Syntax options: COMPOUND TRANSACTIONS INTERNAL COMPOUND TRANSACTIONS EXTERNAL Allows you to specify whether SQL should start a transaction before executing a compound statement or stored procedure. The COMPOUND TRANSACTIONS EXTERNAL clause instructs SQL to start a transaction before executing a procedure. The COMPOUND TRANSACTIONS INTERNAL clause instructs SQL to allow a procedure to start a transaction as required by the procedure execution. By default, SQL starts a transaction before executing a compound statement if there is no current transaction