Looking for minimal SQL

[Oliver Fromme]

Marco Aschwanden <PPNTWIMBXFFC at spammotel.com> wrote:
 > The next step would be to use the least common denominator of all sql 
 > dialects and do without all the sql goodies that the dialects offer... and 
 > for this part I am wondering if anyone has a link / hint / book that 
 > assembled this minimum sql.

Then you will have a _very_ limited subset of SQL, especially
when you take mysql into account, which is not very standard-
ANSI-SQL compatible, as far as I know.  For example, the
operator "||" is string-concatenation in standard SQL, while
it means logical OR in mysql.  Double-quotes are used for
quoted identifiers in standard SQL, while they're used to
enclose strings in mysql.  etc. etc.

 > example:
 > 
 > Table/DB Design: always use lowercase letters, ...

You will also have to be careful to avoid the reserved words
of _all_ SQL dialects.  Not easy.  Also, don't make your
identifiers longer than 20 characters.

 > The focus is actually limited to SELECT / INSERT / UPDATE / DELETE (I 
 > don't think that GRANT / CREATE XXX / ... statements are very portable).

Both GRANT and CREATE are specified in standard SQL, and I
believe all the major databases conform to it (I don't know
if mysql does, though).

Maybe the PostgreSQL documentation is helpful for you:
For each SQL command, it contains a description of its
standard SQL conformance.  Here's the URL:

http://www.postgresql.org/docs/7.4/static/sql-commands.html

If you stick to that, your SQL code will most probably also
work with Oracle, Sybase and other "serious" databases.

Best regards
   Oliver

PS:  When I say "standard SQL", I mean ANSI SQL92 and SQL99.

-- 
Oliver Fromme, Konrad-Celtis-Str. 72, 81369 Munich, Germany

``All that we see or seem is just a dream within a dream.''
(E. A. Poe)