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Delimiting Statements

Required Delimiters

One or more blanks must be used as delimiters between words and clauses.

Optional Delimiters

Commas (,) and colons (:), are treated as blanks by the compilers and can be used as delimiters between words and clauses to enhance readability. You can also use a semicolon (;) as a delimiter if the SET OPTIONS statement does not set the SEMICOLON ALTERNATE END OF SENTENCE to ON.

End of Statement Delimiter

A period (.) signifies the end of the statement. You can also designate a semicolon (;) as an alternative statement terminator by specifying ON in the SEMICOLON ALTERNATE clause of the SET OPTIONS statement.