Using Variables

Go Up to The Procedure Body

There are three types of variables that can be used in the body of a procedure:

• Input parameters, used to pass values from an application to a stored procedure.
• Output parameters, used to pass values from a stored procedure back to the calling application.
• Local variables, used to hold values used only within a procedure.

Any of these types of variables can be used in the body of a stored procedure where an expression can appear. They can be assigned a literal value, or assigned a value derived from queries or expression evaluations.

Note: In SQL statements, precede variables with a colon (:) to signify that they are variables rather than column names. In procedure and trigger language extension statements, you need not precede variables with a colon.

Topics

• Local variables
• Input Parameters
• Output Parameters