SQLAPI++ allows to work with a number of SQL database servers. It provides common mechanisms to access database, and as a general rule they work for any database server. But each server has some specific features which a developer has to know in order to leverage server's unique features and avoid potential errors.
This page collects all specific information that concerns working with Oracle server using SQLAPI++ Library. Full information about using SQLAPI++ see in How To and Documentation .
Available topics:
To connect to a database you should create a connection object and then connect it. A connection object is represented by SAConnection class. After the connection is created you need to connect it to Oracle server using SAConnection::Connect method
void Connect( const SAString &sDBString, const SAString &sUserID, const SAString &sPassword, SAClient_t eSAClient = SA_Client_NotSpecified);
with the following parameters:
| *sDBString*. | Any valid Oracle connection string. For example the database alias name as it is specified in TNSNAMES.ORA file. An additional information about Oracle connection string available with Oracle Instant Client FAQ. |
| *sUserID*. | A string containing a user name to use when establishing the connection. If sUserID parameter is empty, SQLAPI++ Library requests Oracle external authentication. |
| *sPassword*. | A string containing a password to use when establishing the connection. |
| *eSAClient*. | Optional. One of the following values from SAClient_t enum:
|
The SQLAPI++ Library requires Oracle OCI version 8 or higher.
For more details see How To - Connecting to databases, SAConnection object, SAConnection::Connect.
SQL-92 defines four isolation levels, all of which are supported by SQLAPI++:
SQLAPI++ maps different isolation levels on Oracle server in the following way:
SA_ReadUncommitted = 'READ COMMITTED'
SA_ReadCommitted = 'READ COMMITTED'
SA_RepeatableRead = 'SERIALIZABLE'
SA_Serializable = 'SERIALIZABLE'
For more details see SAConnection::setIsolationLevel.
SQLAPI++ supports four types for working with Long or Lob(CLob, BLob) data:
| Name | C enum constant |
|---|---|
| LongBinary | SA_dtLongBinary |
| LongChar | SA_dtLongChar |
| BLob (Binary Large object) | SA_dtBLob |
| CLob (Character Large object) | SA_dtCLob |
The table below shows how SQLAPI++ data types correspond with servers original data types:
SA_dtLongBinary <=> LONG RAW
SA_dtLongChar <=> LONG
SA_dtBLob <=> BLOB, FILE
SA_dtCLob <=> CLOB
For more details see How To - Working with Long or Lob(CLob, BLob) data.
Binding Lob(CLob, BLob) data when working with Oracle server has some differences from others (see How To - Binding input parameters). It's necessary for a name of bind variable to be the same as the column name it associated with.
Update TEST set FBLOB = :fblob where FKEY = 'KEY'
Therefore, it's impossible to bind Lob(CLob, BLob) data to Oracle database by position.
For more details see How To - Binding input parameters.
In Oracle output parameters are available immediately after calling SACommand::Execute.
SQLAPI++ Library automatically creates SAParam object to represent function return value. You can refer to this SAParam object using SQLAPI++ predefined name "RETURN_VALUE".
For more details see SACommand::Execute, SAParam object, How To - Returning Output Parameters.
Using SACommand::Cancel method you can cancel the following types of processing on a statement:
SQLAPI++ calls OCIBreak function to cancel a query. To get more details see OCIBreak function description in Oracle documentation.
For more details see SACommand::Cancel.
A server specific option can relate to a API, connection, command, parameter or field. We recommend you specify each option in an appropriate object, although it is possible to specify them in the parental object as well. In that case the option affects all the child objects.
An API related option must be specified in SAPI object. If an internal SAPI object used for the DBMS API initialization (implicit DBMS API initialization, see SAConnection::Connect method) the related DBMS specific options taken from initial connection object.
A connection related option may be specified in either SAPI object or SAConnection object. If it is specified in SAPI object it affects all the connections on that API.
A command related option may be specified in SAPI object, SAConnection object or SACommand object. If it is specified in a parent object it affects all the commands on that SAPI, SAConnection objects.
A parameter related option may be specified in SAPI object, SAConnection object, SACommand object or SAParam object. If it is specified in a parent object it affects all the parameters on that SAPI, SAConnection, SACommand objects.
A field related option may be specified in SAPI object, SAConnection object, SACommand object or SAField object. If it is specified in a parent object it affects all the fields on that on that SAPI, SAConnection, SACommand objects.
