ODBC and SQL-92 Scalar Functions

The tables in this appendix include functions that have been added in ODBC 3.0 to align with SQL-92. Those functions added for a particular type of scalar function, as defined in ODBC, are indicated in each section.

ODBC and SQL-92 classify their scalar functions differently. ODBC classifies scalar functions by argument type; SQL-92 classifies them by return value. For example, the EXTRACT function is classified as a timedate function by ODBC, because the extract-field argument is a datetime keyword and the extract-source argument is a datetime or interval expression. SQL-92, on the other hand, classifies EXTRACT as a numeric scalar function, because the return value is a numeric.

An application can determine which scalar functions a driver supports by calling SQLGetInfo. Information types are included for both ODBC and SQL-92 classifications of scalar functions. Because these classifications are different, the support for some scalar functions may be indicated in information types that do not correspond for ODBC and SQL-92. For example, support for EXTRACT in ODBC is indicated by the SQL_TIMEDATE_FUNCTIONS information type; support for EXTRACT in SQL-92, on the other hand, is indicated by the SQL_SQL92_NUMERIC_VALUE_FUNCTIONS information type.