Appendix I: SQL-Reserved Keywords

Overview

With a limited vocabulary, SQL is a relatively efficient language (compared with many other programming languages); the SQL99 standard defines about 300 keywords out of which vendors have thus far implemented only a small subset.

Oracle 9i lists over 100 keywords, IBM DB2 UDB has over 290 keywords, and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 reserves over 170 keywords. Most of the vendor-reserved keywords are found in the SQL99 standard, but many more exist. None of these reserved words should be used as a variable identifier as such use would affect portability of your SQL code. On some systems, doing so will generate an error (SQLSTATE 42939).

Asterisks appear after the vendor-supported keywords whenever they also are part of SQL standard.

Note 

In addition to keywords listed here, each vendor also has a list of keywords reserved for future use. These lists are constantly updated. Refer to the particular RDBMS documentation.

SQL99 standard reserved keywords:

ABSOLUTE	CASE	CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
ACTION	CAST	CURRENT_USER
ADD	CATALOG	CURSOR
ADMIN	CHAR	CYCLE
AFTER	CHARACTER	DATA
AGGREGATE	CHECK	DATALINK
ALIAS	CLASS	DATE
ALL	CLOB	DAY
ALLOCATE	CLOSE	DEALLOCATE
ALTER	COLLATE	DEC
AND	COLLATION	DECIMAL
ANY	COLUMN	DECLARE
ARE	COMMIT	DEFAULT
ARRAY	COMPLETION	DEFERRABLE
AS	CONDITION	DELETE
ASC	CONNECT	DEPTH
ASSERTION	CONNECTION	DEREF
AT	CONSTRAINT	DESC
AUTHORIZATION	CONSTRAINTS	DESCRIPTOR
BEFORE	CONSTRUCTOR	DIAGNOSTICS
BEGIN	CONTAINS	DICTIONARY
BINARY	CONTINUE	DISCONNECT
BIT	CORRESPONDING	DO
BLOB	CREATE	DOMAIN
BOOLEAN	CROSS	DOUBLE
BOTH	CUBE	DROP
BREADTH	CURRENT	END-EXEC
BY	CURRENT_DATE	EQUALS
CALL	CURRENT_PATH	ESCAPE
CASCADE	CURRENT_ROLE	EXCEPT
CASCADED	CURRENT_TIME	EXCEPTION
EXECUTE	INPUT	MODIFIES
EXIT	INSERT	MODIFY
EXPAND	INT	MODULE
EXPANDING	INTEGER	MONTH
FALSE	INTERSECT	NAMES
FIRST	INTERVAL	NATIONAL
FLOAT	INTO	NATURAL
FOR	IS	NCHAR
FOREIGN	ISOLATION	NCLOB
FREE	ITERATE	NEW
FROM	JOIN	NEXT
FUNCTION	KEY	NO
GENERAL	LANGUAGE	NONE
GET	LARGE	NORMALIZE
GLOBAL	LAST	NOT
GOTO	LATERAL	NULL
GROUP	LEADING	NUMERIC
GROUPING	LEAVE	OBJECT
HANDLER	LEFT	OF
HASH	LESS	OFF
HOUR	LEVEL	OLD
IDENTITY	LIKE	ON
IF	LIMIT	ONLY
IGNORE	LOCAL	OPEN
IMMEDIATE	LOCALTIME	OPERATION
IN	LOCALTIME-STAMP	OPTION
INDICATOR	LOCATOR	OR
INITIALIZE	LOOP	ORDER
INITIALLY	MATCH	ORDINALITY
INNER	MEETS	OUT
INOUT	MINUTE	OUTER
EXECUTE	INPUT	MODIFIES
EXIT	INSERT	MODIFY
EXPAND	INT	MODULE
EXPANDING	INTEGER	MONTH
FALSE	INTERSECT	NAMES
FIRST	INTERVAL	NATIONAL
FLOAT	INTO	NATURAL
FOR	IS	NCHAR
FOREIGN	ISOLATION	NCLOB
FREE	ITERATE	NEW
FROM	JOIN	NEXT
FUNCTION	KEY	NO
GENERAL	LANGUAGE	NONE
GET	LARGE	NORMALIZE
GLOBAL	LAST	NOT
GOTO	LATERAL	NULL
GROUP	LEADING	NUMERIC
GROUPING	LEAVE	OBJECT
HANDLER	LEFT	OF
HASH	LESS	OFF
HOUR	LEVEL	OLD
IDENTITY	LIKE	ON
IF	LIMIT	ONLY
IGNORE	LOCAL	OPEN
IMMEDIATE	LOCALTIME	OPERATION
IN	LOCALTIME-STAMP	OPTION
INDICATOR	LOCATOR	OR
INITIALIZE	LOOP	ORDER
INITIALLY	MATCH	ORDINALITY
INNER	MEETS	OUT
INOUT	MINUTE	OUTER
USAGE	VARYING	WITH
USER	VIEW	WRITE
USING	WHEN	YEAR
VALUE	WHENEVER	ZONE
VALUES	WHERE
VARIABLE	WHILE

