postgresql/doc/src/sgml/ecpg.sgml
2002-01-18 21:17:07 +00:00

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<chapter id="ecpg">
<docinfo>
<authorgroup>
<author>
<firstname>Linus</firstname>
<surname>Tolke</surname>
</author>
<author>
<firstname>Michael</firstname>
<surname>Meskes</surname>
</author>
</authorgroup>
<copyright>
<year>1996-1997</year>
<holder>Linus Tolke</holder>
</copyright>
<copyright>
<year>1998</year>
<holder>Michael Meskes</holder>
</copyright>
<date>Transcribed 1998-02-12</date>
</docinfo>
<title><application>ecpg</application> - Embedded <acronym>SQL</acronym>
in <acronym>C</acronym></title>
<indexterm zone="ecpg"><primary>embedded SQL</primary><secondary>in C</secondary></indexterm>
<para>
This describes the embedded <acronym>SQL</acronym> package for
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname>. It works with
<acronym>C</acronym> and <acronym>C++</acronym>. It was written by
Linus Tolke (<email>linus@epact.se</email>) and Michael Meskes
(<email>meskes@debian.org</email>). The package is installed with the
<productname>PostgreSQL</> distribution, and carries a similar license.
</para>
<sect1 id="ecpg-why">
<title>Why Embedded <acronym>SQL</acronym>?</title>
<para>
Embedded <acronym>SQL</acronym> has advantages over other methods
for handling <acronym>SQL</acronym> queries. It takes care of
the tedious passing of information to and from variables in your
<acronym>C</acronym> or <acronym>C++</acronym> program. Many
<acronym>RDBMS</acronym> packages support this embedded language.
</para>
<para>
There is an ANSI standard describing how the embedded language
should work. <application>ecpg</application> was designed to match
this standard as much as possible. It is possible to port embedded
<acronym>SQL</acronym> programs written for other
<acronym>RDBMS</acronym> to <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>.
</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="ecpg-concept">
<title>The Concept</title>
<para>
You write your program in <acronym>C/C++</acronym> with special
<acronym>SQL</acronym> constructs. When declaring variables to be
used in <acronym>SQL</acronym> statements, you need to put them in a
special <command>declare</> section. You use a special syntax for the
<acronym>SQL</acronym> queries.
</para>
<para>
Before compiling you run the file through the embedded
<acronym>SQL</acronym> <acronym>C</acronym> preprocessor and it
converts the <acronym>SQL</acronym> statements you used to function
calls with the variables used as arguments. Both query input and
result output variables are passed.
</para>
<para>
After compiling, you must link with a special library that contains
needed functions. These functions fetch information from the
arguments, perform the <acronym>SQL</acronym> query using the
<filename>libpq</filename> interface, and put the result in the
arguments specified for output.
</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="ecpg-use">
<title>How To Use <application>ecpg</application></title>
<para>
This section describes how to use <application>ecpg</application>.
</para>
<sect2>
<title>Preprocessor</title>
<para>
The preprocessor is called <application>ecpg</application>. After
installation it resides in the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
<filename>bin/</filename> directory.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>Library</title>
<para>
The <application>ecpg</application> library is called
<filename>libecpg.a</filename> or <filename>libecpg.so</filename>.
Additionally, the library uses the <filename>libpq</filename>
library for communication to the
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> server. You will have to link
your program using <parameter>-lecpg -lpq</parameter>.
</para>
<para>
The library has some methods that are <quote>hidden</quote> but may prove
useful.
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
<function>ECPGdebug(int <replaceable>on</replaceable>, FILE
*<replaceable>stream</replaceable>)</function> turns on debug
logging if called with the first argument non-zero. Debug
logging is done on <replaceable>stream</replaceable>. Most
<acronym>SQL</acronym> statement log their arguments and results.
