Claris FileMaker

SQL Reference
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Edition: February 2022
Contents

Chapter 1
Introduction 5
About this reference 5
About SQL 5
Using a FileMaker Pro database as a data source 5
Using the ExecuteSQL function 6

Chapter 2
Supported standards 7
Support for Unicode characters 7
SQL statements 7
SELECT statement 8
SQL clauses 9
FROM clause 9
WHERE clause 11
GROUP BY clause 11
HAVING clause 12
UNION operator 12
ORDER BY clause 13
OFFSET and FETCH FIRST clauses 13
FOR UPDATE clause 14
DELETE statement 17
INSERT statement 17
UPDATE statement 19
CREATE TABLE statement 20
TRUNCATE TABLE statement 21
ALTER TABLE statement 22
CREATE INDEX statement 22
DROP INDEX statement 23
SQL expressions 23
Field names 23
Constants 23
Exponential/scientific notation 25
Numeric operators 25
Character operators 25
Date operators 25
Relational operators 26
Logical operators 27
Operator precedence 28
Contents 4

SQL functions 28
Aggregate functions 28
Functions that return character strings 30
Functions that return numbers 32
Functions that return dates 33
Conditional functions 34
FileMaker system objects 35
FileMaker system tables 35
FileMaker system columns 36
Reserved SQL keywords 37

Index 40
Chapter 1
Introduction
As a database developer, you can use Claris® FileMaker Pro® to create database solutions
without any knowledge of SQL. But if you have some knowledge of SQL, you can use a
FileMaker Pro database file as an ODBC or JDBC data source, sharing your data with other
applications using ODBC and JDBC. You can also use the FileMaker Pro ExecuteSQL function to
retrieve data from any table occurrence within a FileMaker Pro database.
This reference describes the SQL statements and standards supported by Claris FileMaker®
software. The FileMaker ODBC and JDBC client drivers support all of the SQL statements
described in this reference. The FileMaker Pro ExecuteSQL function supports only the SELECT
statement.

About this reference

1 For information on using ODBC and JDBC with previous versions of FileMaker Pro, see the
Product Documentation Center.
1 This reference assumes that you are familiar with the basics of using FileMaker Pro functions,
coding ODBC and JDBC applications, and constructing SQL queries. Refer to a third-party
book for more information on these topics.

About SQL
SQL, or Structured Query Language, is a programming language that was designed to query data
from a relational database. The primary statement used to query a database is the SELECT
statement.
In addition to language for querying a database, SQL provides statements for performing data
manipulation, which allow you to add, update, and delete data.
SQL also provides statements for performing data definition. These statements allow you to create
and modify tables and indexes.
The SQL statements and standards supported by FileMaker software are described in chapter 2,
“Supported standards.”

Using a FileMaker Pro database as a data source

When you host a FileMaker Pro database as an ODBC or JDBC data source, FileMaker data can
be shared with ODBC- and JDBC-compliant applications. The applications connect to the
FileMaker data source using the FileMaker client drivers, construct and execute the SQL queries
using ODBC or JDBC, and process the data retrieved from the FileMaker Pro database solution.
See FileMaker ODBC and JDBC Guide for extensive information on how you can use FileMaker
software as a data source for ODBC and JDBC applications.
The FileMaker ODBC and JDBC client drivers support all of the SQL statements described in this
reference.
Chapter 1 | Introduction 6

Using the ExecuteSQL function

The FileMaker Pro ExecuteSQL function lets you retrieve data from table occurrences named in
the relationships graph but independent of any defined relationships. You can retrieve data from
multiple tables without creating table joins or any relationship between the tables. In some cases,
you may be able to reduce the complexity of your relationships graph by using the ExecuteSQL
function.
The fields you query with the ExecuteSQL function do not have to be on any layout, so you can
use the ExecuteSQL function to retrieve data independent of any layout context. Because of this
context independence, using the ExecuteSQL function in scripts may improve the portability of the
scripts. You can use the ExecuteSQL function anywhere you can specify calculations, including
for charting and reporting.
The ExecuteSQL function supports only the SELECT statement, described in the section
“SELECT statement” on page 8.
Also, the ExecuteSQL function accepts only the SQL-92 syntax ISO date and time formats with
no braces ({}). The ExecuteSQL function does not accept the ODBC/JDBC format date, time, and
timestamp constants in braces.
For information about the syntax and use of the ExecuteSQL function, see FileMaker Pro Help.
Chapter 2
Supported standards
Use the FileMaker ODBC and JDBC client drivers to access a FileMaker Pro database solution
from an ODBC- or JDBC-compliant application. The FileMaker Pro database solution can be
hosted by either FileMaker Pro or Claris FileMaker Server®.
1 The ODBC client driver supports ODBC 3.0 Level 1.
1 The JDBC client driver provides partial support for the JDBC 3.0 specification.
1 The ODBC and JDBC client drivers both support SQL-92 entry-level conformance, with some
SQL-92 intermediate features.

Support for Unicode characters

The ODBC and JDBC client drivers support the Unicode API. However, if you’re creating a custom
application that uses the client drivers, use ASCII for field names, table names, and filenames (in
case a non-Unicode query tool or application is used).

Note To insert and retrieve Unicode data, use SQL_C_WCHAR.

SQL statements
The ODBC and JDBC client drivers provide support for the following SQL statements:
1 SELECT (page 8)
1 DELETE (page 17)
1 INSERT (page 17)
1 UPDATE (page 19)
1 CREATE TABLE (page 20)
1 TRUNCATE TABLE (page 21)
1 ALTER TABLE (page 22)
1 CREATE INDEX (page 22)
1 DROP INDEX (page 23)

The client drivers also support FileMaker data type mapping to ODBC SQL and JDBC SQL data
types. See FileMaker ODBC and JDBC Guide for data type conversions. For more information on
constructing SQL queries, refer to a third-party book.

Note The ODBC and JDBC client drivers do not support FileMaker Pro portals.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 8

SELECT statement
Use the SELECT statement to specify which columns you're requesting. Follow the SELECT
statement with the column expressions (similar to field names) you want to retrieve (for example,
last_name). Expressions can include mathematical operations or string manipulation (for
example, SALARY * 1.05).
The SELECT statement can use a variety of clauses:
SELECT [DISTINCT] {* | column_expression [[AS] column_alias],...}
FROM table_name [table_alias], ...
[ WHERE expr1 rel_operator expr2 ]
[ GROUP BY {column_expression, ...} ]
[ HAVING expr1 rel_operator expr2 ]
[ UNION [ALL] (SELECT...) ]
[ ORDER BY {sort_expression [DESC | ASC]}, ... ]
[ OFFSET n {ROWS | ROW} ]
[ FETCH FIRST [ n [ PERCENT ] ] { ROWS | ROW } {ONLY | WITH TIES } ]
[ FOR UPDATE [OF {column_expression, ...}] ]
Items in brackets are optional.
column_alias can be used to give the column a more descriptive name, or to abbreviate a
longer column name.

Example

Assign the alias department to the column dept.

SELECT dept AS department FROM emp

Field names can be prefixed with the table name or the table alias. For example, EMP.LAST_NAME
or E.LAST_NAME, where E is the alias for the table EMP.
The DISTINCT operator can precede the first column expression. This operator eliminates
duplicate rows from the result of a query.

Example

SELECT DISTINCT dept FROM emp

Chapter 2 | Supported standards 9

SQL clauses
The ODBC and JDBC client drivers provide support for the following SQL clauses.
Use this SQL clause To
FROM (page 9) Indicate which tables are used in the SELECT statement.

WHERE (page 11) Specify the conditions that records must meet to be retrieved (like a FileMaker Pro find
request).

GROUP BY (page 11) Specify the names of one or more fields by which the returned values should be grouped.
This clause is used to return a set of aggregate values by returning one row for each group
(like a FileMaker Pro subsummary).

HAVING (page 12) Specify conditions for groups of records (for example, display only the departments that
have salaries totaling more than $200,000).

