INFORMIX-4GL Statements Overview

The 4GL Statement Set
INFORMIX-4GL supports the SQL language, but it is sometimes convenient to distinguish between SQL statements and other 4GL statements:

SQL statements operate on tables in the database; other 4GL statements operate on variables in memory.

Types of SQL Statements
The SQL statements of 4GL can be divided into these functional categories:

SQL Data Definition Statements

ALTER INDEX	DATABASE
ALTER TABLE	DROP DATABASE
CLOSE DATABASE	DROP INDEX
CREATE DATABASE	DROP SYNONYM
CREATE INDEX	DROP TABLE
CREATE SYNONYM	DROP VIEW
CREATE TABLE	RENAME COLUMN
CREATE VIEW	RENAME TABLE

SQL Data Manipulation Statements

INSERT	SELECT
DELETE	UNLOAD
LOAD	UPDATE

SQL Cursor Manipulation Statements

CLOSE	FLUSH
DECLARE	OPEN
FETCH	PUT

SQL Query Optimization Information Statements

SET EXPLAIN	UPDATE STATISTICS
SET OPTIMIZATION

SQL Data Access Statements

GRANT	SET ISOLATION
LOCK TABLE	SET LOCK MODE
REVOKE	UNLOCK TABLE

SQL Data Integrity Statements

BEGIN WORK	ROLLBACK WORK
COMMIT WORK	ROLLFORWARD DATABASE
CREATE AUDIT	SET CONSTRAINTS
DROP AUDIT	SET LOG
RECOVER TABLE	START DATABASE

SQL Dynamic Management Statements

EXECUTE	FREE
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE	PREPARE

Other Types of 4GL Statements
Seven other types of 4GL statements are available. (These are sometimes called simply 4GL statements, to distinguish them from SQL statements:)

4GL Definition and Declaration Statements

DEFINE

FUNCTION

MAIN

REPORT

4GL Program Flow Control Statements

CALL	GOTO
CASE	IF
CONTINUE	LABEL
DATABASE	OUTPUT TO REPORT
END	RETURN
EXIT	RUN
FINISH REPORT	START REPORT
FOR	WHILE
FOREACH

4GL Compiler Directives

DATABASE

DEFER

GLOBALS

WHENEVER

4GL Storage Manipulation Statements

INITIALIZE

LET

LOCATE

VALIDATE

4GL Screen Interaction Statements

CLEAR	INPUT ARRAY
CLOSE FORM	MENU
CLOSE WINDOW	MESSAGE
CONSTRUCT	OPEN FORM
CURRENT WINDOW	OPEN WINDOW
DISPLAY	OPTIONS
DISPLAY ARRAY	PROMPT
DISPLAY FORM	SCROLL
ERROR	SLEEP
INPUT

4GL Report Execution Statements

NEED

PAUSE

SKIP

Most 4GL statements are not sensitive to whether INFORMIX-SE or the OnLine engine supports the application. Only the OnLine engine, however, can store values in BYTE, TEXT, or VARCHAR columns, or can accept database: or database@system: as qualifiers to names of tables, views, or synonyms.