15.6 Compound Statement Syntax

15.6.1 BEGIN ... END Compound Statement

15.6.2 Statement Labels

15.6.3 DECLARE Statement

15.6.4 Variables in Stored Programs

15.6.5 Flow Control Statements

15.6.6 Cursors

15.6.7 Condition Handling

15.6.8 Restrictions on Condition Handling

This section describes the syntax for the BEGIN ... END compound statement and other statements that can be used in the body of stored programs: Stored procedures and functions, triggers, and events. These objects are defined in terms of SQL code that is stored on the server for later invocation (see Chapter 27, Stored Objects).

A compound statement is a block that can contain other blocks; declarations for variables, condition handlers, and cursors; and flow control constructs such as loops and conditional tests.