UNION (page 12) Combine the results of two or more SELECT statements into a single result.

ORDER BY (page 13) Indicate how the records are sorted.

OFFSET (page 13) State the number of rows to be skipped before starting to retrieve rows.

FETCH FIRST (page 13) Specify the number of rows to be retrieved. No more than the specified number of rows are
returned although fewer rows may be returned if the query yields less than the number of
rows specified.

FOR UPDATE (page 14) Perform Positioned Updates or Positioned Deletes via SQL cursors.

Note If you attempt to retrieve data from a table with no columns, the SELECT statement returns
nothing.

FROM clause
The FROM clause indicates the tables that are used in the SELECT statement. The format is:
FROM table_name [table_alias] [, table_name [table_alias]]
table_name is the name of a table in the current database. The table name must begin with an
alphabetic character. If the table name begins with other than an alphabetic character, enclose it
in double quotation marks (quoted identifier).
table_alias can be used to give the table a more descriptive name, to abbreviate a longer table
name, or to include the same table in the query more than once (for example, in self-joins).
Field names begin with an alphabetic character. If the field name begins with other than an
alphabetic character, enclose it in double quotation marks (quoted identifier).

Example

The ExecuteSQL statement for the field named _LASTNAME is:

SELECT "_LASTNAME" from emp
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 10

Field names can be prefixed with the table name or the table alias.

Example

Given the table specification FROM employee E, you can refer to the LAST_NAME field as
E.LAST_NAME. Table aliases must be used if the SELECT statement joins a table to itself.
SELECT * FROM employee E, employee F WHERE E.manager_id = F.employee_id
The equal sign (=) includes only matching rows in the results.

If you are joining more than one table, and you want to discard all rows that don’t have
corresponding rows in both source tables, you can use INNER JOIN.

Example

SELECT *
FROM Salespeople INNER JOIN Sales_Data
ON Salespeople.Salesperson_ID = Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID

If you are joining two tables, but you don’t want to discard rows of the first table (the “left” table),
you can use LEFT OUTER JOIN.

Example

SELECT *
FROM Salespeople LEFT OUTER JOIN Sales_Data
ON Salespeople.Salesperson_ID = Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID
Every row from the “Salespeople” table will appear in the joined table.

Notes
1 RIGHT OUTER JOIN is not currently supported.
1 FULL OUTER JOIN is not currently supported.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 11

WHERE clause
The WHERE clause specifies the conditions that records must meet to be retrieved. The WHERE
clause contains conditions in the form:
WHERE expr1 rel_operator expr2
expr1 and expr2 can be field names, constant values, or expressions.
rel_operator is the relational operator that links the two expressions.

Example

Retrieve the names of employees who make $20,000 or more.

SELECT last_name,first_name FROM emp WHERE salary >= 20000

The WHERE clause can also use expressions such as these:

WHERE expr1 IS NULL
WHERE NOT expr2

Note If you use fully qualified names in the SELECT (projection) list, you must also use fully
qualified names in the related WHERE clause.

GROUP BY clause
The GROUP BY clause specifies the names of one or more fields by which the returned values
should be grouped. This clause is used to return a set of aggregate values. It has the following
format:
GROUP BY columns
The scope of the GROUP BY clause is the table expression in the FROM clause. As a result, the
column expressions specified by columns must be from the tables specified in the FROM clause.
A column expression can be one or more field names of the database table separated by commas.

Example

Sum the salaries in each department.

SELECT dept_id, SUM (salary) FROM emp GROUP BY dept_id
This statement returns one row for each distinct department ID. Each row contains the department ID
and the sum of the salaries of the employees in the department.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 12

HAVING clause
The HAVING clause enables you to specify conditions for groups of records (for example, display
only the departments that have salaries totaling more than $200,000). It has the following format:
HAVING expr1 rel_operator expr2
expr1 and expr2 can be field names, constant values, or expressions. These expressions do
not have to match a column expression in the SELECT clause.
rel_operator is the relational operator that links the two expressions.

Example

Return only the departments whose sums of salaries are greater than $200,000.
SELECT dept_id, SUM (salary) FROM emp
GROUP BY dept_id HAVING SUM (salary) > 200000

UNION operator
The UNION operator combines the results of two or more SELECT statements into a single result.
The single result is all of the returned records from the SELECT statements. By default, duplicate
records are not returned. To return duplicate records, use the ALL keyword (UNION ALL). The
format is:
SELECT statement UNION [ALL] SELECT statement
When using the UNION operator, the select lists for each SELECT statement must have the same
number of column expressions, with the same data types, and must be specified in the same
order.

Example

SELECT last_name, salary, hire_date FROM emp UNION SELECT name, pay,
birth_date FROM person

The following example is not valid because the data types of the column expressions are different
(SALARY from EMP has a different data type than LAST_NAME from RAISES). This example has
the same number of column expressions in each SELECT statement, but the expressions are not
in the same order by data type.

Example

SELECT last_name, salary FROM emp UNION SELECT salary, last_name FROM raises
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 13

ORDER BY clause
The ORDER BY clause indicates how the records are to be sorted. If your SELECT statement
doesn’t include an ORDER BY clause, the records may be returned in any order.
The format is:
ORDER BY {sort_expression [DESC | ASC]}, ...
sort_expression can be the field name or the positional number of the column expression to
use. The default is to perform an ascending (ASC) sort.

Examples

Sort by last_name then by first_name.

SELECT emp_id, last_name, first_name FROM emp ORDER BY last_name, first_name

The second example uses the positional numbers 2 and 3 to get the same ordering as the
prior example that specified last_name and first_name explicitly.
SELECT emp_id, last_name, first_name FROM emp ORDER BY 2,3

Note FileMaker Server uses a unicode binary sort order, which is different from language sorting
in FileMaker Pro or with the default language-neutral sort order.

OFFSET and FETCH FIRST clauses

The OFFSET and FETCH FIRST clauses are used to return a specified range of rows beginning
from a particular starting point in a result set. The ability to limit the rows retrieved from large result
sets allows you to “page” through the data and improves efficiency.
The OFFSET clause indicates the number of rows to skip before starting to return data. If the
OFFSET clause is not used in a SELECT statement, the starting row is 0. The FETCH FIRST clause
specifies the number of rows to be returned, either as an unsigned integer greater than or equal
to 1 or as a percentage, from the starting point indicated in the OFFSET clause. If both OFFSET
and FETCH FIRST are used in a SELECT statement, the OFFSET clause should come first.
The OFFSET and FETCH FIRST clauses are not supported in subqueries.

OFFSET format
The OFFSET format is:
OFFSET n {ROWS | ROW} ]
n is an unsigned integer. If n is larger than the number of rows returned in the result set, then
nothing is returned and no error message appears.
ROWS is the same as ROW.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 14

FETCH FIRST format

The FETCH FIRST format is:
FETCH FIRST [ n [ PERCENT ] ] { ROWS | ROW } {ONLY | WITH TIES } ]
n is the number of rows to be returned. The default value is 1 if n is omitted.
n is an unsigned integer greater than or equal to 1 unless it is followed by PERCENT. If n is followed
by PERCENT, the value may be either a positive fractional value or an unsigned integer.
ROWS is the same as ROW.
WITH TIES must be used with the ORDER BY clause.
WITH TIES allows more rows to be returned than specified in the FETCH count value because
peer rows, those rows that are not distinct based on the ORDER BY clause, are also returned.

Examples

Return information from the twenty-sixth row of the result set sorted by last_name then by
first_name.
SELECT emp_id, last_name, first_name FROM emp ORDER BY last_name, first_name
OFFSET 25 ROWS
Specify that you want to return only ten rows.
SELECT emp_id, last_name, first_name FROM emp ORDER BY last_name, first_name
OFFSET 25 ROWS FETCH FIRST 10 ROWS ONLY
Return the ten rows and their peer rows (rows that are not distinct based on the ORDER BY
clause).
SELECT emp_id, last_name, first_name FROM emp ORDER BY last_name, first_name
OFFSET 25 ROWS FETCH FIRST 10 ROWS WITH TIES

FOR UPDATE clause

The FOR UPDATE clause locks records for Positioned Updates or Positioned Deletes via SQL
cursors. The format is:
FOR UPDATE [OF column_expressions]
column_expressions is a list of field names in the database table that you intend to update,
separated by a comma. column_expressions is optional, and is ignored.

