SQL COMMANDS / CURSORS & PREPARED STATEMENTS

EXECUTE

execute a prepared statement

Syntax

EXECUTE name [ ( parameter [, ...] ) ]

Syntax diagrams

Read left to right. Branches are choices, bypasses are optional, loops repeat. Select an underlined parameter to open its rule.

Description

EXECUTE is used to execute a previously prepared statement. Since prepared statements only exist for the duration of a session, the prepared statement must have been created by a PREPARE statement executed earlier in the current session.

If the PREPARE statement that created the statement specified some parameters, a compatible set of parameters must be passed to the EXECUTE statement, or else an error is raised. Note that (unlike functions) prepared statements are not overloaded based on the type or number of their parameters; the name of a prepared statement must be unique within a database session.

For more information on the creation and usage of prepared statements, see PREPARE.

Parameters

name: The name of the prepared statement to execute.
parameter: The actual value of a parameter to the prepared statement. This must be an expression yielding a value that is compatible with the data type of this parameter, as was determined when the prepared statement was created.

Outputs

The command tag returned by EXECUTE is that of the prepared statement, and not EXECUTE.

Examples

Examples are given in Examples in the PREPARE documentation.

Compatibility

The SQL standard includes an EXECUTE statement, but it is only for use in embedded SQL. This version of the EXECUTE statement also uses a somewhat different syntax.

Related entries

Definition snapshot: 2026-09-14T13:14:25.700916+00:00@99e6866c · English manual source