V12 has introduced the possibility to initialize local variables within the DECLARE statement, such as

declare lCnt integer = 0;

Now it would be fine if one could declare constants, too, (like "const int" in C/C++ etc.). This would be handy for longer blocks of code, e.g. to name savepoints or name expressions that are used in several queries.

And it might make explicit that a variable like in this question cannot be changed unintentionally...

I don't know if constants are defined in the SQL standards, so I won't suggest a particular syntax.

asked 31 Oct '10, 21:08

Volker%20Barth's gravatar image

Volker Barth
39.7k357545814
accept rate: 34%


I like this idea and will discuss it with the SA development team for possible inclusion in a future release. Thanks for making the suggestion. As mentioned in Ivan's response to this question, the optimizer cannot use variable values when optimizing queries define within a stored procedure, but with the ability to mark a variable as constant (and if its value is, in fact, a constant) then there is the possibility that the optimizer could use the constant value at optimization time.

permanent link

answered 01 Nov '10, 21:08

Mark%20Culp's gravatar image

Mark Culp
24.8k9139296
accept rate: 41%

Good news:) BTW, are named constants specified in the current SQL standards?

(01 Nov '10, 21:15) Volker Barth

I glanced through the SQL 2008 ANSI standard and could not see anything that allowed declaration of a variable as a constant.

(02 Nov '10, 15:08) Mark Culp
Comment Text Removed
Comment Text Removed

@Mark: As many PLs support the notion of a "constant" it's interesting that this seems uncommon w.r.t. SQL. – Well, that makes me consider this a "cutting-edge suggestion":)

(02 Nov '10, 15:59) Volker Barth
Your answer
toggle preview

Follow this question

By Email:

Once you sign in you will be able to subscribe for any updates here

By RSS:

Answers

Answers and Comments

Markdown Basics

  • *italic* or _italic_
  • **bold** or __bold__
  • link:[text](http://url.com/ "title")
  • image?![alt text](/path/img.jpg "title")
  • numbered list: 1. Foo 2. Bar
  • to add a line break simply add two spaces to where you would like the new line to be.
  • basic HTML tags are also supported

Question tags:

×113
×14
×3

question asked: 31 Oct '10, 21:08

question was seen: 2,678 times

last updated: 01 Nov '10, 21:08