Oracle 9i SQL reserved keywords:

ACCESS	DELETE *	INTO *
ADD *	DESC *	IS *
ALL *	DISTINCT *	LEVEL *
ALTER *	DROP *	LIKE *
AND *	ELSE *	LOCK
ANY *	EXCLUSIVE	LONG
AS *	EXISTS	MAXEXTENTS
ASC *	FILE	MINUS
AUDIT	FLOAT *	MLSLABEL
BETWEEN *	FOR *	MODE
BY *	FROM *	MODIFY *
CHAR *	GRANT *	NOAUDIT
CHECK *	GROUP *	NOCOMPRESS
CLUSTER	HAVING *	NOT *
COLUMN *	IDENTIFIED	NOWAIT
COMMENT	IMMEDIATE *	NULL *
COMPRESS	IN *	NUMBER
CONNECT *	INCREMENT	OF *
CREATE *	INDEX	OFFLINE
CURRENT *	INITIAL	ON *
DATE *	INSERT *	ONLINE
DECIMAL *	INTEGER *	OPTION *
DEFAULT *	INTERSECT *	OR*
ORDER *	SESSION *	UNION *
PCTFREE	SET *	UNIQUE *
PRIOR *	SHARE	UPDATE *
PRIVILEGES *	SIZE *	USER *
PUBLIC *	SMALLINT *	VALIDATE
RAW *	START *	VALUES *
RENAME	SUCCESSFUL	VARCHAR *
RESOURCE	SYNONYM	VARCHAR2
REVOKE *	SYSDATE	VIEW *
ROW *	TABLE *	WHENEVER *
ROWID	THEN *	WHERE *
ROWNUM	TO *	WITH *
ROWS *	TRIGGER *
SELECT *	UID

IBM DB2 UDB 8.1 reserved keywords:

ACQUIRE	AUX	CAST *
ADD *	AUXILIARY	CCSID
AFTER *	AVG	CHAR *
ALIAS *	BD2GENERAL	CHARACTER *
ALL *	BEFORE *	CHECK *
ALLOCATE *	BEGIN *	CLOSE *
ALLOW	BETWEEN	CLUSTER
ALTER *	BINARY *	COLLECTION
AND *	BUFFERPOOL	COLLID
ANY *	BY *	COLUMN *
AS *	CALL *	COMMENT
ASC *	CALLED	COMMIT *
ASUTIME	CAPTURE	CONCAT
AUDIT	CASCADED *	CONDITION *
AUTHORISATION *	CASE *	CONNECT *
CONNECTION *	DESCRIPTOR *	FOREIGN *
CONSTRAINT *	DETERMINISTIC	FREE *
CONTAINS *	DISALLOW	FROM *
CONTINUE *	DISCONNECT *	FULL
COUNT	DISTINCT	FUNCTION *
COUNT_BIG	DO *	GENERAL *
CREATE *	DOUBLE *	GENERATED
CROSS *	DROP *	GO
CURRENT *	DSSIZE	GOTO *
CURRENT_DATE *	DYNAMIC	GRANT
CURRENT_LC_PATH	EDITPROC	GRAPHIC
CURRENT_PATH	ELSE	GROUP *
CURRENT_SERVER	ELSEIF	HANDLER *
CURRENT_TIME *	END	HAVING
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP *	END-EXEC	HOUR *
CURRENT_TIMEZONE	ERASE	HOURS
CURRENT_USER *	ESCAPE *	IDENTIFIED
CURSOR *	EXCEPT *	IF *
DATA *	EXCEPTION *	IMMEDIATE *
DATABASE	EXCLUSIVE	IN *
DATE *	EXECUTE *	INDEX
DAY *	EXISTS	INDICATOR *
DAYS	EXIT *	INNER *
DB2SQL	EXPLAIN	INOUT *
DBA	EXTERNAL	INSENSITIVE
DBINFO	FENCED	INSERT *
DBSPACE	FETCH	INTEGRITY
DECLARE	FIELDPROC	INTERSECT *
DEFAULT *	FILE	INTO *
DELETE *	FINAL	IS *
DESC *	FOR *	ISOBID
ISOLATION *	NHEADER	POSITION
JAVA	NO *	PRECISION
JOIN *	NODENAME	PREPARE *
KEY *	NODENUMBER	PRIMARY *
LABEL	NOT *	PRIQTY
LANGUAGE *	NULL *	PRIVATE
LC_TYPE	NULLS	PRIVILEGES *
LEAVE *	NUMPARTS	PROCEDURE *
LEFT *	OBID	PROGRAM
LIKE *	OF *	PSID
LINKTYPE	ON *	PUBLIC *
LOCAL *	ONLY	QUERYNO
LOCALE	OPEN *	READ *
LOCATOR *	OPTIMIZATION	READS *
LOCATORS	OPTIMIZE	RECOVERY
LOCK	OPTION *	REFERENCES *
LOCKSIZE	OR *	RELEASE
LONG	ORDER *	RENAME
LOOP *	OUT *	REPEAT *
MAX	OUTER *	RESET
MICROSECOND	PACKAGE	RESOURCE
MICROSECONDS	PAGE	RESTRICT *
MIN	PAGES	RESULT *
MINUTE *	PARAMETER	RETURN *
MINUTES	PART	RETURNS *
MODE	PARTITION	REVOKE *
MODIFIES *	PATH	RIGHT *
MONTH *	PCTINDEX	ROLLBACK *
MONTHS	PCTREE	ROW *
NAME	PIECESIZE	ROWS *
NAMED	PLAN	RRN
RUN	STOGROUP	UPDATE *
SCHEDULE	STORES	USAGE *
SCHEMA *	STORPOOL	USER *
SCRATCHPAD	STYLE	USING *
SECOND *	SUBPAGES	VALIDPROC
SECONDS	SUBSTRING	VALUES *
SECQTY	SUM *	VARIABLE *
SECURITY	SYNONYM	VARIANT
SELECT *	TABLE *	VCAT
SET *	TABLESPACE	VIEW *
SHARE	THEN *	VOLUMES
SIMPLE	TO *	WHEN *
SOME	TRANSACTION *	WHERE *
SOURCE	TRIGGER *	WHILE *
SPECIFIC *	TRIM	WITH *
SQL *	TYPE	WLM
STANDARD	UNDO *	WORK
STATIC	UNION *	WRITE *
STATISTICS	UNIQUE *	YEAR *
STAY	UNTIL *	YEARS