Example

Return all records in the employee database that have a SALARY field value of more than
$20,000.
SELECT * FROM emp WHERE salary > 20000
FOR UPDATE OF last_name, first_name, salary

When each record is fetched, it is locked. If the record is updated or deleted, the lock is held until
you commit the change. Otherwise, the lock is released when you fetch the next record.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 15

Examples
Using Sample SQL

text constant SELECT 'CatDog' FROM Salespeople

numeric constant SELECT 999 FROM Salespeople

date constant SELECT DATE '2021-06-05' FROM Salespeople

time constant SELECT TIME '02:49:03' FROM Salespeople

timestamp constant SELECT TIMESTAMP '2021-06-05 02:49:03' FROM Salespeople

text column SELECT Company_Name FROM Sales_Data

SELECT DISTINCT Company_Name FROM Sales_Data
numeric column SELECT Amount FROM Sales_Data
SELECT DISTINCT Amount FROM Sales_Data

date column SELECT Date_Sold FROM Sales_Data

SELECT DISTINCT Date_Sold FROM Sales_Data
time column SELECT Time_Sold FROM Sales_Data
SELECT DISTINCT Time_Sold FROM Sales_Data
timestamp column SELECT Timestamp_Sold FROM Sales_Data
SELECT DISTINCT Timestamp_Sold FROM Sales_Data

BLOBa column SELECT Company_Brochures FROM Sales_Data

SELECT GETAS(Company_Logo, 'JPEG') FROM Sales_Data
Wildcard * SELECT * FROM Salespeople
SELECT DISTINCT * FROM Salespeople
a. A BLOB is a FileMaker Pro database file container field.

Notes from the examples

A column is a reference to a field in the FileMaker Pro database file. (The field can contain many
distinct values.)
The asterisk (*) wildcard character is shorthand for “everything”. For the example SELECT *
FROM Salespeople, the result is all the columns in the Salespeople table. For the example
SELECT DISTINCT * FROM Salespeople, the result is all the unique rows in the
Salespeople table (no duplicates).
1 FileMaker software does not store data for empty strings, so the following queries always return
no records:
SELECT * FROM test WHERE c =''
SELECT * FROM test WHERE c <>''
1 If you use SELECT with binary data, you must use the GetAs() function to specify the stream
to return. See the following section “Retrieving the contents of a container field: CAST() function
and GetAs() function,” for more information.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 16

Retrieving the contents of a container field: CAST() function and GetAs() function
You can retrieve file reference information, binary data, or data of a specific file type from a
container field.
1 To retrieve file reference information from a container field, such as the file path to a file, picture,
or QuickTime movie, use the CAST() function with a SELECT statement.
1 If file data or JPEG binary data exists, the SELECT statement with GetAS(field name,
'JPEG') retrieves the data in binary form; otherwise, the SELECT statement with field name
returns NULL.

Example

Use the CAST() function with a SELECT statement to retrieve file reference information.
SELECT CAST(Company_Brochures AS VARCHAR) FROM Sales_Data
In this example, if you:
1 inserted a file into the container field using FileMaker Pro but stored only a reference to the
file, the SELECT statement retrieves the file reference information as type SQL_VARCHAR.
1 inserted the contents of a file into the container field using FileMaker Pro, the SELECT
statement retrieves the name of the file.
1 imported a file into the container field from another application, the SELECT statement
displays '?' (the file displays as Untitled.dat in FileMaker Pro).

You can use the SELECT statement with the GetAs() function to retrieve the data in binary form
in the following ways:
1 When you use the GetAs() function with the DEFAULT option, you retrieve the default stream
for the container without the need to explicitly define the stream type.

Example

SELECT GetAs(Company_Brochures, DEFAULT) FROM Sales_Data

1 To retrieve an individual stream type from a container, use the GetAs() function with the file’s
type based on how the data was inserted into the container field in FileMaker Pro.

Example

If the data was inserted using the Insert > File command, specify 'FILE' in the GetAs() function.
SELECT GetAs(Company_Brochures, 'FILE') FROM Sales_Data

Example

If the data was inserted using the Insert > Picture command, drag and drop, or paste from the
clipboard, specify one of the file types listed in the following table, for example, 'JPEG'.
SELECT GetAs(Company_Logo, 'JPEG') FROM Company_Icons
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 17

File type Description

'GIFf' Graphics Interchange Format

'JPEG' Photographic images

'TIFF' Raster file format for digital images

'PDF ' Portable Document Format

'PNGf' Bitmap image format

DELETE statement
Use the DELETE statement to delete records from a database table. The format of the DELETE
statement is:
DELETE FROM table_name [ WHERE { conditions } ]

Note The WHERE clause determines which records are to be deleted. If you don’t include the
WHERE keyword, all records in the table are deleted (but the table is left intact).

Example

Delete a record from emp table.

DELETE FROM emp WHERE emp_id = 'E10001'
Each DELETE statement removes every record that meets the conditions in the WHERE clause.
In this case, every record having the employee ID E10001 is deleted. Because employee IDs
are unique in the Employee table, only one record is deleted.

INSERT statement
Use the INSERT statement to create records in a database table. You can specify either:
1 A list of values to be inserted as a new record
1 A SELECT statement that copies data from another table to be inserted as a set of new records

The format of the INSERT statement is:

INSERT INTO table_name [(column_name, ...)] VALUES (expr, ...)
column_name is an optional list of column names that provides the name and order of the
columns whose values are specified in the VALUES clause. If you omit column_name, the value
expressions (expr) must provide values for all columns defined in the table and must be in the
same order that the columns are defined for the table. column_name may also specify a field
repetition, for example lastDates[4].
expr is the list of expressions giving the values for the columns of the new record. Usually the
expressions are constant values for the columns (but they can also be a subquery). You must
enclose character string values in pairs of single quotation marks ('). To include a single quotation
mark in a character string value enclosed by single quotation marks, use two single quotation
marks together (for example, 'Don''t').
Subqueries must be enclosed in parentheses.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 18

Example

Insert a list of expressions.

INSERT INTO emp (last_name, first_name, emp_id, salary, hire_date)
VALUES ('Smith', 'John', 'E22345', 27500, DATE '2019-06-05')
Each INSERT statement adds one record to the database table. In this case a record has been added
to the employee database table, emp. Values are specified for five columns. The remaining columns in
the table are assigned a blank value, meaning Null.

Note In container fields, you can INSERT text only, unless you prepare a parameterized
statement and stream the data from your application. To use binary data, you may simply assign
the filename by enclosing it in single quotation marks or use the PutAs() function. When
specifying the filename, the file type is deduced from the file extension:

INSERT INTO table_name (container_name) VALUES(? AS 'filename.file extension')

Unsupported file types will be inserted as type FILE.
When using the PutAs() function, specify the type: PutAs(col, 'type'), where the type
value is a supported file type as described in “Retrieving the contents of a container field: CAST()
function and GetAs() function” on page 16.
The SELECT statement is a query that returns values for each column_name value specified in
the column name list. Using a SELECT statement instead of a list of value expressions lets you
select a set of rows from one table and insert it into another table using a single INSERT
statement.

Example

Insert using a SELECT statement.

