SQL puzzle

Brian Parkins <[email protected]> Fri, 3 Apr 2026 22:58:58 +0100
Newsgroups gmane.comp.lang.as400.rpg
Message-ID <[email protected]>
Here's a conundrum. Consider the following SQL statement:

select t1_key, t1_value, t1_foreign, t2_key, t2_value
   from table1 outer join table2
     on t1_foreign = t2_key
   order by t1_key;

If I read the SQL Reference (syntax diagram) correctly, this is wrong. 
It must be coded as LEFT OUTER JOIN, (or LEFT JOIN). And yet, my memory 
tells this has always been acceptable coding, with LEFT as the default. 
I fact, I tried it on V7.5 and V7.6 systems - and it works just fine

I also tried it on a V7.4 system - and it fails with:
SQL0199 Keyword OUTER not expected. Valid tokens: FOR USE SKIP WAIT WITH 
FETCH LIMIT ORDER UNION EXCEPT OFFSET.

So, my conundrums are:
1). It is OK to code OUTER JOIN, (and LEFT is assumed)?
2). Is there a PTF required on the V7.4 system - or are there problems 
on the V7.5 and V7.6 systems?
3). Is the SQL Reference incorrect?

(If anyone wishes to check this out I have a script I can paste here.)

TIA,
Brian.
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