Overview
ISO/IEC 9075-11:2023/Cor 1:2026, published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), is a technical corrigendum to the fifth edition of ISO/IEC 9075-11:2023. This standard addresses Information technology - Database languages - SQL - Part 11: Information and definition schemas (SQL/Schemata). SQL/Schemata defines the information and definition schemas used by SQL database management systems to provide metadata about database structures and capabilities. This technical corrigendum corrects and clarifies specific aspects of the base standard, ensuring greater consistency and interoperability for SQL implementations.
Key Topics
- Corrections & Clarifications: Provides updates and corrections to the information and definition schema representations within SQL, ensuring proper constraints and meaningful metadata for routine definitions, implementation information, and sizing data.
- Schema Metadata Enhancements: Refines aspects of the SQL information schema, such as adding missing
NOT NULL constraints and correcting descriptions for better accuracy.
- Backward Compatibility: Maintains references and compatibility with previous editions of the ISO/IEC 9075 SQL standard series, addressing backward compatibility for assigned values in implementation and sizing schemas.
- SQL Base Tables: Specifies corrections to key metadata tables such as ROUTINES, SQL_IMPLEMENTATION_INFO, and SQL_SIZING, aligning them to standardized behaviors.
- Improved Data Population: Clarifies instructions for population of metadata tables in SQL implementations, ensuring that key fields (such as supported values for various SQL facilities) are set accurately.
Applications
Implementing ISO/IEC 9075-11:2023/Cor 1:2026 ensures that SQL database systems:
- Deliver Consistent Metadata: By standardizing information and definition schemas, database administrators and developers benefit from transparent and uniform access to metadata, such as schema elements, data types, and system features.
- Promote Interoperability: Ensures SQL databases from different vendors provide metadata in a consistent and predictable manner, which is critical for system integration, migration projects, and analytics platforms.
- Enhance Compliance and Reliability: Adhering to the corrigendum enables database engines to comply with up-to-date international standards, mitigating risks from ambiguities or errors in metadata handling.
- Support Advanced Database Management Tasks: Reliable metadata access is essential for tasks such as automated schema discovery, database migration, DevOps pipelines, and performance benchmarking.
- Improve Data Governance: Accurate schema information is vital for auditing, impact analysis, and regulatory requirements around data management.
Related Standards
Organizations implementing or referencing ISO/IEC 9075-11:2023/Cor 1:2026 should consider the following related standards:
- ISO/IEC 9075 series: The comprehensive suite covering all aspects of SQL, including foundational syntax, data manipulation, and specification of various language parts.
- ISO/IEC 9075-1:2016: Framework (SQL/Framework) - defines the overall architecture and context for the SQL family of standards.
- ISO/IEC 9075-3:1995: Earlier edition referenced for backward compatibility within this corrigendum.
- ISO/IEC 9075-2: Foundation (SQL/Foundation) - core SQL language definition.
- ISO/IEC 13249: SQL Multimedia and Application Packages (SQL/MM) - extends SQL’s capability to manage multimedia and other advanced data types.
By aligning with ISO/IEC 9075-11:2023/Cor 1:2026 and its peer standards, database products can assure end-users of reliable, standards-based SQL metadata handling and improved interoperability across diverse information technology environments.