INSERT INTO emp1 (first_name, last_name, emp_id, dept, salary)
SELECT first_name, last_name, emp_id, dept, salary from emp
WHERE dept = 'D050'

In this type of INSERT statement, the number of columns to be inserted must match the number
of columns in the SELECT statement. The list of columns to be inserted must correspond to the
columns in the SELECT statement just as it would to a list of value expressions in the other type
of INSERT statement. For example, the first column inserted corresponds to the first column
selected; the second inserted to the second, and so on.
The size and data type of these corresponding columns must be compatible. Each column in the
SELECT list should have a data type that the ODBC or JDBC client driver accepts on a regular
INSERT/UPDATE of the corresponding column in the INSERT list. Values are truncated when the
size of the value in the SELECT list column is greater than the size of the corresponding INSERT
list column.
The SELECT statement is evaluated before any values are inserted.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 19

UPDATE statement
Use the UPDATE statement to change records in a database table. The format of the UPDATE
statement is:
UPDATE table_name SET column_name = expr, ... [ WHERE { conditions } ]
column_name is the name of a column whose value is to be changed. Several columns can be
changed in one statement.
expr is the new value for the column.
Usually the expressions are constant values for the columns (but they can also be a subquery).
You must enclose character string values in pairs of single quotation marks ('). To include a single
quotation mark in a character string value enclosed by single quotation marks, use two single
quotation marks together (for example, 'Don''t').
Subqueries must be enclosed in parentheses.
The WHERE clause is any valid clause. It determines which records are updated.

Example

UPDATE statement on the emp table.

UPDATE emp SET salary=32000, exempt=1 WHERE emp_id = 'E10001'
The UPDATE statement changes every record that meets the conditions in the WHERE clause.
In this case the salary and exempt status are changed for all employees having the employee
ID E10001. Because employee IDs are unique in the Employee table, only one record is
updated.

Example

UPDATE statement on the emp table with a subquery.

UPDATE emp SET salary = (SELECT avg(salary) from emp) WHERE emp_id = 'E10001'
In this case, the salary is changed to the average salary in the company for the employee
having employee ID E10001.

Note In container fields, you can UPDATE with text only, unless you prepare a parameterized
statement and stream the data from your application. To use binary data, you may simply assign
the filename by enclosing it in single quotation marks or use the PutAs() function. When
specifying the filename, the file type is deduced from the file extension:

UPDATE table_name SET (container_name) = ? AS 'filename.file extension'

Unsupported file types will be inserted as type FILE.
When using the PutAs() function, specify the type: PutAs(col, 'type'), where the type
value is a supported file type as described in “Retrieving the contents of a container field: CAST()
function and GetAs() function” on page 16.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 20

CREATE TABLE statement

Use the CREATE TABLE statement to create a table in a database file. The format of the CREATE
TABLE statement is:
CREATE TABLE table_name ( table_element_list [, table_element_list...] )
Within the statement, you specify the name and data type of each column.
1 table_name is the name of the table. table_name has a 100 character limit. A table with the
same name must not already be defined. The table name must begin with an alphabetic
character. If the table name begins with other than an alphabetic character, enclose it in double
quotation marks (quoted identifier).
1 The format for table_element_list is:
field_name field_type [[repetitions]]
[DEFAULT expr] [UNIQUE | NOT NULL | PRIMARY KEY | GLOBAL]
[EXTERNAL relative_path_string [SECURE | OPEN calc_path_string]]
1 field_name is the name of the field. Field names must be unique. Field names begin with
an alphabetic character. If the field name begins with other than an alphabetic character,
enclose it in double quotation marks (quoted identifier).

Example

The CREATE TABLE statement for the field named _LASTNAME is:
CREATE TABLE "_EMPLOYEE" (ID INT PRIMARY KEY, "_FIRSTNAME" VARCHAR(20),
"_LASTNAME" VARCHAR(20))

1 For the CREATE TABLE statement repetitions, specify a field repetition by using a
number from 1 to 32000 in brackets after the field type.

Example

EMPLOYEE_ID INT[4]
LASTNAME VARCHAR(20)[4]

1 field_type may be any of the following: NUMERIC, DECIMAL, INT, DATE, TIME,
TIMESTAMP, VARCHAR, CHARACTER VARYING, BLOB, VARBINARY, LONGVARBINARY, or
BINARY VARYING. For NUMERIC and DECIMAL, you can specify the precision and scale.
For example: DECIMAL(10,0). For TIME and TIMESTAMP, you can specify the precision.
For example: TIMESTAMP(6). For VARCHAR and CHARACTER VARYING, you can specify
the length of the string.

Example

VARCHAR(255)

1 The DEFAULT keyword allows you to set a default value for a column. For expr, you may
use a constant value or expression. Allowable expressions are USER, USERNAME,
CURRENT_USER, CURRENT_DATE, CURDATE, CURRENT_TIME, CURTIME,
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, CURTIMESTAMP, and NULL.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 21

1 Defining a column to be UNIQUE automatically selects the Unique Validation Option for the
corresponding field in the FileMaker Pro database file.
1 Defining a column to be NOT NULL automatically selects the Not Empty Validation Option
for the corresponding field in the FileMaker Pro database file. The field is flagged as a
Required Value in the Fields tab of the Manage Database dialog box in FileMaker Pro.
1 To define a column as a container field, use BLOB, VARBINARY, or BINARY VARYING for
the field_type.
1 To define a column as a container field that stores data externally, use the EXTERNAL
keyword. The relative_path_string defines the folder where the data is stored
externally, relative to the location of the FileMaker Pro database. This path must be specified
as the base directory in the FileMaker Pro Manage Containers dialog box. You must specify
either SECURE for secure storage or OPEN for open storage. If you are using open storage,
the calc_path_string is the folder inside the relative_path_string folder where
container objects are to be stored. The path must use forward slashes (/) in the folder name.

Examples
Using Sample SQL

text column CREATE TABLE T1 (C1 VARCHAR, C2 VARCHAR (50), C3 VARCHAR (1001),
C4 VARCHAR (500276))

text column, NOT NULL CREATE TABLE T1NN (C1 VARCHAR NOT NULL, C2 VARCHAR (50) NOT NULL,
C3 VARCHAR (1001) NOT NULL, C4 VARCHAR (500276) NOT NULL)
numeric column CREATE TABLE T2 (C1 DECIMAL, C2 DECIMAL (10,0), C3 DECIMAL
(7539,2), C4 DECIMAL (497925,301))
date column CREATE TABLE T3 (C1 DATE, C2 DATE, C3 DATE, C4 DATE)

time column CREATE TABLE T4 (C1 TIME, C2 TIME, C3 TIME, C4 TIME)

timestamp column CREATE TABLE T5 (C1 TIMESTAMP, C2 TIMESTAMP, C3 TIMESTAMP,

C4 TIMESTAMP)

column for container field CREATE TABLE T6 (C1 BLOB, C2 BLOB, C3 BLOB, C4 BLOB)

column for external storage CREATE TABLE T7 (C1 BLOB EXTERNAL 'Files/MyDatabase/' SECURE)
container field CREATE TABLE T8 (C1 BLOB EXTERNAL 'Files/MyDatabase/'
OPEN 'Objects')

TRUNCATE TABLE statement

Use the TRUNCATE TABLE statement to quickly delete all records in the specified table, emptying
the table of all data.
TRUNCATE TABLE table_name
You cannot specify a WHERE clause with the TRUNCATE TABLE statement. The TRUNCATE TABLE
statement deletes all records.
Only the records in the table specified by table_name are deleted. Records from any related
tables are not affected.
The TRUNCATE TABLE statement needs to be able to lock all records in the table in order to delete
the record data. If any record in the table is locked by another user, FileMaker software returns the
error code 301 (“Record is in use by another user”).
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 22

ALTER TABLE statement

Use the ALTER TABLE statement to change the structure of an existing table in a database file.
You can modify only one column in each statement. The formats of the ALTER TABLE statement
are:
ALTER TABLE table_name ADD [COLUMN] column_definition
ALTER TABLE table_name DROP [COLUMN] unqualified_column_name
ALTER TABLE table_name ALTER [COLUMN] column_definition SET DEFAULT expr
ALTER TABLE table_name ALTER [COLUMN] column_definition DROP DEFAULT
You must know the table’s structure and how you want to modify it before using the ALTER TABLE
statement.

