ASA SQL Reference

SQL Language Elements

Strings

Strings are of the following types:

• literal strings

• expressions with CHAR or VARCHAR data types.

An expression with a CHAR data type may be a built-in or user-defined function, or one of the many other kinds of expressions available.

For more information on expressions, see Expressions.

A literal string is any sequence of characters enclosed in apostrophes ('single quotes'). A SQL variable of character data type can hold a string. The following is a simple example of a literal string:

'This is a string.'

Special characters in strings 

You represent special character in strings by escape sequences, as follows:

• To represent an apostrophe inside a string, use two apostrophes in a row. For example,

  'John''s database'

• To represent a new line character, use a backslash followed by n (\n). For example,

  'First line:\nSecond line:'

• To represent a backslash character, use two backslashes in a row (\\). For example,

  'c:\\temp'

• Hexadecimal escape sequences can be used for any character, printable or not. A hexadecimal escape sequence is a backslash followed by an x followed by two hexadecimal digits (for example, \x6d represents the letter m). For example,

  '\x00\x01\x02\x03'

See also 

• For information about the handling of strings in dynamically constructed SQL statements, see EXECUTE IMMEDIATE statement [SP].

Standards and compatibility 

For compatibility with Adaptive Server Enterprise, you can set the QUOTED_IDENTIFIER database option to OFF. With this setting, you can also use double quotes to mark the beginning and end of strings. The option is set to ON by default.

For information about the QUOTED_IDENTIFIER option, see QUOTED_IDENTIFIER option [compatibility].

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