ANSI SQL Manual

Question

Can anyone recommend a good ANSI SQL reference manual?

I don't necessary mean a tutorial but a proper reference document to lookup when you need either a basic or more in-depth explanation or example.

Currently I am using W3Schools SQL Tutorial and SQL Tutorial which are ok, but I don't find them "deep" enough.

Of course, each major RDBMS producer will have some sort of reference manuals targeting their own product, but they tend to be biased and sometime will use proprietary extensions.

EDITED: The aim of the question was to focus on the things database engines have in common i.e. the SQL roots. But understanding the differences can also be a positive thing - this is quite interesting.

Answer 1

I think this may be helpful to you.

Understanding the ANSI SQL standard By: Kevin Kline

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565927443/102-0105946-4028970?v=glance&n=283155

Answer 2

The main problem with an ANSI SQL reference manual is that you can't find a DB which implements it. And when it does, then you'll find that ANSI SQL can't solve some of the daily problems. Which is why all professional databases define extensions.

So at work, you'll need a reference manual for the specific version of the database which you use.

Answer 3

Here's the ‘Second Informal Review Draft’ of SQL:1992, which seems to have been accurate enough for everything I've looked up. 1992 covers most of the stuff routinely used across DBMSs.

Answer 4

It's a littel outdated, but this book is really helpful is looking at how the differnt vendors implement things, I belive it includes ANSII standard.

http://www.amazon.com/SQL-Nutshell-2nd-Kevin-Kline/dp/0596004818/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257963172&sr=8-1

Answer 5

I really like just about anything Joe Celko has written Celko's Books

Answer 6

The DevGuru resources always worked well for me: http://www.devguru.com/technologies/t-sql/home.asp

Although I must admit it's not strictly an 'ANSI' focused resource. I've always been MS SQL centric, and it was helpful to me when I was starting out. IMHO Your best bet will be to use several resources - specifically including at least one of for each DB platform you want to use.

To Quote the DevGuru intro for their T-SQL resource:

Although there are standards for SQL, such as ANSI SQL92 and SQL99, most databases use their own dialect and/or extentions. Microsoft's flavor of SQL used in SQL Server 7 and SQL Server 2000 is called T-SQL. While many of the examples in this quick reference may work on other databases, it is assumed that SQL Server 2000 is used, especially for advanced topics such as stored procedures.