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 reserved keywords:

ADD *	BEGIN *	CHECKPOINT
ALL *	BETWEEN *	CLOSE *
ALTER *	BREAK	CLUSTERED
AND *	BROWSE	COALESCE
ANY *	BULK	COLLATE *
AS *	BY *	COLUMN *
ASC *	CASCADE *	COMMIT *
AUTHORIZATION *	CASE *	COMPUTE
BACKUP	CHECK *	CONSTRAINT *
CONTAINS *	END *	INDEX
CONTAINSTABLE	ERRLVL	INNER *
CONTINUE *	ESCAPE	INSERT *
CONVERT	EXCEPT *	INTERSECT *
CREATE *	EXEC	INTO *
CROSS *	EXECUTE *	IS *
CRRENT_TIME *	EXISTS	JOIN *
CURREN *T	EXIT *	KEY *
CURRENT_DATE *	FETCH	KILL
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP *	FILE	LEFT *
CURRENT_USER *	FILLFACTOR	LIKE
CURSOR *	FOR *	LINENO
DATABASE	FOREIGN *	LOAD
DBCC	FREETEXT	NATIONAL *
DEALLOCATE *	FREETEXTTABLE	NOCHECK
DECLARE *	FROM *	NONCLUSTERED
DEFAULT *	FULL	NOT *
DELETE *	FUNCTION *	NULL *
DENY	GOTO *	NULLIF
DESC *	GRANT *	OF *
DISK	GROUP *	OFF *
DISTINCT *	HAVING	OFFSETS
DISTRIBUTED	HOLDLOCK	ON *
DOUBLE *	IDENTITY *	OPEN *
DROP *	IDENTITY_COL	OPENDATASOURCE
DUMMY	IDENTITY_INSERT	OPENQUERY
DUMP	IF *	OPENROWSET
ELSE *	IN *	OPENXML
OPTION *	RETURN *	TOP
OR *	REVOKE *	TRAN
ORDER *	RIGHT *	TRANSACTION *
OUTER *	ROLLBACK *	TRIGGER *
OVER	ROWCOUNT	TRUNCATE
PERCENT	ROWGUIDCOL	TSEQUAL
PLAN	RULE	UNION *
PRECISION *	SAVE	UNIQUE *
PRIMARY *	SCHEMA *	UPDATE *
PRINT *	SELECTSESSION_USER	UPDATETEXT
PROC	*	USE
PROCEDURE *	SET *	USER *
PUBLIC *	SETUSER	VALUES *
RAISERROR	SHUTDOWN	VARYING *
READ *	SOME	VIEW *
READTEXT	STATISTICS	WAITFOR
RECONFIGURE	SYSTEM_USER *	WHEN *
REFERENCES *	TABLE *	WHERE *
REPLICATION	TEXTSIZE	WHILE *
RESTORE	THEN *	WITH *
RESTRICT *	TO *	WRITETEXT