Examples
To Sample SQL

add columns ALTER TABLE Salespeople ADD C1 VARCHAR

remove columns ALTER TABLE Salespeople DROP C1

set the default value for a ALTER TABLE Salespeople ALTER Company SET DEFAULT 'Claris'
column
remove the default value ALTER TABLE Salespeople ALTER Company DROP DEFAULT
for a column

Note SET DEFAULT and DROP DEFAULT do not affect existing rows in the table, but change the
default value for rows that are subsequently added to the table.

CREATE INDEX statement

Use the CREATE INDEX statement to speed searches in your database file. The format of the
CREATE INDEX statement is:
CREATE INDEX ON table_name.column_name
CREATE INDEX ON table_name (column_name)
CREATE INDEX is supported for a single column (multi-column indexes are not supported).
Indexes are not allowed on columns that correspond to container field types, summary fields,
fields that have the global storage option, or unstored calculation fields in a FileMaker Pro
database file.
Creating an index for a text column automatically selects the Storage Option of Minimal in
Indexing for the corresponding field in the FileMaker Pro database file. Creating an index for a
non-text column (or a column formatted as Japanese text) automatically selects the Storage
Option of All in Indexing for the corresponding field in the FileMaker Pro database file.
Creating an index for any column automatically selects the Storage Option of Automatically
create indexes as needed in Indexing for the corresponding field in the FileMaker Pro database
file.
FileMaker software automatically creates indexes as needed. Using CREATE INDEX causes the
index to be built immediately rather than on demand.

Example

CREATE INDEX ON Salespeople.Salesperson_ID

Chapter 2 | Supported standards 23

DROP INDEX statement

Use the DROP INDEX statement to remove an index from a database file. The format of the DROP
INDEX statement is:
DROP INDEX ON table_name.column_name
DROP INDEX ON table_name (column_name)
Remove an index when your database file is too large, or you don’t often use a field in queries.
If your queries are experiencing poor performance, and you’re working with an extremely large
FileMaker Pro database file with many indexed text fields, consider dropping the indexes from
some fields. Also consider dropping the indexes from fields that you rarely use in SELECT
statements.
Dropping an index for any column automatically selects the Storage Option of None and clears
Automatically create indexes as needed in Indexing for the corresponding field in the
FileMaker Pro database file.
The PREVENT INDEX CREATION attribute is not supported.

Example

DROP INDEX ON Salespeople.Salesperson_ID

SQL expressions
Use expressions in WHERE, HAVING, and ORDER BY clauses of SELECT statements to form
detailed and sophisticated database queries. Valid expression elements are:
1 Field names
1 Constants
1 Exponential/scientific notation
1 Numeric operators
1 Character operators
1 Date operators
1 Relational operators
1 Logical operators
1 Functions

Field names
The most common expression is a simple field name, such as calc or
Sales_Data.Invoice_ID.

Constants
Constants are values that do not change. For example, in the expression PRICE * 1.05, the
value 1.05 is a constant. Or you might assign a value of 30 to the constant
Number_Of_Days_In_June.
You must enclose character constants in pairs of single quotation marks ('). To include a single
quotation mark in a character constant enclosed by single quotation marks, use two single
quotation marks together (for example, 'Don''t').
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 24

For ODBC and JDBC applications, FileMaker software accepts the ODBC/JDBC format date,
time, and timestamp constants in braces ({}).

Examples

1 {D '2019-06-05'}
1 {T '14:35:10'}
1 {TS '2019-06-05 14:35:10'}

FileMaker software allows the type specifier (D, T, TS) to be in upper case or lower case. You may
use any number of spaces after the type specifier, or even omit the space.
FileMaker software also accepts SQL-92 syntax ISO date and time formats with no braces.

Examples

1 DATE 'YYYY-MM-DD'
1 TIME 'HH:MM:SS'
1 TIMESTAMP 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS'

The FileMaker Pro ExecuteSQL function accepts only the SQL-92 syntax ISO date and time
formats with no braces.
Constant Acceptable syntax (examples)
Text 'Paris'

Number 1.05

Date DATE '2019-06-05'

{ D '2019-06-05' }
{06/05/2019}
{06/05/19}
Note The 2-digit year syntax is not supported for the ODBC/JDBC format or the SQL-92
format.

Time TIME '14:35:10'

{ T '14:35:10' }
{14:35:10}

Timestamp TIMESTAMP '2019-06-05 14:35:10'

{ TS '2019-06-05 14:35:10'}
{06/05/2019 14:35:10}
{06/05/19 14:35:10}
Make sure Strict data type: 4-Digit Year Date is not selected as a validation option in the
FileMaker Pro database file for a field using this 2-digit year syntax.
Note The 2-digit year syntax is not supported for the ODBC/JDBC format or the SQL-92
format.

When entering date and time values, match the format of the database file locale. For example, if
the database was created on an Italian language system, use Italian date and time formats.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 25

Exponential/scientific notation
Numbers can be expressed using scientific notation.

Example

SELECT column1 / 3.4E+7 FROM table1 WHERE calc < 3.4E-6 * column2

Numeric operators
You can include the following operators in number expressions: +, -, *, /, and ^ or **
(exponentiation).
You can precede numeric expressions with a unary plus (+) or minus (-).

Character operators
You can concatenate characters. In the following, last_name is 'JONES ' and first_name is
'ROBERT '.
Operator Concatenation Example Result
+ Keep trailing blank characters first_name + last_name 'ROBERT JONES '

- Move trailing blank characters to the end first_name - last_name 'ROBERTJONES '

Date operators
You can modify dates. In the following, hire_date is DATE '2019-01-30'.
Operator Effect on date Example Result
+ Add a number of days to a date hire_date + 5 DATE '2019-02-04'

- Find the number of days between two dates hire_date - 29

DATE '2019-01-01'

Subtract a number of days from a date hire_date - 10 DATE '2019-01-20'

Addtional examples

SELECT Date_Sold, Date_Sold + 30 AS agg FROM Sales_Data

SELECT Date_Sold, Date_Sold - 30 AS agg FROM Sales_Data
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 26

Relational operators
Operator Meaning
= Equal

<> Not equal

> Greater than

>= Greater than or equal to

< Less than

<= Less than or equal to

LIKE Matching a pattern

NOT LIKE Not matching a pattern

IS NULL Equal to Null

IS NOT NULL Not equal to Null

BETWEEN Range of values between a lower and upper bound

IN A member of a set of specified values or a member of a subquery

NOT IN Not a member of a set of specified values or a member of a subquery

EXISTS ‘True’ if a subquery returned at least one record

ANY Compares a value to each value returned by a subquery (operator must be preceded by
=, <>, >, >=, <, or <=); =Any is equivalent to In
ALL Compares a value to each value returned by a subquery (operator must be preceded by
=, <>, >, >=, <, or <=)
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 27

Example

SELECT Sales_Data.Invoice_ID FROM Sales_Data

WHERE Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID = 'SP-1'
SELECT Sales_Data.Amount FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Invoice_ID <> 125
SELECT Sales_Data.Amount FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Amount > 3000
SELECT Sales_Data.Time_Sold FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.Time_Sold < '12:00:00'
SELECT Sales_Data.Company_Name FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.Company_Name LIKE '%University'
SELECT Sales_Data.Company_Name FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.Company_Name NOT LIKE '%University'
SELECT Sales_Data.Amount FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Amount IS NULL
SELECT Sales_Data.Amount FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Amount IS NOT NULL
SELECT Sales_Data.Invoice_ID FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.Invoice_ID BETWEEN 1 AND 10
SELECT COUNT(Sales_Data.Invoice_ID) AS agg
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.INVOICE_ID IN (50,250,100)
SELECT COUNT(Sales_Data.Invoice_ID) AS agg
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.INVOICE_ID NOT IN (50,250,100)
SELECT COUNT(Sales_Data.Invoice_ID) AS agg FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.INVOICE_ID NOT IN (SELECT Sales_Data.Invoice_ID
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID = 'SP-4')
SELECT *
FROM Sales_Data WHERE EXISTS (SELECT Sales_Data.Amount
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID IS NOT NULL)
SELECT *
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Amount = ANY (SELECT Sales_Data.Amount
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID = 'SP-1')
SELECT *
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Amount = ALL (SELECT Sales_Data.Amount
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID IS NULL)

