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Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions (Transact-SQL)
Tutorial: Writing Transact-SQL Statements
+ (Add) (Transact-SQL)
+ (Unary Plus) (Transact-SQL)
+ (String Concatenation) (Transact-SQL)
+= (Add EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
+= (String Concatenation) (Transact-SQL)
- (Negative) (Transact-SQL)
- (Subtract) (Transact-SQL)
-= (Subtract EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
* (Multiply) (Transact-SQL)
*= (Multiply EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
/ (Divide) (Transact-SQL)
/= (Divide EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
\ (Backslash) (Transact-SQL)
% (Modulo) (Transact-SQL)
%= (Modulo EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
% (Wildcard - Character(s) to Match) (Transact-SQL)
& (Bitwise AND) (Transact-SQL)
&= (Bitwise AND EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
| (Bitwise OR) (Transact-SQL)
|= (Bitwise OR EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
^ (Bitwise Exclusive OR) (Transact-SQL)
^= (Bitwise Exclusive OR EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
~ (Bitwise NOT) (Transact-SQL)
= (Equals) (Transact-SQL)
> (Greater Than) (Transact-SQL)
< (Less Than) (Transact-SQL)
>= (Greater Than or Equal To) (Transact-SQL)
<= (Less Than or Equal To) (Transact-SQL)
<> (Not Equal To) (Transact-SQL)
!< (Not Less Than) (Transact-SQL)
!= (Not Equal To) (Transact-SQL)
!> (Not Greater Than) (Transact-SQL)
-- (Comment) (Transact-SQL)
/*...*/ (Comment) (Transact-SQL)
[ ] (Wildcard - Character(s) to Match) (Transact-SQL)
[^] (Wildcard - Character(s) Not to Match) (Transact-SQL)
_ (Wildcard - Match One Character) (Transact-SQL)
$PARTITION (Transact-SQL)
@@CONNECTIONS (Transact-SQL)
@@CPU_BUSY (Transact-SQL)
@@CURSOR_ROWS (Transact-SQL)
@@DATEFIRST (Transact-SQL)
@@DBTS (Transact-SQL)
@@ERROR (Transact-SQL)
@@FETCH_STATUS (Transact-SQL)
@@IDENTITY (Transact-SQL)
@@IDLE (Transact-SQL)
@@IO_BUSY (Transact-SQL)
@@LANGID (Transact-SQL)
@@LANGUAGE (Transact-SQL)
@@LOCK_TIMEOUT (Transact-SQL)
@@MAX_CONNECTIONS (Transact-SQL)
@@MAX_PRECISION (Transact-SQL)
@@NESTLEVEL (Transact-SQL)
@@OPTIONS (Transact-SQL)
@@PACK_RECEIVED (Transact-SQL)
@@PACK_SENT (Transact-SQL)
@@PACKET_ERRORS (Transact-SQL)
@@PROCID (Transact-SQL)
@@REMSERVER (Transact-SQL)
@@ROWCOUNT (Transact-SQL)
@@SERVERNAME (Transact-SQL)
@@SERVICENAME (Transact-SQL)
@@SPID (Transact-SQL)
@@TEXTSIZE (Transact-SQL)
@@TIMETICKS (Transact-SQL)
@@TOTAL_ERRORS (Transact-SQL)
@@TOTAL_READ (Transact-SQL)
@@TOTAL_WRITE (Transact-SQL)
@@TRANCOUNT (Transact-SQL)
@@VERSION (Transact-SQL)
ABS (Transact-SQL)
ACOS (Transact-SQL)
ADD SIGNATURE (Transact-SQL)
ALL (Transact-SQL)
ALTER Statements (Transact-SQL)
AND (Transact-SQL)
ANY (Transact-SQL)
APPLOCK_MODE (Transact-SQL)
APPLOCK_TEST (Transact-SQL)
APP_NAME (Transact-SQL)
ASCII (Transact-SQL)
ASIN (Transact-SQL)
ASSEMBLYPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
ASYMKEY_ID (Transact-SQL)
ASYMKEYPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
ATAN (Transact-SQL)
ATN2 (Transact-SQL)
AVG (Transact-SQL)
BACKUP (Transact-SQL)
BACKUP CERTIFICATE (Transact-SQL)
