Coding SQL statements

Delimit SQL statements with EXEC SQL and END-EXEC. The EXEC SQL and END-EXEC delimiters must each be complete on one line. You cannot continue them across multiple lines. Do not code COBOL statements within EXEC SQL statements.

About this task

You must have an EXEC SQL CONNECT statement so that when your program runs it establishes a connection to the database. Below is an example:
EXEC SQL CONNECT TO dbname END-EXEC
You also need to do these special steps:
  • Code an EXEC SQL INCLUDE statement to include an SQL communication area (SQLCA) in the WORKING-STORAGE SECTION or LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION of the outermost program. LOCAL-STORAGE is recommended for recursive programs.
  • Define all host variables that you use in SQL statements in the WORKING-STORAGE SECTION, LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION, or LINKAGE SECTION. However, you do not need to identify them with EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION and EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION.

You can use SQL statements even for large objects (such as BLOB and CLOB) and compound SQL.