Sybase DC35823-01-1500-04 manual For a command with more options, Xiv

Element	Example
Variables—or words that stand for values that you fill	select column_name
in—when they are part of a query or statement, are in	from table_name
italics in Courier font.	where search_conditions
Type parentheses as part of the command.	compute row_aggregate (column_name)
Double colon, equals sign indicates that the syntax is	::=
written in BNF notation. Do not type this symbol.
Indicates “is defined as”.
Curly braces mean that you must choose at least one	{cash, check, credit}
of the enclosed options. Do not type the braces.
Brackets mean that to choose one or more of the	[cash check credit]
enclosed options is optional. Do not type the brackets.
The comma means you may choose as many of the	cash, check, credit
options shown as you want. Separate your choices
with commas as part of the command.
The pipe or vertical bar( ) means you may select only	cash check credit
one of the options shown.

An ellipsis (...) means that you can repeat the last unit as many times as you like.

buy thing = price [cash check credit]

[, thing = price [cash check credit]]...

You must buy at least one thing and give its price. You may choose a method of payment: one of the items enclosed in square brackets. You may also choose to buy additional things: as many of them as you like. For each thing you buy, give its name, its price, and (optionally) a method of payment.

•Syntax statements (displaying the syntax and all options for a command) appear as follows:

sp_dropdevice [device_name]

For a command with more options:

select column_name from table_name where search_conditions

In syntax statements, keywords (commands) are in normal font and identifiers are in lowercase. Italic font shows user-supplied words.

•Examples showing the use of Transact-SQL commands are printed like this:

select * from publishers

xiv Adaptive Server Enterprise