Using the DP4 SQL Interpreter

To run the DP4 SQL Interpreter:

1. Run SQL.EXE. The program starts and presents a list of databases
2. Select the database with which you want to work. The main screen of the DP4 Interpreter appears. Click on an area of the illustration below for further details of the options available.
   

Running a Simple SELECT Statement

To test whether the DP4 SQL Interpreter is functional, you might like to run a simple SELECT statement against the SALESORD database:

1. Select the STATEMENT option. The cursor moves into the Command window
2. To list all the records on the EMPLOYEE table, enter the following:
   SELECT * FROM employee;
   The employee records are listed in the Results area:

If you want to browse the data, select the Results option and use the <↓> and <↑> keys.

For information on:

• how you write constants, table names and field names, and how you construct expressions and conditions, refer to SQL Notation.
  
• the different SQL statements you can use, refer to SQL Statements.
  

Command Line options

The SQL Interpreter accepts the following command line options: -gofaster, -noprivate, -readonly. These options all have the same meaning as the corresponding options for SQLEXE. See SQLEXE Command line Options for further information. SQL does not accept any of the other special SQLEXE options, only standard DP4 command tails such as -db.

The SQL Interpreter expects these options to be supplied without any _ separators, whereas the SQL Filter expects them with _ separators. Sorry about that!

Exiting From the DP4 SQL Interpreter

To leave the program, either press <Esc> with one of the menu options highlighted or select the Exit menu option.