</para>
<para>
The most important function , <function>ECPGdo</function>, logs
all <acronym>SQL</acronym> statements with both the expanded
string, i.e. the string with all the input variables inserted,
and the result from the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
server. This can be very useful when searching for errors in
your <acronym>SQL</acronym> statements.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<function>ECPGstatus()</function>
This method returns TRUE if we are connected to a database and FALSE if not.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>Error handling</title>
<para>
To detect errors from the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
server, include a line like:
<programlisting>
exec sql include sqlca;
</programlisting>
in the include section of your file. This will define a struct and
a variable with the name <parameter>sqlca</parameter> as follows:
<programlisting>
struct sqlca
{
char sqlcaid[8];
long sqlabc;
long sqlcode;
struct
{
int sqlerrml;
char sqlerrmc[70];
} sqlerrm;
char sqlerrp[8];
long sqlerrd[6];
/* 0: empty */
/* 1: OID of processed tuple if applicable */
/* 2: number of rows processed in an INSERT, UPDATE */
/* or DELETE statement */
/* 3: empty */
/* 4: empty */
/* 5: empty */
char sqlwarn[8];
/* 0: set to 'W' if at least one other is 'W' */
/* 1: if 'W' at least one character string */
/* value was truncated when it was */
/* stored into a host variable. */
/* 2: empty */
/* 3: empty */
/* 4: empty */
/* 5: empty */
/* 6: empty */
/* 7: empty */
char sqlext[8];
} sqlca;
</programlisting>
</para>
<para>
If an no error occurred in the last <acronym>SQL</acronym> statement.
<parameter>sqlca.sqlcode</parameter> will be 0 (ECPG_NO_ERROR). If
<parameter>sqlca.sqlcode</parameter> is less that zero, this is a
serious error, like the database definition does not match the
query. If it is greater than zero, it is a normal error like the
table did not contain the requested row.
</para>
<para>
<parameter>sqlca.sqlerrm.sqlerrmc</parameter> will contain a string
that describes the error. The string ends with the line number in
the source file.
</para>
<para>
These are the errors that can occur:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-12, Out of memory in line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Should not normally occur. This indicates your virtual memory is
exhausted.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-200 (ECPG_UNSUPPORTED): Unsupported type %s on line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Should not normally occur. This indicates the preprocessor has
generated something that the library does not know about.
Perhaps you are running incompatible versions of the
preprocessor and the library.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-201 (ECPG_TOO_MANY_ARGUMENTS): Too many arguments line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This means that <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> has
returned more arguments than we have matching variables.
Perhaps you have forgotten a couple of the host variables in
the <command>INTO :var1,:var2</command>-list.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-202 (ECPG_TOO_FEW_ARGUMENTS): Too few arguments line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This means that <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> has
returned fewer arguments than we have host variables. Perhaps
you have too many host variables in the <command>INTO
:var1,:var2</command>-list.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-203 (ECPG_TOO_MANY_MATCHES): Too many matches line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This means the query has returned several rows but the
variables specified are not arrays. The
<command>SELECT</command> command was not unique.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-204 (ECPG_INT_FORMAT): Not correctly formatted int type: %s line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This means the host variable is of type <type>int</type> and
the field in the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database
is of another type and contains a value that cannot be
interpreted as an <type>int</type>. The library uses
<function>strtol()</function> for this conversion.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-205 (ECPG_UINT_FORMAT): Not correctly formatted unsigned type: %s line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This means the host variable is of type <type>unsigned
int</type> and the field in the
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database is of another type
and contains a value that cannot be interpreted as an
<type>unsigned int</type>. The library uses
<function>strtoul()</function> for this conversion.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-206 (ECPG_FLOAT_FORMAT): Not correctly formatted floating-point type: %s line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This means the host variable is of type <type>float</type> and
the field in the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database
is of another type and contains a value that cannot be
interpreted as a <type>float</type>. The library uses
<function>strtod()</function> for this conversion.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-207 (ECPG_CONVERT_BOOL): Unable to convert %s to bool on line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This means the host variable is of type <type>bool</type> and
the field in the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database
is neither <literal>'t'</> nor <literal>'f'</>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-208 (ECPG_EMPTY): Empty query line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> returned <symbol>PGRES_EMPTY_QUERY</symbol>, probably
because the query indeed was empty.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-209 (ECPG_MISSING_INDICATOR): NULL value without indicator in line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> returned <symbol>ECPG_MISSING_INDICATOR</symbol>
