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Getting help

isql comes with the HELP command. This gives brief details of most of the commands available - unfortunately, some are missing. The HELP command also allows you to drill down for further information. To activate the help system, simply type HELP at the prompt, as shown below (from Firebird 2.5):

 SQL> help; 

 Frontend commands:
 BLOBDUMP <blobid> <file>         -- dump BLOB to a file
 BLOBVIEW <blobid>                -- view BLOB in text editor
 EDIT        [<filename>]         -- edit SQL script file and execute
 EDIT                             -- edit current command buffer and execute
 HELP                             -- display this menu
 INput        <filename>          -- take input from the named SQL file
 OUTput      [<filename>]         -- write output to named file
 OUTput                           -- return output to stdout
 SET          <option>            -- (Use HELP SET for complete list)
 SHELL        <command>           -- execute Operating System command in sub-shell
 SHOW         <object> [<name>]   -- display system information
              <object> =           CHECK, COLLATION, DATABASE, DOMAIN, EXCEPTION, FILTER, FUNCTION, 
                                   GENERATOR, GRANT, INDEX, PROCEDURE, ROLE, SQL DIALECT, SYSTEM,
                                   TABLE, TRIGGER, VERSION, USERS, VIEW
 EXIT                             -- exit and commit changes
 QUIT                             -- exit and roll back changes

 All commands may be abbreviated to letters in CAPitals

Most of these commands have no further levels of detail, while the SET command does. To drill down into those extra levels, proceed as follows:

 SQL> help set;

 Set commands:
     SET                          -- display current SET options
     SET AUTOddl                  -- toggle autocommit of DDL statements
     SET BAIL                     -- toggle bailing out on errors in non-interactive mode
     SET BLOB [ALL|<n>]           -- display BLOBS of subtype <n> or ALL
     SET BLOB                     -- turn off BLOB display
     SET COUNT                    -- toggle count of selected rows on/off
     SET ROWCOUNT [<n>]           -- limit select stmt to <n> rows, zero is no limit
     SET ECHO                     -- toggle command echo on/off
     SET HEADING                  -- toggle display of query column titles
     SET LIST                     -- toggle column or table display format
     SET NAMES <csname>           -- set name of runtime character set
     SET PLAN                     -- toggle display of query access plan
     SET PLANONLY                 -- toggle display of query plan without executing
     SET SQL DIALECT <n>          -- set sql dialect to <n>
     SET STATs                    -- toggle display of performance statistics
     SET TIME                     -- toggle display of timestamp with DATE values
     SET TERM <string>            -- change statement terminator string
     SET WIDTH <col> [<n>]        -- set/unset print width to <n> for column <col>

 All commands may be abbreviated to letters in CAPitals

If you attempt to drill down into any other command, the effect is exactly the same as executing the HELP command on its own.

Note: In the output from HELP SET, there doesn't appear to be any help on the SET TRANSACTION command.

See also:
SET TRANSACTION

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