Logical operators
You can combine two or more conditions. The conditions must be related by AND or OR, such as:
salary = 40000 AND exempt = 1
The logical NOT operator is used to reverse the meaning, such as:
NOT (salary = 40000 AND exempt = 1)

Example

SELECT * FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Company_Name

NOT LIKE '%University' AND Sales_Data.Amount > 3000
SELECT * FROM Sales_Data WHERE (Sales_Data.Company_Name
LIKE '%University' OR Sales_Data.Amount > 3000)
AND Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID = 'SP-1'
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 28

Operator precedence
As expressions become more complex, the order in which the expressions are evaluated
becomes important. This table shows the order in which the operators are evaluated. The
operators in the first line are evaluated first, and so on. Operators in the same line are evaluated
left to right in the expression.
Precedence Operator
1 Unary '-', Unary '+'

2 ^, **

3 *, /

4 +, -

5 =, <>, <, <=, >, >=, Like, Not Like, Is Null, Is Not Null, Between, In, Exists, Any, All

6 Not

7 AND

8 OR

Examples

WHERE salary > 40000 OR hire_date > (DATE '2008-01-30') AND dept =
'D101'
Because AND is evaluated first, this query retrieves employees in department D101 hired
after January 30, 2008, as well as every employee making more than $40,000, no matter what
department or hire date.
To force the clause to be evaluated in a different order, use parentheses to enclose the
conditions to be evaluated first.
WHERE (salary > 40000 OR hire_date > DATE '2008-01-30') AND dept =
'D101'
This example retrieves employees in department D101 that either make more than $40,000
or were hired after January 30, 2008.

SQL functions
Claris provides an implementation of the SQL standard for the FileMaker Platform and supports
many functions you can use in expressions. Some of the functions return characters strings, some
return numbers, some return dates, and some return values that depend on conditions met by the
function arguments.

Aggregate functions
Aggregate functions return a single value from a set of records. You can use an aggregate function
as part of a SELECT statement, with a field name (for example, AVG(SALARY)), or in combination
with a column expression (for example, AVG(SALARY * 1.07)).
You can precede the column expression with the DISTINCT operator to eliminate duplicate
values.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 29

Example

COUNT (DISTINCT last_name)

In this example, only unique last name values are counted.

Aggregate function Returns

SUM The total of the values in a numeric field expression. For example, SUM(SALARY) returns
the sum of all salary field values.
AVG The average of the values in a numeric field expression. For example, AVG(SALARY)
returns the average of all salary field values.
COUNT The number of values in any field expression. For example, COUNT(NAME) returns the
number of name values. When using COUNT with a field name, COUNT returns the number
of non-null field values. A special example is COUNT(*), which returns the number of
records in the set, including records with null values.
MAX The maximum value in any field expression. For example, MAX(SALARY) returns the
maximum salary field value.
MIN The minimum value in any field expression. For example, MIN(SALARY) returns the
minimum salary field value.

Example

SELECT SUM (Sales_Data.Amount) AS agg FROM Sales_Data

SELECT AVG (Sales_Data.Amount) AS agg FROM Sales_Data
SELECT COUNT (Sales_Data.Amount) AS agg FROM Sales_Data
SELECT MAX (Sales_Data.Amount) AS agg FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.Amount < 3000
SELECT MIN (Sales_Data.Amount) AS agg FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.Amount > 3000

You cannot use an aggregate function as an argument to other functions. If you do, FileMaker
software returns the error code 8309 (“Expressions involving aggregations are not supported”).
For example, the following statement is not valid because the aggregate function SUM cannot be
used as an argument to the function ROUND:

Example

SELECT ROUND(SUM(Salary), 0) FROM Payroll

However, aggregate functions can use functions that return numbers as arguments. The following
statement is valid.

Example

SELECT SUM(ROUND(Salary, 0)) FROM Payroll

Chapter 2 | Supported standards 30

Functions that return character strings

Functions that
return character
strings Description Example
CHR Converts an ASCII code to a one-character CHR(67) returns C
string

CURRENT_USER Returns the login ID specified at connect time

DAYNAME Returns the name of the day that corresponds to

a specified date

RTRIM Removes trailing blanks from a string RTRIM(' ABC ') returns ' ABC'

TRIM Removes leading and trailing blanks from a TRIM(' ABC ') returns 'ABC'
string

LTRIM Removes leading blanks from a string LTRIM(' ABC') returns 'ABC'

UPPER Changes each letter of a string to uppercase UPPER('Allen') returns 'ALLEN'

LOWER Changes each letter of a string to lowercase LOWER('Allen') returns 'allen'

LEFT Returns leftmost characters of a string LEFT('Mattson',3) returns 'Mat'

MONTHNAME Returns the names of the calendar month

RIGHT Returns rightmost characters of a string RIGHT('Mattson',4) returns 'tson'

SUBSTR Returns a substring of a string, with parameters SUBSTR('Conrad',2,3) returns 'onr'

SUBSTRING of the string, the first character to extract, and SUBSTR('Conrad',2) returns 'onrad'
the number of characters to extract (optional)

SPACE Generates a string of blanks SPACE(5) returns ' '

STRVAL Converts a value of any type to a character STRVAL('Woltman') returns 'Woltman'

string STRVAL(5 * 3) returns '15'
STRVAL(4 = 5) returns 'False'
STRVAL(DATE '2019-12-25')
returns '2019-12-25'

TIME Returns the time of day as a string At 9:49 PM, TIME() returns 21:49:00
TIMEVAL

USERNAME Returns the login ID specified at connect time

USER

Note The TIME() function is deprecated. Use the SQL standard CURRENT_TIME instead.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 31

Example

SELECT CHR(67) + SPACE(1) + CHR(70) FROM Salespeople

SELECT RTRIM(' ' + Salespeople.Salesperson_ID) AS agg FROM Salespeople

SELECT TRIM(SPACE(1) + Salespeople.Salesperson_ID) AS agg FROM Salespeople

SELECT LTRIM(' ' + Salespeople.Salesperson_ID) AS agg FROM Salespeople

SELECT UPPER(Salespeople.Salesperson) AS agg FROM Salespeople

SELECT LOWER(Salespeople.Salesperson) AS agg FROM Salespeople

SELECT LEFT(Salespeople.Salesperson, 5) AS agg FROM Salespeople

SELECT RIGHT(Salespeople.Salesperson, 7) AS agg FROM Salespeople

SELECT SUBSTR(Salespeople.Salesperson_ID, 2, 2) +
SUBSTR(Salespeople.Salesperson_ID, 4, 2) AS agg FROM Salespeople

SELECT SUBSTR(Salespeople.Salesperson_ID, 2) +
SUBSTR(Salespeople.Salesperson_ID, 4) AS agg FROM Salespeople

SELECT SPACE(2) + Salespeople.Salesperson_ID AS Salesperson_ID FROM

Salespeople

SELECT STRVAL('60506') AS agg FROM Sales_Data WHERE

Sales_Data.Invoice = 1
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 32

Functions that return numbers

Functions that
return numbers Description Example
ABS Returns the absolute value of the numeric expression

ATAN Returns the arc tangent of the argument as an angle

expressed in radians
ATAN2 Returns the arc tangent of x and y coordinates as an
angle expressed in radians

CEIL Returns the smallest integer value that is greater than

CEILING or equal to the argument

DEG Returns the number of degrees of the argument,

DEGREES which is an angle expressed in radians

DAY Returns the day part of a date DAY(DATE '2019-01-30') returns

30

DAYOFWEEK Returns the day of week (1-7) of a date expression DAYOFWEEK(DATE '2004-05-01')
returns 7

MOD Divides two numbers and returns the remainder of the MOD(10,3) returns 1
division

EXP Returns a value that is the base of the natural

logarithm (e) raised to a power specified by the
argument

FLOOR Returns the largest integer value that is less than or

equal to the argument

HOUR Returns the hour part of a value

INT Returns the integer part of a number INT(6.4321) returns 6

LENGTH Returns the length of a string LENGTH('ABC') returns 3

MONTH Returns the month part of a date MONTH(DATE '2019-01-30')

returns 1

LN Returns the natural logarithm of the argument

LOG Returns the common logarithm of the argument

MAX Returns the larger of two numbers MAX(66,89) returns 89

MIN Returns the smaller of two numbers MIN(66,89) returns 66

MINUTE Returns the minute part of a value

NUMVAL Converts a character string to a number. The function NUMVAL('123') returns 123
fails If the character string is not a valid number.

