Sybase Adaptive Server Configuration Manual page 14

Element
Variables—or words that stand for values that you fill
in—when they are part of a query or statement, are in
italics in Courier font.
Type parentheses as part of the command.
Double colon, equals sign indicates that the syntax is
written in BNF notation. Do not type this symbol.
Indicates "is defined as".
Curly braces mean that you must choose at least one
of the enclosed options. Do not type the braces.
Brackets mean that to choose one or more of the
enclosed options is optional. Do not type the brackets.
The comma means you may choose as many of the
options shown as you want. Separate your choices
with commas as part of the command.
The pipe or vertical bar( | ) means you may select only
one of the options shown.
An ellipsis (...) means that you can repeat the last unit
as many times as you like.
xiv
• Syntax statements (displaying the syntax and all options for a command)
appear as follows:
sp_dropdevice [device_name]
For a command with more options:
select column_name
from table_name
where search_conditions
In syntax statements, keywords (commands) are in normal font and
identifiers are in lowercase. Italic font shows user-supplied words.
• Examples showing the use of Transact-SQL commands are printed like
this:
select * from publishers
Example
column_name
select
from table_name
search_conditions
where
row_aggregate
compute
::=
{cash, check, credit}
[cash | check | credit]
cash, check, credit
cash | check | credit
buy thing = price [cash | check |
credit]
[, thing = price [cash | check |
credit]]...
You must buy at least one thing and give its price. You may
choose a method of payment: one of the items enclosed in
square brackets. You may also choose to buy additional
things: as many of them as you like. For each thing you
buy, give its name, its price, and (optionally) a method of
payment.
column_name
(
Adaptive Server Enterprise
)