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Delimited Identifiers

Delimited identifiers must be enclosed within delimited characters because they do not comply with the format rules for identifiers.

Databases can use the following types of delimited identifiers:

Identifiers that use reserved keywords: If an identifier uses a reserved keyword, you must enclose the identifier within delimited characters in an SQL query. For example, the following SQL statement accesses a table named ORDER:

SELECT * FROM “ORDER” WHERE MYCOLUMN = 10
Identifiers that use special characters: If an identifier uses special characters, you must enclose the identifier within delimited characters in an SQL query. For example, the following SQL statement accesses a table named MYTABLE$@:

SELECT * FROM “MYTABLE$@” WHERE MYCOLUMN = 10
Case-sensitive identifiers: By default, identifiers in IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, and Oracle databases are not case sensitive. Database object names are stored in uppercase, but SQL queries can use any case to refer to them. For example, the following SQL statements access the table named MYTABLE:

SELECT * FROM mytable SELECT * FROM MyTable SELECT * FROM MYTABLE

To use case-sensitive identifiers, you must enclose the identifier within delimited characters in an SQL query. For example, the following SQL statement accesses a table named MyTable:

SELECT * FROM “MyTable” WHERE MYCOLUMN = 10