PI Returns the constant value of the mathematical

constant pi

RADIANS Returns the number of radians for an argument that is

expressed in degrees
ROUND Rounds a number ROUND(123.456,0) returns 123
ROUND(123.456,2) returns 123.46
ROUND(123.456,-2) returns 100
SECOND Returns the seconds part of a value
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 33

Functions that
return numbers Description Example
SIGN An indicator of the sign of the argument: -1 for
negative, 0 for 0, and 1 for positive

SIN Returns the sine of the argument

SQRT Returns the square root of the argument

TAN Returns the tangent of the argument

YEAR Returns the year part of a date YEAR(DATE '2019-01-30') returns

2019

Functions that return dates

Functions that
return dates Description Example
CURDATE Returns today’s date
CURRENT_DATE

CURTIME Returns the current time

CURRENT_TIME

CURTIMESTAMP Returns the current timestamp value

CURRENT_TIMESTAMP

TIMESTAMPVAL Converts a character string to a TIMESTAMPVAL('2019-01-30 14:00:00')

timestamp returns its timestamp value

DATE Returns today’s date If today is 11/21/2019, DATE() returns 2019-11-21

TODAY

DATEVAL Converts a character string to a date DATEVAL('2019-01-30') returns 2019-01-30

Note The DATE() function is deprecated. Use the SQL standard CURRENT_DATE instead.
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 34

Conditional functions
Conditional
functions Description Example
CASE WHEN Simple CASE format SELECT
Invoice_ID,
Compares the value of input_exp to the values CASE Company_Name
of value_exp arguments to determine the result. WHEN 'Exports UK' THEN
'Exports UK Found'
CASE input_exp WHEN 'Home Furniture
{WHEN value_exp THEN result...} [ELSE Suppliers' THEN 'Home Furniture
result] Suppliers Found'
END ELSE 'Neither Exports UK
nor Home Furniture Suppliers'
END,
Salesperson_ID
FROM
Sales_Data

Searched CASE format SELECT

Invoice_ID,
Returns a result based on whether the condition Amount,
specified by a WHEN expression is true. CASE
WHEN Amount > 3000 THEN 'Above
CASE 3000'
{WHEN boolean_exp THEN result...} [ELSE WHEN Amount < 1000 THEN 'Below
result] 3000'
END ELSE 'Between 1000 and 3000'
END,
Salesperson_ID
FROM
Sales_Data

COALESCE Returns the first value that is not NULL SELECT

Salesperson_ID,
COALESCE(Sales_Manager,
Salesperson)
FROM
Salespeople

NULLIF Compares two values and returns NULL if the two SELECT
values are equal; otherwise, returns the first Invoice_ID,
value. NULLIF(Amount, -1),
Salesperson_ID
FROM
Sales_Data
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 35

FileMaker system objects

FileMaker Pro database files include the following system objects that you can access using SQL
queries.

FileMaker system tables

Every FileMaker Pro database file includes these system tables: FileMaker_Tables,
FileMaker_Fields, and FileMaker_BaseTableFields. For ODBC applications, these tables are
included in the information returned by the catalog function SQLTables. For JDBC applications,
these tables are included in the information returned by the DatabaseMetaData method getTables.
The tables can also be used in ExecuteSQL functions.

FileMaker_Tables
The FileMaker_Tables table contains information about the database tables defined in the
FileMaker Pro file.
The FileMaker_Tables table includes a row for each table occurrence in the relationships graph
with the following columns:
1 TableName - The name of the table occurrence.
1 TableId - The unique ID for the table occurrence.
1 BaseTableName - The name of the base table from which the table occurrence was created.
1 BaseFileName - The FileMaker Pro filename for the database file that contains the base table.
1 ModCount - The total number of times changes to this table’s definition have been committed.

Example

SELECT TableName FROM FileMaker_Tables WHERE TableName LIKE 'Sales%'

FileMaker_Fields table
The FileMaker_Fields table contains information about the fields defined in the FileMaker Pro file
for all table occurrences.
The FileMaker_Fields table includes the following columns:
1 TableName - The name of the table that contains the field.
1 FieldName - The name of the field.
1 FieldType - The SQL data type of the field.
1 FieldId - The unique ID for the field.
1 FieldClass - One of three values: Summary, for summary fields; Calculated, for calculated
results; or Normal.
1 FieldReps - The number of repetitions of the field.
1 ModCount - The total number of times changes to this table’s definition have been committed.

Example

SELECT * FROM FileMaker_Fields WHERE TableName='Sales'

Chapter 2 | Supported standards 36

FileMaker_BaseTableFields table
Introduced in FileMaker Platform version 19.4.1, the FileMaker_BaseTableFields table contains
information about the fields defined in the FileMaker Pro file for only the source (or base) tables.
The FileMaker_BaseTableFields table includes the following columns:
1 BaseTableName - The name of the base table that contains the field.
1 FieldName - The name of the field.
1 FieldType - The SQL data type of the field.
1 FieldId - The unique ID for the field.
1 FieldClass - One of three values: Summary, for summary fields; Calculated, for calculated
results; or Normal.
1 FieldReps - The number of repetitions of the field.
1 ModCount - The total number of times changes to this base table’s definition have been
committed.

Example

SELECT * FROM FileMaker_BaseFields WHERE BaseTableName='Sales'

FileMaker system columns

FileMaker software adds system columns (fields) to all of the rows (records) in all of the tables that
are defined in the FileMaker Pro file. For ODBC applications, these columns are included in the
information returned by the catalog function SQLSpecialColumns. For JDBC applications, these
columns are included in the information returned by the DatabaseMetaData method
getVersionColumns. The columns can also be used in ExecuteSQL functions.

ROWID column
The ROWID system column contains the unique ID number of the record. This is the same value
that the FileMaker Pro Get(RecordID) function returns.

ROWMODID column
The ROWMODID system column contains the total number of times changes to the current record
have been committed. This is the same value that the FileMaker Pro
Get(RecordModificationCount) function returns.

Example

SELECT ROWID, ROWMODID FROM MyTable WHERE ROWMODID > 3

Chapter 2 | Supported standards 37

Reserved SQL keywords

This section lists reserved keywords that should not be used as names for columns, tables,
aliases, or other user-defined objects. If you are getting syntax errors, these errors may be due to
using one of these reserved words. If you want to use one of these keywords, you need to use
quotation marks to prevent the word from being treated as a keyword.

