What Is SQL? › Components of an SQL Statement

Components of an SQL Statement

An interactive SQL statement consists of a structured set of English-like elements:

• A verb that tells the action you want performed.
• Additional options that modify verbs and further define the operation.
• Named entities that identify the object of the action.
• Clauses (required or optional) to identify the table in which the data is located and to specify more about how you want the action performed.
• A delimiter (;) that signals the end of the statement.

Basic SQL statement:

select distinct city from employee where emp_id > 5555;

  │       │     │    └───────────┘      └─────────────────┘ │
  │       │     │    │           │      │                 │ │
Verb  Options  Named   Clause          Clause specifying   Delimiter
               entity  identifying     selection criteria
                       table

A delimiter is required for interactive SQL commands. If you enter SQL commands in an application program, you may need to use a different delimiter or none at all.

Statement Length

A statement can span several lines. It will not be executed until the delimiter is encountered.