DECLARE#

Synopsis#

DECLARE identifier [, ...] type [ DEFAULT expression ]

Description#

Use the DECLARE statement directly after the BEGIN keyword in SQL routines to define one or more variables with an identifier as name. Each statement must specify the data type of the variable with type. It can optionally include a default, initial value defined by an expression. The default value is NULL if not specified.

Examples#

A simple declaration of the variable x with the tinyint data type and the implicit default value of null:

DECLARE x tinyint;

A declaration of multiple string variables with length restricted to 25 characters:

DECLARE first_name, last_name, middle_name varchar(25);

A declaration of an exact decimal number with a default value:

DECLARE uptime_requirement decimal DEFAULT 99.999;

A declaration with a default value from an expression:

DECLARE start_time timestamp(3) with time zone DEFAULT now();

Further examples of varying complexity that cover usage of the DECLARE statement in combination with other statements are available in the SQL routines examples documentation.

See also#