Writing an SQL Program › Host Variables › Referring to Host Variables

Referring to Host Variables

Reference Requirements

These syntax requirements apply when you refer to a host variable in an embedded SQL statement:

• To refer to any host variable in an embedded SQL statement, prefix the host variable name with a colon (:)
• To associate an indicator variable with a host variable, place the reference to the indicator variable after the host variable, with no comma or other separator character

  Note: You can use the optional keyword INDICATOR as a separator.

Reference Example

In the following example, information from the BENEFITS table is selected for a given employee ID value, which the program has assigned to the host variable EMP-ID. BENEFITS table information is retrieved into host variables VAC-TAKEN and SICK-TAKEN. VAC-TAKEN-I and SICK-TAKEN-I are indicator variables.

EXEC SQL
   SELECT VAC_TAKEN,
          SICK_TAKEN
     INTO :VAC-TAKEN INDICATOR :VAC-TAKEN-I,
          :SICK-TAKEN INDICATOR :SICK-TAKEN-I
     FROM BENEFITS
     WHERE EMP_ID = :EMP-ID
END-EXEC.