<para>

The following conventions are used in the synopsis of a command:

brackets (<literal>[</literal> and <literal>]</literal>) indicate

optional parts. (In the synopsis of a Tcl command, question marks

(<literal>?</literal>) are used instead, as is usual in Tcl.) Braces

optional parts. Braces

(<literal>{</literal> and <literal>}</literal>) and vertical lines

(<literal>|</literal>) indicate that you must choose one

alternative. Dots (<literal>...</literal>) mean that the preceding element

can be repeated.

can be repeated. All other symbols, including parentheses, should be

taken literally.

</para>

<para>

<title>Database Access from PL/Tcl</title>

<para>

The following commands are available to access the database from

the body of a PL/Tcl function:

In this section, we follow the usual Tcl convention of using question

marks, rather than brackets, to indicate an optional element in a

syntax synopsis. The following commands are available to access

the database from the body of a PL/Tcl function:

<variablelist>