SQL statements can be classified according to various aspects, e.g.:
whether they start a transaction (see section “SQL transaction”)
whether they are executable SQL statements (see "ESQL program")
whether they can be compiled dynamically (see "Dynamic SQL")
SQL statements can also be classified by function. The SQL standard distinguishes the following classes of statements:
SQL statements for schema definition and administration
SQL statements for querying and updating data
SQL statements for designing and managing routines
SQL statements for transaction management
SQL statements for session control
SQL statements for dynamic SQL
WHENEVER statement for ESQL error handling
SESAM/SQL includes the following additional classes of SQL statements:
SQL statements for managing the storage structure
SQL statements for managing user entries
Utility statements
The SQL statements for schema definition and administration are also known as DDL statements (“Data Definition Language”) and the SQL statements for querying and updating data are known as DML statements (“Data Manipulation Language”).
The following sections list the SQL statements for each of the classes and provide a brief description of each statement. Extensions specific to SESAM/SQL are shown on a gray background. The functions provided by the SQL statements are described in section “SQL objects of a SESAM/SQL database”.