Don’t Tell Anyone: The SQL Standard is Public!


Picture of ISO/IEC 9075 CD

We all love open source software. Wouldn’t it be great if international standard documents such as the SQL standard would be open too?

As a matter of fact: they are!

However, they are not free—just public. Very much like open source software is not necessarily free. Too often, we neglect these differences. Just because we have to pay for the standard doesn’t mean it is secret.

A download of the most relevant part of the SQL standard—part 2—is available for EUR 180 at Austrian Standards. The 2011 version can still be bought for USD 60 at ANSI. It might pay off to check the prices at other ISO members. The SQL standards is not free, but affordable.0

Nevertheless there are some free resources that can help you answering questions about the SQL standard:

SQL:2020+

Work on adding a new part (16, SQL/PGQ) is currently ongoing (see also: GQL Scope and Features).

Processing of streaming data was also worked on as of June 2018.1

SQL:2019

A new part was released in June 2019: 9075-15:2019 Multi-dimensional arrays (SQL/MDA).

Recommended documents:

SQL:2016

What’s new in SQL:2016?

ISO released some highly relevant technical reports for free:

Also note that I’ve written about the following features: listagg.

Browsable BNF grammar of Part 2.

SQL:2016 validator: https://developer.mimer.com/sql-2016-validator/

SQL:2011

Recommended articles (PDF):

Part 1 can be downloaded free of charge from ISO

ISO released a free technical report on “SQL Support for Time-Related Information” (covers temporal tables).

Browsable BNF grammar of Part 2 and Part 4.

Drafts of all parts are linked as “SQL:20nn Working Draft Documents” at http://www.wiscorp.com/SQLStandards.html.

SQL:2008

Browsable BNF grammar of Part 2.

SQL:2003

Browsable BNF grammar of Part 2 (alternative source).

SQL:1999

The full content of the book “SQL-99 Complete, Really” is available online and for free at the crate.io. In total conflict to its title, the book only covers Core SQL:1999.

Online validator at https://developer.mimer.com/.

Browsable BNF grammar of Part 2 (alternative source).

SQL-92

A draft of the standard text is available at http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~shadow/sql/sql1992.txt.

Browsable BNF grammar of Part 2 (alternative source).

SQL-86

The standard is available as FIPS 127 at nist.gov.

About the Author

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Markus Winand is the SQL Renaissance Ambassador. He is on a mission to introduce developers to the evolution of SQL in the 21st century. Markus can be hired as trainer, speaker and consultant via winand.at.

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Footnotes

  1. Although I must admit: buying all parts is rather expensive.

  2. SIGMOD Record, June 2018 (Vol. 47, No. 2), page 59

  3. I’m concluding that the 2017 paper is an earlier version of the ISO TR due to the striking similarity of the table of contents.

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