because a NULL was returned and no NULL indicator variable was supplied.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-210 (ECPG_NO_ARRAY): Variable is not an array in line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> returned <symbol>ECPG_NO_ARRAY</symbol>
because an ordinary variable was used in a place that requires
an array.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-211 (ECPG_DATA_NOT_ARRAY): Data read from backend is not an array in line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> returned <symbol>ECPG_DATA_NOT_ARRAY</symbol>
because the database returned an ordinary variable in a place
that requires array value.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-220 (ECPG_NO_CONN): No such connection %s in line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The program tried to access a connection that does not exist.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-221 (ECPG_NOT_CONN): Not connected in line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The program tried to access a connection that does exist but is
not open.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-230 (ECPG_INVALID_STMT): Invalid statement name %s in line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The statement you are trying to use has not been prepared.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-240 (ECPG_UNKNOWN_DESCRIPTOR): Descriptor %s not found in line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The descriptor specified was not foundstatement you are trying to use has not been prepared.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-241 (ECPG_INVALID_DESCRIPTOR_INDEX): Descriptor index out of range in line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The descriptor index specified was out of range.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-242 (ECPG_UNKNOWN_DESCRIPTOR_ITEM): Descriptor %s not found in line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The descriptor specified was not foundstatement you are trying to use has not been prepared.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-243 (ECPG_VAR_NOT_NUMERIC): Variable is not a numeric type in line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The database returned a numeric value and the variable was not
numeric.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-244 (ECPG_VAR_NOT_CHAR): Variable is not a character type in line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The database returned a non-numeric value and the variable was
numeric.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-400 (ECPG_PGSQL): Postgres error: %s line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Some <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> error.
The message contains the error message from the
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> backend.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-401 (ECPG_TRANS): Error in transaction processing line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> signaled that we cannot start,
commit or rollback the transaction.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>-402 (ECPG_CONNECT): Could not connect to database %s in line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The connect to the database did not work.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><computeroutput>100 (ECPG_NOT_FOUND): Data not found line %d.</computeroutput></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This is a <quote>normal</quote> error that tells you that what you are querying cannot
be found or you are at the end of the cursor.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="ecpg-limitations">
<title>Limitations</title>
<para>
What will never be included and why it cannot be done:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Oracle's single tasking</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Oracle version 7.0 on <systemitem class="osname">AIX</> 3 uses OS-supported locks in shared
memory that allow an application designer to link an application
in a <quote>single tasking</quote> way. Instead of starting one client
process per application process, both the database part and the
application part run in the same process. In later versions of
Oracle this is no longer supported.
</para>
<para>
This would require a total redesign of the
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> access model and the
performance gain does not justify the effort.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="ecpg-porting">
<title>Porting From Other <acronym>RDBMS</acronym> Packages</title>
<para>
The design of <application>ecpg</application> follows the SQL
standard. Porting from a standard RDBMS should not be a problem.
Unfortunately there is no such thing as a standard RDBMS. Therefore
<application>ecpg</application> tries to understand syntax
extensions as long as they do not create conflicts with the
standard.
</para>
<para>
The following list shows all the known incompatibilities. If you
find one not listed please notify the developers. Note, however, that
we list only incompatibilities from a precompiler of another RDBMS
to <application>ecpg</application> and not
<application>ecpg</application> features that these RDBMS do not
support.
</para>
<para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Syntax of FETCH</term>
<indexterm><primary>FETCH</><secondary>embedded SQL</></indexterm>
<listitem>
<para>
The standard syntax for FETCH is:
</para>
<para>
FETCH [direction] [amount] IN|FROM <replaceable>cursor</replaceable>.
</para>
<para>
<indexterm><primary>Oracle</></>
<application>Oracle</application>, however, does not use the keywords IN
or FROM. This feature cannot be added since it would create parsing
conflicts.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="ecpg-develop">
<title>For the Developer</title>
<para>
This section explain how <application>ecpg</application>
works internally. It contains valuable information to help users
understand how to use <application>ecpg</application>.
