While writing the sql statements, we separate statements by semicolon(;). A MySQL program uses the (;) delimiter to separate statements and executes each statement separately.
For example:
SELECT * FROM users;
SELECT * FROM messages;
A stored procedure, however, consists of multiple statements separated by a semicolon (;).The MySQL program will not treat the whole stored procedure as a single statement, but many statements. Therefore, you must redefine the delimiter temporarily so that you can pass the whole stored procedure to the server as a single statement.
To redefine the default delimiter, use the DELIMITER command:
DELIMITER delimiter_character
The delimiter_character may consist of a single character or multiple characters e.g., // or $$.
For example, this statement changes the delimiter to //:
DELIMITER //
Once you change the delimiter, the statements would be
DELIMITER //
SELECT * FROM users//
SELECT * FROM messages//
Again to change back the delimiter to ; use DELIMITER ; at the end.
