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Background documentation DESCRIBE Statement Locate the document in its SAP Library structure

Use

Use the DESCRIBE statement to initialize the descriptor structure, and to determine the parameter and table column information needed for a dynamic SQL statement with descriptor.

Prerequisite

You have used the PREPARE statement to prepare the SQL statement for execution.

Syntax

EXEC SQL [<session_spec>] DESCRIBE <statement_name>
[INTO <descriptor_name> [<using_clause>]];

·        Specify <session_spec>, when you are working with multiple database sessions.

·        If the INTO clause is not specified, the precompiler uses the standard descriptor sqlda.

·        If you do not want to use the standard descriptor, you can declare the descriptor <descriptor_name> as a variable of the type sqldatype or struct sqlda (in SQL mode ORACLE, SQLDA only). However, the descriptor must always have the same type within a program.

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In the SQL mode INTERNAL, the <using_clause> has no meaning in the DESCRIBE statement. It is used for DB2 compatibility.

 

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