BACKUP MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)
BACKUP SERVICE MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)
BEGIN...END (Transact-SQL)
BEGIN CONVERSATION TIMER (Transact-SQL)
BEGIN DIALOG CONVERSATION (Transact-SQL)
BEGIN DISTRIBUTED TRANSACTION (Transact-SQL)
BEGIN TRANSACTION (Transact-SQL)
BETWEEN (Transact-SQL)
binary and varbinary (Transact-SQL)
BINARY_CHECKSUM (Transact-SQL)
bit (Transact-SQL)
BREAK (Transact-SQL)
BULK INSERT (Transact-SQL)
CASE (Transact-SQL)
CAST and CONVERT (Transact-SQL)
CATCH (TRY...CATCH) (Transact-SQL)
CEILING (Transact-SQL)
CERTPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
Cert_ID (Transact-SQL)
Change Data Capture Functions (Transact-SQL)
Change Tracking Functions (Transact-SQL)
char and varchar (Transact-SQL)
CHAR (Transact-SQL)
CHARINDEX (Transact-SQL)
CHECKPOINT (Transact-SQL)
CHECKSUM (Transact-SQL)
CHECKSUM_AGG
CLOSE (Transact-SQL)
CLOSE MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)
CLOSE SYMMETRIC KEY (Transact-SQL)
COALESCE (Transact-SQL)
COLLATE (Transact-SQL)
COLLATIONPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
COL_LENGTH (Transact-SQL)
COL_NAME (Transact-SQL)
COLUMNPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
COLUMNS_UPDATED (Transact-SQL)
COMMIT TRANSACTION (Transact-SQL)
COMMIT WORK (Transact-SQL)
Compound Operators (Transact-SQL)
COMPUTE (Transact-SQL)
CONNECTIONPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
Constants (Transact-SQL)
CONTAINS (Transact-SQL)
CONTAINSTABLE (Transact-SQL)
CONTINUE (Transact-SQL)
CONTEXT_INFO (Transact-SQL)
Control-of-Flow Language (Transact-SQL)
CONVERT (Transact-SQL)
COS (Transact-SQL)
COT (Transact-SQL)
COUNT (Transact-SQL)
COUNT_BIG (Transact-SQL)
CREATE Statements (Transact-SQL)
CRYPT_GEN_RANDOM (Transact-SQL)
CURRENT_REQUEST_ID (Transact-SQL)
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP (Transact-SQL)
CURRENT_USER (Transact-SQL)
cursor (Transact-SQL)
CURSOR_STATUS (Transact-SQL)
Cursors (Transact-SQL)
Data Collector Functions (Transact-SQL)
Data Types (Transact-SQL)
DATABASE_PRINCIPAL_ID (Transact-SQL)
DATABASEPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
DATABASEPROPERTYEX (Transact-SQL)
DATALENGTH (Transact-SQL)
date (Transact-SQL)
DATEADD (Transact-SQL)
DATEDIFF (Transact-SQL)
DATENAME (Transact-SQL)
DATEPART (Transact-SQL)
datetime (Transact-SQL)
datetime2 (Transact-SQL)
datetimeoffset (Transact-SQL)
DAY (Transact-SQL)
DB_ID (Transact-SQL)
DB_NAME (Transact-SQL)
DBCC (Transact-SQL)
DEALLOCATE (Transact-SQL)
decimal and numeric (Transact-SQL)
DECLARE @local_variable (Transact-SQL)
DECLARE CURSOR (Transact-SQL)
DECRYPTBYASYMKEY (Transact-SQL)
DECRYPTBYCERT (Transact-SQL)
DECRYPTBYKEY (Transact-SQL)
DECRYPTBYKEYAUTOASYMKEY (Transact-SQL)
DECRYPTBYKEYAUTOCERT (Transact-SQL)
DECRYPTBYPASSPHRASE (Transact-SQL)
DEGREES (Transact-SQL)
DELETE (Transact-SQL)
DENSE_RANK (Transact-SQL)
DENY (Transact-SQL)
DIFFERENCE (Transact-SQL)
DISABLE TRIGGER (Transact-SQL)
DROP Statements (Transact-SQL)
ELSE (IF...ELSE) (Transact-SQL)
ENABLE TRIGGER (Transact-SQL)
ENCRYPTBYASYMKEY (Transact-SQL)
ENCRYPTBYCERT (Transact-SQL)
ENCRYPTBYKEY (Transact-SQL)
ENCRYPTBYPASSPHRASE (Transact-SQL)
