALYZE 
BINARY 
CLUSTER CONSTRAINT COPY
DO 
EXPLAIN EXTEND
LISTEN LOAD LOCK 
MOVE 
NEW NONE NOTIFY 
RESET 
SETOF SHOW
UNLISTEN UNTIL 
VACUUM VERBOSE
     </programlisting>
    </para>

    <para>
     The following are <productname>Postgres</productname>
     reserved words which are also <acronym>SQL92</acronym> 
     or <acronym>SQL3</acronym> reserved words, and which
     are allowed to be present as column labels, but not as identifiers:

     <programlisting>
CASE COALESCE CROSS CURRENT 
ELSE END
FALSE FOREIGN 
GLOBAL GROUP 
LOCAL
NULLIF
ORDER 
POSITION PRECISION 
TABLE THEN TRANSACTION TRUE
WHEN
     </programlisting>

     The following are <productname>Postgres</productname>
     reserved words which are also <acronym>SQL92</acronym> 
     or <acronym>SQL3</acronym> reserved words:

     <programlisting>
ADD ALL ALTER AND ANY AS ASC
BEGIN BETWEEN BOTH BY
CASCADE CAST CHAR CHARACTER CHECK CLOSE 
 COLLATE COLUMN COMMIT CONSTRAINT 
 CREATE CURRENT_DATE CURRENT_TIME 
 CURRENT_TIMESTAMP CURRENT_USER CURSOR
DECIMAL DECLARE DEFAULT DELETE DESC DISTINCT DROP
EXECUTE EXISTS EXTRACT
FETCH FLOAT FOR FROM FULL
GRANT 
HAVING
IN INNER INSERT INTERVAL INTO IS
JOIN 
LEADING LEFT LIKE LOCAL
NAMES NATIONAL NATURAL NCHAR NO NOT NULL NUMERIC
ON OR OUTER
PARTIAL PRIMARY PRIVILEGES PROCEDURE PUBLIC
REFERENCES REVOKE RIGHT ROLLBACK
SELECT SET SUBSTRING
TO TRAILING TRIM 
UNION UNIQUE UPDATE USER USING
VALUES VARCHAR VARYING VIEW
WHERE WITH WORK 
     </programlisting>
    </para>

    <para>
     The following are <acronym>SQL92</acronym> reserved key words which
     are not <productname>Postgres</productname> reserved key words, but which
     if used as function names are always translated into the function
     <function>length</function>:

     <programlisting>
CHAR_LENGTH CHARACTER_LENGTH
     </programlisting>
    </para>

    <para>
     The following are <acronym>SQL92</acronym> or <acronym>SQL3</acronym> 
     reserved key words which
     are not <productname>Postgres</productname> reserved key words, but
     if used as type names are always translated into an alternate, native type:

     <programlisting>
BOOLEAN DOUBLE FLOAT INT INTEGER INTERVAL REAL SMALLINT
     </programlisting>
    </para>

    <para>
     The following are either <acronym>SQL92</acronym>
     or <acronym>SQL3</acronym> reserved key words
     which are not key words in <productname>Postgres</productname>.
     These have no proscribed usage in <productname>Postgres</productname>
     at the time of writing (v6.5) but may become reserved key words in the
     future:

     <note>
      <para>
       Some of these key words represent functions in <acronym>SQL92</acronym>.
       These functions are defined in <productname>Postgres</productname>,
       but the parser does not consider the names to be key words and they are allowed
       in other contexts.
      </para>
     </note>

     <programlisting>
ALLOCATE ARE ASSERTION AT AUTHORIZATION AVG 
BIT BIT_LENGTH
CASCADED CATALOG COLLATION CONNECT CONNECTION
 CONSTRAINTS CONTINUE CONVERT CORRESPONDING COUNT
DATE DEALLOCATE DEC DESCRIBE DESCRIPTOR DIAGNOSTICS DISCONNECT DOMAIN 
END-EXEC ESCAPE EXCEPT EXCEPTION EXEC EXTERNAL 
FIRST FOUND
GET GO GOTO 
IDENTITY IMMEDIATE INDICATOR INITIALLY INPUT INTERSECT ISOLATION 
LAST LEVEL LOWER 
MAX MIN MODULE 
OCTET_LENGTH OPEN OUTPUT OVERLAPS 
PREPARE PRESERVE 
RESTRICT ROWS
SCHEMA SECTION SESSION SESSION_USER SIZE SOME 
 SQL SQLCODE SQLERROR SQLSTATE SUM SYSTEM_USER
TEMPORARY TRANSLATE TRANSLATION 
UNKNOWN UPPER USAGE
VALUE 
WHENEVER WRITE
     </programlisting>
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Non-reserved Keywords</title>