</para>
<sect2>
<title>The Preprocessor</title>
<para>
The first four lines written by <command>ecpg</command> to the output are fixed lines.
Two are comments and two are include lines necessary to interface
to the library.
</para>
<para>
Then the preprocessor reads through the file and writes output.
Normally it just echoes everything to the output.
</para>
<para>
When it sees an <command>EXEC SQL</command> statement, it
intervenes and changes it. The <command>EXEC SQL</command>
statement can be one of these:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Declare sections</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<command>Declare</> sections begin with:
<programlisting>
exec sql begin declare section;
</programlisting>
and end with:
<programlisting>
exec sql end declare section;
</programlisting>
In this section only variable declarations are allowed. Every
variable declared within this section is stored in a list
of variables indexed by name together with its corresponding
type.
</para>
<para>
In particular the definition of a structure or union also must
be listed inside a <command>declare</> section. Otherwise
<application>ecpg</application> cannot handle these types since
it does not know the definition.
</para>
<para>
The declaration is also echoed to the file to make it a normal
C variable.
</para>
<para>
The special types <type>VARCHAR</type> and <type>VARCHAR2</type> are converted into a named struct
for every variable. A declaration like:
<programlisting>
VARCHAR var[180];
</programlisting>
is converted into:
<programlisting>
struct varchar_var { int len; char arr[180]; } var;
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Include statements</term>
<listitem>
<para>
An include statement looks like:
<programlisting>
exec sql include filename;
</programlisting>
Note that this is NOT the same as:
<programlisting>
#include &lt;filename.h&gt;
</programlisting>
</para>
<para>
Instead the file specified is parsed by
<application>ecpg</application> so the contents of the file are
included in the resulting C code. This way you are able to
specify EXEC SQL commands in an include file.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Connect statement</term>
<listitem>
<para>
A connect statement looks like:
<programlisting>
exec sql connect to <replaceable>connection target</replaceable>;
</programlisting>
It creates a connection to the specified database.
</para>
<para>
The <replaceable>connection target</replaceable> can be specified in the
following ways:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal>dbname[@server][:port][as <replaceable>connection
name</replaceable>][user <replaceable>user name</replaceable>]</literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal>tcp:postgresql://server[:port][/dbname][as
<replaceable>connection name</replaceable>][user <replaceable>user name</replaceable>]</literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal>unix:postgresql://server[:port][/dbname][as
<replaceable>connection name</replaceable>][user <replaceable>user name</replaceable>]</literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal><replaceable>character variable</replaceable>[as
<replaceable>connection name</replaceable>][user <replaceable>user name</replaceable>]</literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal><replaceable>character string</replaceable>[as
<replaceable>connection name</replaceable>][<replaceable>user</replaceable>]</literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal>default</literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal>user</literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
<para>
There are also different ways to specify the user name:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal><replaceable>userid</replaceable></literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal><replaceable>userid</replaceable>/<replaceable>password</replaceable></literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal><replaceable>userid</replaceable> identified by <replaceable>password</replaceable></literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal><replaceable>userid</replaceable> using <replaceable>password</replaceable></literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
<para>
Finally, the <replaceable>userid</replaceable> and <replaceable>password</replaceable> may be a constant text, a
character variable, or a character string.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Disconnect statements</term>
<listitem>
<para>
A disconnect statement looks like:
<programlisting>
exec sql disconnect [<replaceable>connection target</replaceable>];
</programlisting>
It closes the connection to the specified database.
</para>
<para>
The <replaceable>connection target</replaceable> can be specified in the
following ways:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal><replaceable>connection name</replaceable></literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal>default</literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal>current</literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<simpara>
<literal>all</literal>
</simpara>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Open cursor statement</term>
<listitem>
<para>
An open cursor statement looks like:
<programlisting>
exec sql open <replaceable>cursor</replaceable>;
</programlisting>
and is not copied to the output. Instead, the cursor's
<command>DECLARE</> command is used because it opens the cursor
as well.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Commit statement</term>
<listitem>
<para>
A commit statement looks like:
<programlisting>
exec sql commit;
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Rollback statement</term>
<listitem>
<para>
A rollback statement looks like:
<programlisting>
exec sql rollback;
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Other statements</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Other <acronym>SQL</acronym> statements are used by
starting with <command>exec sql</command> and ending with
<command>;</command>. Everything in between is treated as an
<acronym>SQL</acronym> statement and parsed for variable
substitution.