END (BEGIN...END) (Transact-SQL)
END CONVERSATION (Transact-SQL)
ERROR_LINE (Transact-SQL)
ERROR_MESSAGE (Transact-SQL)
ERROR_NUMBER (Transact-SQL)
ERROR_PROCEDURE (Transact-SQL)
ERROR_SEVERITY (Transact-SQL)
ERROR_STATE (Transact-SQL)
EVENTDATA (Transact-SQL)
EXCEPT and INTERSECT (Transact-SQL)
EXECUTE AS (Transact-SQL)
EXECUTE AS Clause (Transact-SQL)
EXECUTE
EXISTS (Transact-SQL)
EXP (Transact-SQL)
Expressions (Transact-SQL)
FETCH (Transact-SQL)
FILE_ID (Transact-SQL)
FILE_IDEX (Transact-SQL)
FILE_NAME (Transact-SQL)
FILEGROUP_ID (Transact-SQL)
FILEGROUP_NAME (Transact-SQL)
FILEGROUPPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
FILEPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
float and real (Transact-SQL)
FLOOR (Transact-SQL)
sys.fn_check_object_signatures (Transact-SQL)
fn_get_audit_file (Transact-SQL)
fn_get_sql (Transact-SQL)
fn_helpcollations (Transact-SQL)
fn_listextendedproperty (Transact-SQL)
sys.fn_xe_file_target_read_file (Transact-SQL)
fn_my_permissions (Transact-SQL)
fn_servershareddrives (Transact-SQL)
fn_trace_geteventinfo (Transact-SQL)
fn_trace_getfilterinfo (Transact-SQL)
fn_trace_getinfo (Transact-SQL)
fn_trace_gettable (Transact-SQL)
fn_virtualfilestats (Transact-SQL)
fn_virtualservernodes (Transact-SQL)
FOR Clause (Transact-SQL)
FORMATMESSAGE (Transact-SQL)
FREETEXT (Transact-SQL)
FREETEXTTABLE (Transact-SQL)
FROM (Transact-SQL)
FULLTEXTCATALOGPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
FULLTEXTSERVICEPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
Functions (Transact-SQL)
geography (Transact-SQL)
geometry (Transact-SQL)
GET CONVERSATION GROUP (Transact-SQL)
GET_FILESTREAM_TRANSACTION_CONTEXT (Transact-SQL)
GET_TRANSMISSION_STATUS (Transact-SQL)
GETANSINULL (Transact-SQL)
GETDATE (Transact-SQL)
GETUTCDATE (Transact-SQL)
GO (Transact-SQL)
GOTO (Transact-SQL)
GRANT (Transact-SQL)
GROUP BY (Transact-SQL)
GROUPING (Transact-SQL)
GROUPING_ID (Transact-SQL)
HAS_DBACCESS (Transact-SQL)
HAS_PERMS_BY_NAME (Transact-SQL)
HASHBYTES (Transact-SQL)
HAVING (Transact-SQL)
hierarchyid (Transact-SQL)
Hints (Transact-SQL)
HOST_ID (Transact-SQL)
HOST_NAME (Transact-SQL)
IDENT_CURRENT (Transact-SQL)
IDENT_INCR (Transact-SQL)
IDENT_SEED (Transact-SQL)
IDENTITY (Function) (Transact-SQL)
IDENTITY (Property) (Transact-SQL)
IF...ELSE (Transact-SQL)
image (Transact-SQL)
IN (Transact-SQL)
INDEXKEY_PROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
INDEXPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
INDEX_COL (Transact-SQL)
INSERT (Transact-SQL)
int, bigint, smallint, and tinyint (Transact-SQL)
INTO Clause (Transact-SQL)
IS_MEMBER (Transact-SQL)
IS_OBJECTSIGNED (Transact-SQL)
IS_SRVROLEMEMBER (Transact-SQL)
ISDATE (Transact-SQL)
IS [NOT] NULL (Transact-SQL)
ISNULL (Transact-SQL)
ISNUMERIC (Transact-SQL)
Key_GUID (Transact-SQL)
Key_ID (Transact-SQL)
KEY_NAME (Transact-SQL)
KILL (Transact-SQL)
KILL QUERY NOTIFICATION SUBSCRIPTION (Transact-SQL)
KILL STATS JOB (Transact-SQL)
LEFT (Transact-SQL)
LEN (Transact-SQL)
LIKE (Transact-SQL)
LOG (Transact-SQL)
LOG10 (Transact-SQL)
LOGINPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
LOWER (Transact-SQL)
LTRIM (Transact-SQL)
MAX (Transact-SQL)
MERGE (Transact-SQL)
MIN (Transact-SQL)