Example

Use the DEC keyword as a data element name.

create table t ("dec" numeric)

ABSOLUTE CATALOG CURRENT_USER

ACTION CHAR CURSOR
ADD CHARACTER CURTIME
ALL CHARACTER_LENGTH CURTIMESTAMP
ALLOCATE CHAR_LENGTH DATE
ALTER CHECK DATEVAL
AND CHR DAY
ANY CLOSE DAYNAME
ARE COALESCE DAYOFWEEK
AS COLLATE DEALLOCATE
ASC COLLATION DEC
ASSERTION COLUMN DECIMAL
AT COMMIT DECLARE
AUTHORIZATION CONNECT DEFAULT
AVG CONNECTION DEFERRABLE
BEGIN CONSTRAINT DEFERRED
BETWEEN CONSTRAINTS DELETE
BINARY CONTINUE DESC
BIT CONVERT DESCRIBE
BIT_LENGTH CORRESPONDING DESCRIPTOR
BLOB COUNT DIAGNOSTICS
BOOLEAN CREATE DISCONNECT
BOTH CROSS DISTINCT
BY CURDATE DOMAIN
CASCADE CURRENT DOUBLE
CASCADED CURRENT_DATE DROP
CASE CURRENT_TIME ELSE
CAST CURRENT_TIMESTAMP END
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 38

END_EXEC INTEGER OF
ESCAPE INTERSECT OFFSET
EVERY INTERVAL ON
EXCEPT INTO ONLY
EXCEPTION IS OPEN
EXEC ISOLATION OPTION
EXECUTE JOIN OR
EXISTS KEY ORDER
EXTERNAL LANGUAGE OUTER
EXTRACT LAST OUTPUT
FALSE LEADING OVERLAPS
FETCH LEFT PAD
FIRST LENGTH PART
FLOAT LEVEL PARTIAL
FOR LIKE PERCENT
FOREIGN LOCAL POSITION
FOUND LONGVARBINARY PRECISION
FROM LOWER PREPARE
FULL LTRIM PRESERVE
GET MATCH PRIMARY
GLOBAL MAX PRIOR
GO MIN PRIVILEGES
GOTO MINUTE PROCEDURE
GRANT MODULE PUBLIC
GROUP MONTH READ
HAVING MONTHNAME REAL
HOUR NAMES REFERENCES
IDENTITY NATIONAL RELATIVE
IMMEDIATE NATURAL RESTRICT
IN NCHAR REVOKE
INDEX NEXT RIGHT
INDICATOR NO ROLLBACK
INITIALLY NOT ROUND
INNER NULL ROW
INPUT NULLIF ROWID
INSENSITIVE NUMERIC ROWS
INSERT NUMVAL RTRIM
INT OCTET_LENGTH SCHEMA
Chapter 2 | Supported standards 39

SCROLL UNION
SECOND UNIQUE
SECTION UNKNOWN
SELECT UPDATE
SESSION UPPER
SESSION_USER USAGE
SET USER
SIZE USERNAME
SMALLINT USING
SOME VALUE
SPACE VALUES
SQL VARBINARY
SQLCODE VARCHAR
SQLERROR VARYING
SQLSTATE VIEW
STRVAL WHEN
SUBSTRING WHENEVER
SUM WHERE
SYSTEM_USER WITH
TABLE WORK
TEMPORARY WRITE
THEN YEAR
TIES ZONE
TIME
TIMESTAMP
TIMESTAMPVAL
TIMEVAL
TIMEZONE_HOUR
TIMEZONE_MINUTE
TO
TODAY
TRAILING
TRANSACTION
TRANSLATE
TRANSLATION
TRIM
TRUE
TRUNCATE
Index
A DATEVAL function 33
DAY function 32
ABS function 32 DAYNAME function 30
aggregate functions in SQL 28 DAYOFWEEK function 32
ALL operator 26 DEFAULT (SQL clause) 20
ALTER TABLE (SQL statement) 22 DEG function 32
AND operator 27 DEGREES function 32
ANY operator 26 DELETE (SQL statement) 17
ATAN function 32 DISTINCT operator 8
ATAN2 function 32 DROP INDEX (SQL statement) 23

B E
BaseFileName 35 empty string, use in SELECT 15
BaseTableName 35, 36 ExecuteSQL function 6
BETWEEN operator 26 EXISTS operator 26
binary data, use in SELECT 15 EXP function 32
blank characters 25 exponential notation in SQL expressions 25
blank value in columns 18 expressions in SQL 23
BLOB data type, use in SELECT 15 EXTERNAL (SQL clause) 21

C F
CASE WHEN function 34 FETCH FIRST (SQL clause) 14
CAST function 16 field names in SQL expressions 23
CEIL function 32 field repetitions 17, 20
CEILING function 32
FieldClass 35, 36
character operators in SQL expressions 25
FieldId 35, 36
CHR function 30
FieldName 35, 36
COALESCE function 34
FieldReps 35, 36
column aliases 8
FieldType 35, 36
constants in SQL expressions 23
FileMaker_BaseTableFields 36
container field
FileMaker_Fields 35
stored externally 21
FileMaker_Tables 35
with CREATE TABLE statement 21
with INSERT statement 18 FLOOR function 32
with PutAs function 18 FOR UPDATE (SQL clause) 14
with SELECT statement 16 FROM (SQL clause) 9
with UPDATE statement 19 FULL OUTER JOIN 10
CREATE INDEX (SQL statement) 22 functions in SQL expressions 28
CREATE TABLE (SQL statement) 20
CURDATE function 33 G
CURRENT_DATE function 33
GetAs function 16
CURRENT_TIME function 33
GROUP BY (SQL clause) 11
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP function 33
CURRENT_USER function 30
cursors in ODBC 14
H
CURTIME function 33 HAVING (SQL clause) 12
CURTIMESTAMP function 33 HOUR function 32

D I
date formats 24 IN operator 26
DATE function 33 INNER JOIN 10
date operators in SQL expressions 25 INSERT (SQL statement) 17
Index 41

INT function 32 P
IS NOT NULL operator 26
IS NULL operator 26 peer rows 14
PI function 32
portals 7
J positioned updates and deletes 14
JDBC client driver PREVENT INDEX CREATION 23
portals 7 PutAs function 18, 19
Unicode support 7
join 10
R
K RADIANS function 32
relational operators in SQL expressions 26
keywords, reserved SQL 37 reserved SQL keywords 37
RIGHT function 30
L RIGHT OUTER JOIN 10
LEFT function 30 ROUND function 32
LEFT OUTER JOIN 10 ROWID system column 36
LENGTH function 32 ROWMODID system column 36
LIKE operator 26 RTRIM function 30
LN function 32
LOG function 32 S
logical operators in SQL expressions 27 scientific notation in SQL expressions 25
LOWER function 30 SECOND function 32
LTRIM function 30 SELECT (SQL statement) 8
binary data 15
M BLOB data type 15
empty string 15
MAX function 32
SIGN function 33
MIN function 32
SIN function 33
MINUTE function 32
SPACE function 30
MOD function 32
SQL aggregate functions 28
ModCount 35, 36
SQL expressions 23
MONTH function 32
character operators 25
MONTHNAME function 30 constants 23
date operators 25
N exponential or scientific notation 25
field names 23
NOT IN operator 26
functions 28
NOT LIKE operator 26
logical operators 27
NOT NULL (SQL clause) 21 numeric operators 25
NOT operator 27 operator precedence 28
null value 18 relational operators 26
NULLIF function 34 SQL standards compliance 7
numeric operators in SQL expressions 25 SQL statements
NUMVAL function 32 ALTER TABLE 22
CREATE INDEX 22
O CREATE TABLE 20
DELETE 17
ODBC client driver DROP INDEX 23
portals 7 INSERT 17
Unicode support 7 reserved keywords 37
ODBC standards compliance 7 SELECT 8
OFFSET (SQL clause) 13 supported by client drivers 7
operator precedence in SQL expressions 28 TRUNCATE TABLE 21
OR operator 27 UPDATE 19
ORDER BY (SQL clause) 13 SQL_C_WCHAR data type 7
OUTER JOIN 10 SQL-92 7
Index 42

SQRT function 33
standards compliance 7
string functions 30
STRVAL function 30
subqueries 17
SUBSTR function 30
SUBSTRING function 30
syntax errors 37
system tables 35

T
table aliases 8, 9
TableId 35
TableName 35
TAN function 33
time formats 24
TIME function 30
timestamp formats 24
TIMESTAMPVAL function 33
TIMEVAL function 30
TODAY function 33
TRIM function 30
TRUNCATE TABLE (SQL statement) 21

U
Unicode support 7
UNION (SQL operator) 12
UNIQUE (SQL clause) 21
UPDATE (SQL statement) 19
UPPER function 30
USERNAME function 30

V
VALUES (SQL clause) 17

W
WHERE (SQL clause) 11
WITH TIES (SQL clause) 14

Y
YEAR function 33