</para>
<para>
Variable substitution occurs when a symbol starts with a colon
(<command>:</command>). The variable with that name is looked
up among the variables that were previously declared within a
<command>declare</> section. Depending on whether the variable is
being use for input or output, a pointer to the variable is
output to allow access by the function.
</para>
<para>
For every variable that is part of the <acronym>SQL</acronym>
query, the function gets other arguments:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
The type as a special symbol.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
A pointer to the value or a pointer to the pointer.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
The size of the variable if it is a <type>char</type> or <type>varchar</type>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
The number of elements in the array (for array fetches).
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
The offset to the next element in the array (for array fetches).
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
The type of the indicator variable as a special symbol.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
A pointer to the value of the indicator variable or a pointer to the pointer of the indicator variable.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
0.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Number of elements in the indicator array (for array fetches).
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
The offset to the next element in the indicator array (for
array fetches).
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>A Complete Example</title>
<para>
Here is a complete example describing the output of the preprocessor of a
file <filename>foo.pgc</filename>:
<programlisting>
exec sql begin declare section;
int index;
int result;
exec sql end declare section;
...
exec sql select res into :result from mytable where index = :index;
</programlisting>
is translated into:
<programlisting>
/* Processed by ecpg (2.6.0) */
/* These two include files are added by the preprocessor */
#include &lt;ecpgtype.h&gt;;
#include &lt;ecpglib.h&gt;;
/* exec sql begin declare section */
#line 1 "foo.pgc"
int index;
int result;
/* exec sql end declare section */
...
ECPGdo(__LINE__, NULL, "select res from mytable where index = ? ",
ECPGt_int,&amp;(index),1L,1L,sizeof(int),
ECPGt_NO_INDICATOR, NULL , 0L, 0L, 0L, ECPGt_EOIT,
ECPGt_int,&amp;(result),1L,1L,sizeof(int),
ECPGt_NO_INDICATOR, NULL , 0L, 0L, 0L, ECPGt_EORT);
#line 147 "foo.pgc"
</programlisting>
(The indentation in this manual is added for readability and not
something the preprocessor does.)
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>The Library</title>
<para>
The most important function in the library is
<function>ECPGdo</function>. It takes a variable number of
arguments. Hopefully there are no computers that limit the
number of variables that can be accepted by a <function>varargs()</function> function. This
can easily add up to 50 or so arguments.
</para>
<para>
The arguments are:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>A line number</term>
<listitem>
<para>
This is a line number of the original line; used in error messages only.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>A string</term>
<listitem>
<para>
This is the <acronym>SQL</acronym> query that is to be issued.
It is modified by the input variables, i.e. the variables that
where not known at compile time but are to be entered in the
query. Where the variables should go the string contains
<literal>?</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Input variables</term>
<listitem>
<para>
As described in the section about the preprocessor, every input variable
gets ten arguments.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>ECPGt_EOIT</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
An enum telling that there are no more input variables.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Output variables</term>
<listitem>
<para>
As described in the section about the preprocessor, every input variable
gets ten arguments. These variables are filled by the function.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>ECPGt_EORT</term>
<listitem>
<para>
An enum telling that there are no more variables.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
<para>
In the default mode, queries are committed only when <command>exec
sql commit</command> is issued. <application>Ecpg</application>
also supports auto-commit of transactions via the
<option>-t</option> command-line option or via the <literal>exec
sql set autocommit to on</literal> statement. In
<literal>autocommit</literal> mode, each query is automatically
committed unless it is inside an explicit transaction block. This
mode can be explicitly turned off using <literal>exec sql set
autocommit to off</literal>.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
</chapter>
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