    <para>
     <acronym>SQL92</acronym> and <acronym>SQL3</acronym> have 
     <firstterm>non-reserved keywords</firstterm> which have
     a prescribed meaning in the language but which are also allowed
     as identifiers.
     <productname>Postgres</productname> has additional keywords
     which allow similar unrestricted usage.
     In particular, these keywords
     are allowed as column or table names.
    </para>

    <para>
     The following are <productname>Postgres</productname>
     non-reserved key words which are neither <acronym>SQL92</acronym>
     nor <acronym>SQL3</acronym> non-reserved key words:

     <programlisting>
ACCESS AFTER AGGREGATE 
BACKWARD BEFORE 
CACHE CREATEDB CREATEUSER CYCLE
DATABASE DELIMITERS 
EACH ENCODING EXCLUSIVE
FORWARD FUNCTION 
HANDLER
INCREMENT INDEX INHERITS INSENSITIVE INSTEAD ISNULL
LANCOMPILER LOCATION 
MAXVALUE MINVALUE MODE
NOCREATEDB NOCREATEUSER NOTHING NOTNULL 
OIDS OPERATOR 
PASSWORD PROCEDURAL
RECIPE RENAME RETURNS ROW RULE
SEQUENCE SERIAL SHARE START STATEMENT STDIN STDOUT 
TRUSTED 
VALID VERSION
     </programlisting>
    </para>

    <para>
     The following are <productname>Postgres</productname>
     non-reserved key words which are <acronym>SQL92</acronym>
     or <acronym>SQL3</acronym> reserved key words:

     <programlisting>
ABSOLUTE ACTION
DAY
HOUR
INSENSITIVE 
KEY 
LANGUAGE 
MATCH MINUTE MONTH
NEXT 
OF ONLY OPTION 
PRIOR PRIVILEGES 
READ RELATIVE 
SCROLL SECOND
TIME TIMESTAMP TIMEZONE_HOUR TIMEZONE_MINUTE TRIGGER 
YEAR
ZONE
     </programlisting>
    </para>

    <para>
     The following are <productname>Postgres</productname>
     non-reserved key words which are also either <acronym>SQL92</acronym>
     or <acronym>SQL3</acronym> non-reserved key words:

     <programlisting>
COMMITTED SERIALIZABLE TYPE
     </programlisting>
    </para>

    <para>
     The following are either <acronym>SQL92</acronym>
     or <acronym>SQL3</acronym> non-reserved key words which are not
     key words of any kind in <productname>Postgres</productname>:

     <programlisting>
ADA
C CATALOG_NAME CHARACTER_SET_CATALOG CHARACTER_SET_NAME 
CHARACTER_SET_SCHEMA CLASS_ORIGIN COBOL COLLATION_CATALOG
COLLATION_NAME COLLATION_SCHEMA COLUMN_NAME
COMMAND_FUNCTION CONDITION_NUMBER
CONNECTION_NAME CONSTRAINT_CATALOG CONSTRAINT_NAME
CONSTRAINT_SCHEMA CURSOR_NAME
DATA DATE_TIME_INTERVAL_CODE DATE_TIME_INTERVAL_PRECISION
DYNAMIC_FUNCTION
FORTRAN
LENGTH
MESSAGE_LENGTH MESSAGE_OCTET_LENGTH MORE MUMPS
NAME NULLABLE NUMBER
PAD PASCAL PLI
REPEATABLE RETURNED_LENGTH RETURNED_OCTET_LENGTH
RETURNED_SQLSTATE ROW_COUNT
SCALE SCHEMA_NAME SERVER_NAME SPACE
SUBCLASS_ORIGIN
TABLE_NAME
UNCOMMITTED UNNAMED
     </programlisting>
    </para>
   </sect2>
  </sect1>

