Given SQL statement is an example of which category of SQL commands? SELECT *…

Concept

SQL commands are grouped by the function they perform. A Data Manipulation Language (DML) is the sub-language used to retrieve and modify the rows stored in a table — it operates on the data, not on the schema or on access rights. Retrieval (querying) is therefore a DML operation in the classical relational-model classification.

Application

SELECT * FROM table_name reads existing rows from a table and returns them; it neither creates/alters the table structure nor changes who may access it. Reading/retrieving data is a manipulation of the stored data, so this statement falls under DML.

The four categories

• DDL (Data Definition Language) — defines or changes the schema: CREATE, ALTER, DROP.

• DML (Data Manipulation Language) — works with the rows: SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE.

• DCL (Data Control Language) — controls access/permissions: GRANT, REVOKE.

• TCL (Transaction Control Language) — controls transactions: COMMIT, ROLLBACK, SAVEPOINT.

Cross-check

Vendor references agree: Oracle's SQL Language Reference and the MySQL manual both list SELECT among the Data Manipulation statements. Some teaching schemes further split retrieval into a separate Data Query Language (DQL); however, DQL is a sub-set carved out of DML and is not one of the four categories offered here, so the correct choice among the given options is Data Manipulation Language.