SQL:2003

SQL:2003 is the fifth revision of the SQL database query language. The standard consists of 9 parts which are described in detail in SQL. It was updated by SQL:2006.

New features

The SQL:2003 standard makes minor modifications to all parts of SQL:1999, and officially introduces a few new features such as:

XML-related features
Window functions
the sequence generator, which allows standardized sequences
two new column types: auto-generated values and identity-columns
the new MERGE statement
extensions to the Data [Definition Language|CREATE TABLE] statement, to allow "CREATE TABLE AS" and "CREATE TABLE LIKE"
removal of the poorly implemented "BIT" and "BIT VARYING" data types
OLAP capabilities were extended with a window function.

For details see.

Documentation availability

The SQL standard is not freely available but may be purchased from or . A late draft is available as a from . The zip archive contains a number of Portable [Document Format|PDF] files that define the parts of the SQL:2003 specification.