PL/SQL User's Guide and Reference

Notational Conventions

This guide uses the following notation in code examples:

< > Angle brackets enclose the name of a syntactic element.
- - A double hyphen begins a single-line comment, which extends to the end of a line.
/* and */ A slash-asterisk and an asterisk-slash delimit a multi-line comment, which can span multiple lines.
. A dot separates an object name from a component name and so qualifies a reference.
... An ellipsis shows that statements or clauses irrelevant to the discussion were left out.
UPPERCASE Uppercase denotes PL/SQL keywords.
lowercase Lowercase denotes user-defined items such as variables, parameters, and exceptions.

The syntax of PL/SQL is described using a simple variant of Backus-Naur Form (BNF). See "Reading Syntax Definitions" .

Terms being defined for the first time, words being emphasized, error messages, and book titles are italicized.

< >	Angle brackets enclose the name of a syntactic element.
- -	A double hyphen begins a single-line comment, which extends to the end of a line.
/* and */	A slash-asterisk and an asterisk-slash delimit a multi-line comment, which can span multiple lines.
.	A dot separates an object name from a component name and so qualifies a reference.
...	An ellipsis shows that statements or clauses irrelevant to the discussion were left out.
UPPERCASE	Uppercase denotes PL/SQL keywords.
lowercase	Lowercase denotes user-defined items such as variables, parameters, and exceptions.