ALLBASE/SQL Reference Manual (36216-90216)

376 Chapter10
SQL Statements A - D
DECLARE Variable
DECLARE Variable
The DECLARE Variable statement lets you define a local variable within a procedure. Local
variables are used only within the procedure.
Scope
Procedures only
SQL Syntax
DECLARE { LocalVariable}[,...] VariableType {LANG = VariableLangName]
[DEFAULT {Constant
NULL
CurrentFunction}][NOT NULL]
Parameters
LocalVariable specifies the name of the local variable. A variable name may not be the
same as a parameter name in the same procedure.
VariableType specifies the data type of the local variable. All the ALLBASE/SQL data
types are permitted except LONG data types.
VariableLangName specifies the language of the data (for character data types only) to
be stored in the local variable. This name must be either n-computer or the
current language of the DBEnvironment.
DEFAULT specifies the default value of the local variable. The default can be a
constant, NULL, or a date/time current function. The data type of the
default value must be compatible with the data type of the variable.
NOT NULL means the variable cannot contain null values. If NOT NULL is specified,
any statement that attempts to place a null value in the variable is
rejected.
Description
• Declarations must appear at the beginning of the stored procedure body, following the
first BEGIN statement.
• No two local variables or parameters in a procedure may have the same name.
• Local variable declarations may not be preceded by labels.
• If no DEFAULT clause is given for a column in the table, an implicit DEFAULT NULL
is assumed. Any INSERT statement, which does not include a column for which a
default has been declared, causes the default value to be inserted into that column for
all rows inserted.
• For a CHAR column, if the specified default value is shorter in length than the target
column, it is padded with blanks. For a CHAR or VARCHAR column, if the specified