An SQL3 snapshot

The third major generation of the standard for the SQL database language, known as SQL3, is nearing completion. Many significant new features have been added to SQL, both in areas traditionally addressed by SQL and in pursuit of adding object technology to the language. The standard has been partitioned into a number of distinct parts, each of which may progress at its own rate. Publication of SQL3 as a replacement for the current version of the standard, SQL-92, is expected no sooner than 1998.