MIN_ACTIVE_ROWVERSION (Transact-SQL)
money and smallmoney (Transact-SQL)
MONTH (Transact-SQL)
MOVE CONVERSATION (Transact-SQL)
NCHAR (Transact-SQL)
nchar and nvarchar (Transact-SQL)
NEWID (Transact-SQL)
NEWSEQUENTIALID() (Transact-SQL)
NOT (Transact-SQL)
ntext, text, and image (Transact-SQL)
NTILE (Transact-SQL)
NULLIF (Transact-SQL)
numeric (Transact-SQL)
OBJECT_DEFINITION (Transact-SQL)
OBJECT_ID (Transact-SQL)
OBJECT_NAME (Transact-SQL)
OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME (Transact-SQL)
OBJECTPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
OBJECTPROPERTYEX (Transact-SQL)
ODBC Scalar Functions (Transact-SQL)
OPEN (Transact-SQL)
OPEN MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)
OPEN SYMMETRIC KEY (Transact-SQL)
OPENDATASOURCE (Transact-SQL)
OPENQUERY (Transact-SQL)
OPENROWSET (Transact-SQL)
OPENXML (Transact-SQL)
Operators (Transact-SQL)
OPTION Clause (Transact-SQL)
OR (Transact-SQL)
ORDER BY Clause (Transact-SQL)
ORIGINAL_DB_NAME (Transact-SQL)
ORIGINAL_LOGIN (Transact-SQL)
OUTPUT Clause (Transact-SQL)
OVER Clause (Transact-SQL)
PARSENAME (Transact-SQL)
PathName (Transact-SQL)
PATINDEX (Transact-SQL)
PERMISSIONS (Transact-SQL)
PI (Transact-SQL)
POWER (Transact-SQL)
Predicate (Transact-SQL)
PRINT (Transact-SQL)
PUBLISHINGSERVERNAME (Transact-SQL)
PWDCOMPARE (Transact-SQL)
PWDENCRYPT (Transact-SQL)
QUOTENAME (Transact-SQL)
RADIANS (Transact-SQL)
RAISERROR
RAND (Transact-SQL)
RANK (Transact-SQL)
READTEXT (Transact-SQL)
real (Transact-SQL)
RECEIVE (Transact-SQL)
RECONFIGURE (Transact-SQL)
REPLACE (Transact-SQL)
REPLICATE (Transact-SQL)
Reserved Keywords (Transact-SQL)
RESTORE Statements for Restoring, Recovering, and Managing Backups (Transact-SQL)
RESTORE MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)
RESTORE SERVICE MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)
RETURN (Transact-SQL)
REVERSE (Transact-SQL)
REVERT (Transact-SQL)
REVOKE (Transact-SQL)
RIGHT (Transact-SQL)
ROLLBACK TRANSACTION (Transact-SQL)
ROLLBACK WORK (Transact-SQL)
ROUND (Transact-SQL)
ROW_NUMBER (Transact-SQL)
ROWCOUNT_BIG (Transact-SQL)
rowversion (Transact-SQL)
RTRIM (Transact-SQL)
SAVE TRANSACTION (Transact-SQL)
SCHEMA_ID (Transact-SQL)
SCHEMA_NAME (Transact-SQL)
SCOPE_IDENTITY (Transact-SQL)
Search Condition (Transact-SQL)
SELECT @local_variable (Transact-SQL)
SELECT (Transact-SQL)
SEND (Transact-SQL)
SERVERPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
SESSION_USER (Transact-SQL)
SESSIONPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
SET @local_variable (Transact-SQL)
SET (Transact-SQL)
SETUSER (Transact-SQL)
SHUTDOWN (Transact-SQL)
SIGN (Transact-SQL)
SignByAsymKey (Transact-SQL)
SignByCert (Transact-SQL)
SIN (Transact-SQL)
smalldatetime (Transact-SQL)
smallint (Transact-SQL)
smallmoney (Transact-SQL)
SOME | ANY (Transact-SQL)
SOUNDEX (Transact-SQL)
SPACE (Transact-SQL)
sql_variant (Transact-SQL)
SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
SQRT (Transact-SQL)
SQUARE (Transact-SQL)
STATS_DATE (Transact-SQL)
STDEV (Transact-SQL)
STDEVP (Transact-SQL)
STR (Transact-SQL)
STUFF (Transact-SQL)
SUBSTRING (Transact-SQL)
SUM (Transact-SQL)
SUSER_ID (Transact-SQL)
SUSER_NAME (Transact-SQL)
