Example 1: Declaring variables in interactive SQL SQL> DECLARE :X INTEGER; SQL> DECLARE :Y CHAR(10); SQL> SQL> BEGIN cont> SET :X = 100; cont> SET :Y = 'Active'; cont> END; SQL> PRINT :X, :Y ; X Y 100 Active SQL> SHOW VARIABLES; X INTEGER Y CHAR(10) Example 2: Using the values of SQLSTATE in an interactive SQL script The following simple script uses the named SQLSTATE variable with the SIGNAL statement to make the script easier to read. @SYS$LIBRARY:SQLSTATE set verify; begin signal :SQLSTATE_DATA_ASSIGN ('Error in assignment'); end; When executed the output appears as shown below. SQL> begin cont> signal :SQLSTATE_DATA_ASSIGN ('Error in assignment'); cont> end; %RDB-E-SIGNAL_SQLSTATE, routine "(unnamed)" signaled SQLSTATE "22005" -RDB-I-TEXT, Error in assignment SQL>