  <sect1>
   <title>Comments</title>

   <para>
    A <firstterm>comment</firstterm>
    is an arbitrary sequence of characters following double dashes up to the end
    of the line.  We also support double-slashes as comments, e.g.:

    <programlisting>
-- This is a standard SQL comment
// And this is another supported comment style, like C++
    </programlisting>

We also support C-style block comments, e.g.:

    <programlisting>
/* multi
   line
   comment
 */
    </programlisting>
   </para>
  </sect1>

  <sect1>
   <title>Names</title>

   <para>
    Names in SQL are sequences of less than NAMEDATALEN alphanumeric characters,
    starting with an alphabetic character.  By default, NAMEDATALEN is set
    to 32, but at the time the system is built, NAMEDATALEN can be changed
    by changing the <literal>#define</literal> in
    src/backend/include/postgres.h.
    Underscore ("_") is considered an alphabetic character.
   </para>

   <para>
    In some contexts, names may contain other characters if surrounded 
    by double quotes. For example, table or column names may contain otherwise
    disallowed characters such as spaces, ampersands, etc. using this
    technique.
   </para>
  </sect1>

  <sect1>
   <title>Constants</title>

   <para>
    There are six types of
    <firstterm>constants</firstterm>
    for use in SQL.  They are described below.
   </para>

   <sect2>
    <title>String Constants</title>

    <para>
     <firstterm>Strings</firstterm>
     in SQL are arbitrary sequences of ASCII characters bounded by single
     quotes ("'", e.g. <literal>'This is a string'</literal>).
     Uppercase alphabetics within strings are accepted
     literally.  Non-printing characters may be embedded within strings by
     prepending them with a backslash
     ("\"; e.g. "\<replaceable>tab</replaceable>".
     SQL92 allows single quotes to be embedded in strings by typing two 
     adjacent single quotes (e.g. 'Dianne''s horse'), and for
     historical reasons <productname>Postgres</productname> also allows 
     single quotes to be escaped with a backslash
     (e.g. 'Dianne\'s horse').
    </para>

    <para>
     Because of the limitations on
     instance sizes, string constants are currently limited to a length of
     a little less than 8192 bytes.  Larger strings may be handled using the
     Postgres Large Object interface.
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Integer Constants</title>

    <para>
     <firstterm>Integer constants</firstterm>
     in SQL are collection of ASCII digits with no decimal point.  Legal
     values range from -2147483648 to +2147483647.  This will vary
     depending on the operating system and host machine.
    </para>

    <para>
     Note that larger integers can be specified for <type>int8</type>
     by using <acronym>SQL92</acronym> string notation or
     <productname>Postgres</productname> type notation:

     <programlisting>
int8 '4000000000'  -- string style
'4000000000'::int8 -- Postgres (historical) style
     </programlisting>
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Floating Point Constants</title>

    <para>
     <firstterm>Floating point constants</firstterm>
     consist of an integer part, a decimal point, and a fraction part or
     scientific notation of the following format:

     <synopsis>
{<replaceable>dig</replaceable>}.{<replaceable>dig</replaceable>} [e [+-] {<replaceable>dig</replaceable>}]
     </synopsis>

     where <replaceable>dig</replaceable> is one or more digits.
     You must include at least one <replaceable>dig</replaceable> after the
     period and after the [+-] if you use those options.  An exponent with
     a missing mantissa has a mantissa of 1 inserted.  There may be no
     extra characters embedded in the string.
    </para>

    <para>
     Floating point constaints are of type
     <type>float8</type>. <type>float4</type> can be specified
     explicitly by using <acronym>SQL92</acronym> string notation or
     <productname>Postgres</productname> type notation:

     <programlisting>
float4 '1.23'  -- string style
'1.23'::float4 -- Postgres (historical) style
     </programlisting>
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Constants of Postgres User-Defined Types</title>

    <para>
     A constant of an
     <emphasis>arbitrary</emphasis>
     type can be entered using the notations:

     <synopsis>
<replaceable>type</replaceable> '<replaceable>string</replaceable>'
'<replaceable>string</replaceable>'::<replaceable>type</replaceable>
CAST '<replaceable>string</replaceable>' AS <replaceable>type</replaceable>
     </synopsis>

     The value inside the string is passed to the input
     conversion routine for the type called
     <replaceable>type</replaceable>. The result is a
     constant of the indicated type.  The explicit typecast may be omitted
     if there is no ambiguity as to the type the constant must be, in which
     case it is automatically coerced.
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Array constants</title>

