Basic Names

A basic name can be up to 20 bytes in length.

A name can be made up of any combination of letters (A to Z), decimal digits (0 to 9), $, #, @, or underscore (_). However, the first character cannot be an underscore or a decimal digit. If @ is the line-kill character on your system, you must precede any @ in an ALLBASE/SQL name with a backslash, that is \@.

Lowercase letters (a to z) are automatically changed to the corresponding uppercase letters (A to Z) unless enclosed in double quotation marks.

You can use any combination of characters in a basic name if you enclose it in double quotation marks. However, note that if you define a name using double quotes, you must use double quotes when you use the name later. Moreover, if the context in which you are using the name would itself require the use of double quotes, you must precede each of the quotes around the basic name with a backslash, as in the following example:

   UNLOAD TO EXTERNAL EParts FROM
   "SELECT * FROM \"PurchDB\".PARTS";

In addition, application programs must be capable of distinguishing double-quoted names. To prevent any possible conflict, minimize the use of double-quoted basic names.