Syntax options: USING parameter USING qualified-parameter USING DESCRIPTOR descriptor-name Specifies in dynamic SQL parameters (host language variables in a precompiled OPEN statement or formal parameters in an OPEN statement that is part of an SQL module language procedure) or qualified parameters (structures) whose values SQL uses to replace parameter markers in a prepared SELECT statement named in the cursor declaration. These parameters are not for use in interactive SQL. SQL replaces the parameter markers with the values of the host language variables when it evaluates the SELECT statement of the cursor. See the Oracle Rdb SQL Reference Manual for more information on the SQL module language and the SQL precompiler, respectively. You must specify the USING clause when both of the following conditions exist: o The declaration of the cursor you are opening specifies a prepared SELECT statement name. o The statement string for the prepared SELECT statement includes parameter markers. SQL does not allow the USING clause in an OPEN statement for a cursor that is not based on a prepared SELECT statement. For more information on parameter markers, see the PREPARE statement, and the chapter on dynamic SQL in the Oracle Rdb Guide to SQL Programming. There are two ways to specify parameters in a USING clause: o With a list of parameters. The number of parameters in the list must be the same as the number of parameter markers in the prepared SELECT statement. (If any of the parameters in an OPEN statement is a host structure, SQL counts the number of variables in that structure when it compares the number of parameters in the USING clause with the number of parameter markers in the prepared SELECT statement.) o With the name of a descriptor that corresponds to an SQLDA. Specify the name of the descriptor in the USING DESCRIPTOR clause. If you use the INCLUDE statement to insert the SQLDA into your program, the descriptor name is simply SQLDA. The SQLDA is a collection of variables used only in dynamic SQL. In an OPEN statement, the SQLDA points to a number of host language variables with which SQL replaces the parameter markers in a prepared SELECT statement. The number of variables must match the number of parameter markers. The data types of host language variables must be compatible with the values of the corresponding column of the cursor row.