D Syntactic and Semantic Checking

What Is Syntactic and Semantic Checking?

Rules of syntax specify how language elements are sequenced to form valid statements. Thus, syntactic checking verifies that keywords, object names, operators, delimiters, and so on are placed correctly in your SQL statement. For example, the following embedded SQL statements contain syntax errors:

-- misspelled keyword WHERE
EXEC SQL DELETE FROM EMP WERE DEPTNO = 20;
-- missing parentheses around column names COMM and SAL
EXEC SQL INSERT INTO EMP COMM, SAL VALUES (NULL, 1500);

Rules of semantics specify how valid external references are made. Thus, semantic checking verifies that references to database objects and host variables are valid and that host-variable datatypes are correct. For example, the following embedded SQL statements contain semantic errors:

-- nonexistent table, EMPP
EXEC SQL DELETE FROM EMPP WHERE DEPTNO = 20;
-- undeclared host variable, emp_name
EXEC SQL SELECT * FROM EMP WHERE ENAME = :emp_name;

The rules of SQL syntax and semantics are defined in the Oracle Database SQL Reference.

Controlling the Type and Extent of Checking

You control the type and extent of checking by specifying the SQLCHECK option on the command line. With SQLCHECK, the type of checking can be syntactic, semantic, or both. The extent of checking can include data manipulation statements and PL/SQL blocks. However, SQLCHECK cannot check dynamic SQL statements because they are not defined fully until run time.

You can specify the following values for SQLCHECK:

• SEMANTICS|FULL

• SYNTAX|LIMITED|NONE

The values SEMANTICS and FULL are equivalent, as are the values SYNTAX and LIMITED. The default value is SYNTAX.

Specifying SQLCHECK=SEMANTICS

When SQLCHECK=SEMANTICS, the precompiler checks the syntax and semantics of:

• Data manipulation statements such as INSERT and UPDATE

• PL/SQL blocks

However, the precompiler checks only the syntax of remote data manipulation statements (those using the AT db_name clause).

The precompiler gets the information for a semantic check from embedded DECLARE TABLE statements or, if you specify the option USERID, by connecting to Oracle and accessing the data dictionary. You need not connect to Oracle if every table referenced in a data manipulation statement or PL/SQL block is defined in a DECLARE TABLE statement.

If you connect to Oracle but some information cannot be found in the data dictionary, then you must use DECLARE TABLE statements to supply the missing information. A DECLARE TABLE definition overrides a data dictionary definition if they conflict.

When checking data manipulation statements, the precompiler uses the Oracle database version 7 set of syntax rules found in the Oracle database version 7 Server SQL Reference but uses a stricter set of semantic rules. As a result, existing applications written for earlier versions of Oracle might not precompile successfully when SQLCHECK=SEMANTICS.

Specify SQLCHECK=SEMANTICS when precompiling new programs. If you embed PL/SQL blocks in a host program, then you must specify SQLCHECK=SEMANTICS.

USERID=username/password

USERID=/

<prefix><username>

EXEC SQL DECLARE table_name TABLE
 (col_name col_datatype [DEFAULT expr] [NULL|NOT NULL], ...);