    <para>
     <firstterm>Array constants</firstterm>
     are arrays of any Postgres type, including other arrays, string
     constants, etc.  The general format of an array constant is the
     following:

     <synopsis>
{<replaceable>val1</replaceable><replaceable>delim</replaceable><replaceable>val2</replaceable><replaceable>delim</replaceable>}
     </synopsis>

     where <replaceable>delim</replaceable>
     is the delimiter for the type stored in the <literal>pg_type</literal> class.
     (For built-in types, this is the comma character (",").  An
     example of an array constant is

     <programlisting>
{{1,2,3},{4,5,6},{7,8,9}}
     </programlisting>

     This constant is a two-dimensional, 3 by 3 array consisting of three
     sub-arrays of integers.
    </para>

    <para>
     Individual array elements can and should be placed between quotation
     marks whenever possible to avoid ambiguity problems with respect to
     leading white space.
    </para>
   </sect2>
  </sect1>

  <sect1>
   <title>Fields and Columns</title>

   <sect2>
    <title>Fields</title>

    <para>
     A <firstterm>field</firstterm>
     is either an attribute of a given class or one of the following:

     <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
       <term>oid</term>
       <listitem>
	<para>
	 stands for the unique identifier of an instance which is added by
	 Postgres to all instances automatically. Oids are not reused and are 32
	 bit quantities.
	</para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
       <term>xmin</term>
       <listitem>
	<para>
	 The identity of the inserting transaction.
	</para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
      <term>xmax</term>
       <listitem>
	<para>
	 The identity of the deleting transaction.
	</para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
      <term>cmin</term>
       <listitem>
	<para>
	 The command identifier within the transaction.
	</para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
      <term>cmax</term>
       <listitem>
	<para>
	 The identity of the deleting command.
	</para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
     </variablelist>
    </para>

    <para>
     For further information on these fields consult
     <xref linkend="STON87a" endterm="STON87a">.
     Times are represented internally as instances of the
     <literal>abstime</literal>
     data type.  Transaction and command identifiers are 32 bit quantities.
     Transactions are assigned sequentially starting at 512.
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Columns</title>

    <para>
     A <firstterm>column</firstterm> is a construct of the form:

     <synopsis>
<replaceable>instance</replaceable>{.<replaceable>composite_field</replaceable>}.<replaceable>field</replaceable> `['<replaceable>number</replaceable>`]'
     </synopsis>

     <replaceable>instance</replaceable>
     identifies a particular class and can be thought of as standing for
     the instances of that class.  An instance variable is either a class
     name, a surrogate for a class defined by means of a FROM clause,
     or the keyword NEW or CURRENT.
     NEW and CURRENT can only appear in the action portion of a rule, while
     other instance variables can be used in any SQL statement.
     <replaceable>composite_field</replaceable>
     is a field of of one of the Postgres composite types,
     while successive composite fields address attributes in the
     class(s) to which the composite field evaluates.  Lastly,
     <replaceable>field</replaceable>
     is a normal (base type) field in the class(s) last addressed.  If
     <replaceable>field</replaceable>
     is of type <literal>array</literal>,
     then the optional <replaceable>number</replaceable>
     designator indicates a specific element in the array.  If no number is
     indicated, then all array elements are returned.
    </para>
   </sect2>
  </sect1>

  <sect1>
   <title>Operators</title>

   <para>
    Any built-in system, or user-defined operator may be used in SQL.
    For the list of built-in and system operators consult
    <xref linkend="operators" endterm="operators-title">.
    For a list of user-defined operators consult your system administrator
    or run a query on the <literal>pg_operator</literal> class.
    Parentheses may be used for arbitrary grouping of operators in expressions.
   </para>
  </sect1>

  <sect1>
   <title>Expressions</title>

   <para>
    <acronym>SQL92</acronym> allows <firstterm>expressions</firstterm>
    to transform data in tables. Expressions may contain operators
    (see <xref linkend="operators" endterm="operators-title">
    for more details) and functions
    (<xref linkend="functions" endterm="functions-title"> has
    more information).
   </para>

   <para>
    An expression is one of the following:

    <simplelist>
     <member>( a_expr )</member>
     <member>constant</member>
     <member>attribute</member>
     <member><replaceable>a_expr</replaceable> <replaceable>binary_operator</replaceable> <replaceable>a_expr</replaceable></member>
     <member><replaceable>a_expr</replaceable> <replaceable>right_unary_operator</replaceable></member>
     <member><replaceable>left_unary_operator</replaceable> <replaceable>a_expr</replaceable></member>
     <member>parameter</member>
     <member>functional expressions</member>
     <member>aggregate expressions</member>
    </simplelist>
   </para>

   <para>
    We have already discussed constants and attributes.  The two kinds of
    operator expressions indicate respectively binary and left_unary
    expressions.  The following sections discuss the remaining options.
   </para>

   <sect2>
    <title>Parameters</title>

    <para>
     A <firstterm>parameter</firstterm>
     is used to indicate a parameter in a SQL function.  Typically this
     is used in SQL function definition statement.  The form of a
     parameter is:

     <synopsis>
$<replaceable class="parameter">number</replaceable>
     </synopsis>
    </para>

    <para>
     For example, consider the definition of a function,
     <function>dept</function>, as

     <programlisting>
CREATE FUNCTION dept (name)
	RETURNS dept
	AS 'select * from 
	    dept where name=$1'
	LANGUAGE 'sql';
     </programlisting>
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Functional Expressions</title>

    <para>
     A <firstterm>functional expression</firstterm>
     is the name of a legal SQL function, followed by its argument list
     enclosed in parentheses:

     <synopsis>
<replaceable>function</replaceable> (<replaceable>a_expr</replaceable> [, <replaceable>a_expr</replaceable> )
     </synopsis>
    </para>

    <para>
     For example, the following computes the square root of an employee
     salary:

     <programlisting>
sqrt(emp.salary)
     </programlisting>
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Aggregate Expression</title>

    <para>
     An <firstterm>aggregate expression</firstterm>
     represents a simple aggregate (i.e., one that computes a single value)
     or an aggregate function (i.e., one that computes a set of values).
     The syntax is the following:

     <synopsis>
<replaceable>aggregate_name</replaceable> (<replaceable>attribute</replaceable>)
     </synopsis>

     where <replaceable>aggregate_name</replaceable>
     must be a previously defined aggregate.
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Target List</title>

    <para>
     A <firstterm>target list</firstterm>
     is a parenthesized, comma-separated list of one or more elements, each
     of which must be of the form:

     <synopsis>
<replaceable>a_expr</replaceable> [ AS <replaceable>result_attname</replaceable> ]
     </synopsis>

     where <replaceable>result_attname</replaceable>
     is the name of the attribute to be created (or an
     already existing attribute name in the case of update statements.)  If
     <replaceable>result_attname</replaceable>
     is not present, then 
     <replaceable>a_expr</replaceable>
     must contain only one attribute name which is assumed to be the name
     of the result field.  In <productname>Postgres</productname>
     default naming is only used if
     <replaceable>a_expr</replaceable>
     is an attribute.
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Qualification</title>

    <para>
     A <firstterm>qualification</firstterm>
     consists of any number of clauses connected by the logical operators:

     <simplelist>
      <member>NOT</member>
      <member>AND</member>
      <member>OR</member>
     </simplelist>

     A clause is an <replaceable>a_expr</replaceable>
     that evaluates to a <literal>boolean</literal> over a set of instances.
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>From List</title>

    <para>
     The <firstterm>from list</firstterm>
     is a comma-separated list of <firstterm>from expressions</firstterm>.
     Each "from expression" is of the form:

     <synopsis>
[ <replaceable>class_reference</replaceable> ] <replaceable>instance_variable</replaceable>
	{, [ <replaceable>class_ref</replaceable> ] <replaceable>instance_variable</replaceable>... }
     </synopsis>

     where <replaceable>class_reference</replaceable>
     is of the form

     <synopsis>
<replaceable>class_name</replaceable> [ * ]
     </synopsis>

     The "from expression"
     defines one or more instance variables to range over the class
     indicated in <replaceable>class_reference</replaceable>.
     One can also request 
     the instance variable to range over all classes that are beneath the
     indicated class in the inheritance hierarchy by postpending the
     designator asterisk ("*").
    </para>
   </sect2>
  </sect1>
 </chapter>

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