SUSER_SID (Transact-SQL)
SUSER_SNAME (Transact-SQL)
SWITCHOFFSET (Transact-SQL)
SYSDATETIME (Transact-SQL)
SYSDATETIMEOFFSET (Transact-SQL)
SYMKEYPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
System Stored Procedures (Transact-SQL)
System Tables (Transact-SQL)
System Views (Transact-SQL)
SYSUTCDATETIME (Transact-SQL)
sys.fn_builtin_permissions (Transact-SQL)
sys.fn_translate_permissions (Transact-SQL)
sys.fn_validate_plan_guide (Transact-SQL)
sys.login_token (Transact-SQL)
sys.user_token (Transact-SQL)
SYSTEM_USER (Transact-SQL)
table (Transact-SQL)
Table Value Constructor (Transact-SQL)
TAN (Transact-SQL)
TERTIARY_WEIGHTS (Transact-SQL)
text (Transact-SQL)
TEXTPTR (Transact-SQL)
TEXTVALID (Transact-SQL)
time (Transact-SQL)
tinyint (Transact-SQL)
TODATETIMEOFFSET (Transact-SQL)
TOP (Transact-SQL)
Trace Flags (Transact-SQL)
Transactions (Transact-SQL)
TRY...CATCH (Transact-SQL)
TRIGGER_NESTLEVEL (Transact-SQL)
TRUNCATE TABLE (Transact-SQL)
TYPE_ID (Transact-SQL)
TYPE_NAME (Transact-SQL)
TYPEPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
UNICODE (Transact-SQL)
UNION (Transact-SQL)
uniqueidentifier (Transact-SQL)
UPDATE (Transact-SQL)
UPDATE() (Transact-SQL)
UPDATE STATISTICS (Transact-SQL)
UPDATETEXT (Transact-SQL)
UPPER (Transact-SQL)
USE (Transact-SQL)
USER (Transact-SQL)
USER_ID (Transact-SQL)
USER_NAME (Transact-SQL)
VAR (Transact-SQL)
varbinary (Transact-SQL)
varchar (Transact-SQL)
VARP (Transact-SQL)
VerifySignedByCert (Transact-SQL)
VerifySignedByAsymKey (Transact-SQL)
WAITFOR (Transact-SQL)
WHERE (Transact-SQL)
WHILE (Transact-SQL)
WITH common_table_expression (Transact-SQL)
WITH XMLNAMESPACES (Transact-SQL)
WRITETEXT (Transact-SQL)
XACT_STATE (Transact-SQL)
xml (Transact-SQL)
xml_schema_namespace (Transact-SQL)
YEAR (Transact-SQL)
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-- (Comment) (Transact-SQL)

SQL Server 2008

Indicates user-provided text. Comments can be inserted on a separate line, nested at the end of a Transact-SQL command line, or within a Transact-SQL statement. The server does not evaluate the comment.

Topic link iconTransact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Copy 
-- text_of_comment
text_of_comment

Is the character string that contains the text of the comment.

Use two hyphens (--) for single-line or nested comments. Comments inserted with -- are terminated by the newline character. There is no maximum length for comments. The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to comment or uncomment text.

Action

Standard

SQL Server 2000

Make the selected text a comment

CTRL+K, CTRL+C

CTRL+SHIFT+C

Uncomment the selected text

CTRL+K, CTRL+U

CTRL+SHIFT+R

For more information about keyboard shortcuts, see SQL Server Management Studio Keyboard Shortcuts.

For multiline comments, see /*...*/ (Comment) (Transact-SQL).

The following example uses the -- commenting characters.

Copy 
-- Choose the AdventureWorks database.
USE AdventureWorks;
GO
-- Choose all columns and all rows from the Address table.
SELECT *
FROM Person.Address
ORDER BY PostalCode ASC; -- We do not have to specify ASC because 
-- that is the default.
GO
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