How To Use This Book

This book is divided up into three basic sections:

• Chapter 1 ” covers the operators and functions recognized by Oracle SQL, as well as the format models, privileges and reserved words, organized into easy to read tables and grouped by the type of function, operator, privilege, or format model involved.

• Chapter 2 ” is a complete SQL command reference, showing the syntax and options for every Oracle SQL command supported by Oracle 9.2 from ALTER CLUSTER to UPDATE, in alphabetical order. We have used standard " railroad " syntax diagrams to make it easy to follow the options and syntax required.

• Chapter 3 ” is a listing of the data dictionary views that are a part of every DBA's life, and the dynamic performance tables that provide a wealth of information about what is happening inside the database. In the interest of keeping to our design goal of making this a short, easy-to-use and quick reference, we stuck to a simple listing of the tables and views here. The names make it pretty clear what each covers, and as working DBAs we've found that's really all we need. Once we know the name , a simple DESCRIBE will get the rest.

A note on the syntax diagrams in Chapter 2. Certain clauses show up across a wide range of commands with no change in the syntax or options they support. In order to keep the diagrams as simple as possible, we have grouped those clauses at the end of the chapter under "Common." The clauses covered there are:

• Allocate Extent

• Constraints

• Deallocate Unused

• File Specification

• Logging

• Parallel

• Physical Attributes

• Storage

Within each command, we have broken out the syntax for the less common clauses immediately following the main command. This enables a simpler and more readable diagram while providing full information. We have underlined the names of subordinate clauses in the diagrams to make it clear that you need to break out of the main diagram for the syntax to that clause.