Looking at the online docs for 14.10, in the SQL Syntax manual section describing the ANSI-style join syntax, I see that the "INNER" keyword is listed above the main path of the diagram, while the JOIN keyword is on the main path, and options such as LEFT and RIGHT are presented under the main path.  Am I correct in assuming that INNER is the default, such that if a programmer specified "JOIN" with no other options, it would be treated as an INNER JOIN?  I think I'm correct, but I would like to be able to point programmers to the official text stating that is the case.

For those who suggest that I should RTFM before posting such an elementary question, I did.  Specifically this section, which states that before trying to use the diagrams, "it is helpful to read the syntax diagram section of the Introduction".  The problem is, I cannot find an Introduction.  The manual jumps straight into the Overview of SQL Syntax.  I would expect the Introduction to precede the Overview.  I've looked in the 12.10, 14.10, and 15.0 versions of the manual.

Perhaps an update to the documentation is in order?  Either include the Introduction section in the online version, or move the syntax diagram section into the Overview?

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mark collins
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Mark: 

Yes. JOIN alone implies an INNER JOIN while specifying either LEFT or RIGHT implies LEFT OUTER JOIN or RIGHT OUTER JOIN. OUTER JOIN alone implies a LEFT OUTER JOIN. 

Art

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Art S. Kagel, President and Principal Consultant
ASK Database Management Corp.
www.askdbmgt.com
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Art,

Thanks for the confirmation.  This morning, I found an old PDF copy of the 11.70 documentation, which includes the Introduction section.  Hopefully someone will see the need to add that to the online docs for the current versions.

Mark

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mark collins
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Original Message:
Sent: Mon June 01, 2026 07:50 PM
From: Art Kagel
Subject: silly documentation question

Mark: 

Yes. JOIN alone implies an INNER JOIN while specifying either LEFT or RIGHT implies LEFT OUTER JOIN or RIGHT OUTER JOIN. OUTER JOIN alone implies a LEFT OUTER JOIN. 

Art

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Art S. Kagel, President and Principal Consultant
ASK Database Management Corp.
www.askdbmgt.com
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You might want to look at the following page That explains the various JOINs.

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/informix-servers/14.10.0?topic=clause-ansi-joins#ids_sqs_1026

Here is the same excerpt from the version 11 manual:

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Daniel Karwatka
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