Specific options for Oracle:
| Option name / Scope | Description |
|---|---|
OCI8.LIBS API related. Should be specified before the first connection is made. | Forces SQLAPI++ Library to use specified OCI library. Valid values : Any valid OCI library name list. Names separated by ';' on Windows or ':' on other OS. |
UseUCS2 API related. (OCI >= 9; UNICODE) | The UNICODE version of the SQLAPI++ uses UCS2 client character set for Oracle OCI >= 9. This option allows to use pre-configured client character set with the UNICODE SQLAPI++ version. Valid values : "No", "False" or "0". |
NLS_CHAR API related. (OCI >= 9; non-UNICODE) | This option allows to specify client character set for entire connection with the non-UNICODE SQLAPI++ version. Valid values : String containing Oracle character set name ("US7ASCII", "CL8MSWIN1251", "SF7DEC", etc.) or its numeric code ("1", "171", "21", etc.). See Oracle documentation for more details. By default SQLAPI++ doesn't change Oracle settings for this option. See Oracle documentation for details. |
ConnectAs Connection related. | Forces SQLAPI++ to connect with SYSDBA or SYSOPER privileges. Valid values : "SYSDBA" or "SYSOPER". |
UseTimeStamp Connection related. | This option allows to disable the using of the OCIDateTime. Useful when OCI version 8 and higher is used with old Oracle server versions don't support TimeStamp data type. Valid values : "No", "False" or "0". |
UseConnectionPool Connection related. | Forces SQLAPI++ to use Oracle connection pool feature. Valid values : One-based index of the used connection pool. |
UseConnectionPool_MinConn Connection related. | Minimal size of the connection pool. Valid values : String containing the minimal size of the pool. |
UseConnectionPool_MaxConn Connection related. | Maximal size of the connection pool. Valid values : String containing the maximal size of the pool. |
UseConnectionPool_ConnIncr Connection related. | The connection pool increment value. Valid values : String containing the pool increment value. |
APPNAME Connection related. | OCI_ATTR_CLIENT_IDENTIFIER is used to identify client connection. Valid values : client application name string. |
OCI_ATTR_RECEIVE_TIMEOUT Connection related. | Undocumented OCI attributes allow to specify connection socket timeouts. Valid values : the string represents timeout value (in milliseconds). |
Overload Command related. | It's used when SQLAPI++ tries to detect package method parameters. When SQLAPI++ enumerates the package methods it uses the method with "Overload" number to describe the parameters. Valid values : String containing a decimal number. |
PreFetchRows Command related. Should be specified before command execution. | Forces SQLAPI++ Library to fetch rows in bulk, rather than retrieving records one by one. Valid values : String containing number of rows in the fetch buffer. |
OCI_ATTR_PREFETCH_ROWS or Command related. Should be specified before command execution. | This options set the corresponding OCI statement attribute values. Valid values : String represents an integer value. See Oracle documentation for more details. |
UseDynamicCursor or Command related. Should be specified before describing parameters or command execution. | Forces SQLAPI++ to use scrollable readonly cursor. Requires OCIStmtFetch2 API function. Valid values : "True", "1". |
OCI_ATTR_CHARSET_ID Parameter related. Should be specified before command execution. | This option sets character set ID of the parameter or the field. Valid values : String containing Oracle character set name ("US7ASCII", "CL8MSWIN1251", "SF7DEC", etc.) or its numeric code ("1", "171", "21", etc.). See Oracle documentation for more details. |
OCI_ATTR_CHARSET_FORM Parameter related. Should be specified before command execution. Field related. Should be specified before fetching. | This option sets the character set form of the parameter or the field. Valid values : "SQLCS_IMPLICIT", "SQLCS_NCHAR". See Oracle documentation for more details. |
For more details see SAConnection::setOption, SACommand::setOption, SAField::setOption, SAParam::setOption.
You can call client specific API functions which are not directly supported by SQLAPI++ Library. SAConnection::NativeAPI method returns a pointer to the set of native API functions available for Oracle. To use the database API directly you have to downcast this IsaAPI pointer to the appropriate type and use its implementation-specific members. The following table shows what type cast you have to make and what additional header file you have to include to work with Oracle API.
| Type casting | Additional include file |
|---|---|
Cast the result to class oraAPI: IsaAPI *pResult = con.NativeAPI(); oraAPI *p_oraAPI = (oraAPI *)pResult; | #include "oraAPI.h" |
To get more information about DBMS API functions see this DBMS specific documentation.
For more details see SAConnection::NativeAPI.
You have to use native API handles when you want to call specific Oracle API functions which are not directly supported by the Library. API functions usually need to receive one or more active handles as a parameter(s). SAConnection::NativeHandles method returns a pointer to the set of native API connection related handles. To use API handles directly you have to downcast saConnectionHandles pointer to the appropriate type and use its implementation-specific members. The following table shows what type cast you have to make and what additional header file you have to include to work with specific Oracle API.
| Type casting |
|---|
Cast the result to class oraConnectionHandles: #include "oraAPI.h" saConnectionHandles *pResult = con.NativeHandles(); oraConnectionHandles *p_oraCH = (oraConnectionHandles*)pResult; |
To get more information about DBMS API functions and handles see this DBMS specific documentation.
For more details see SAConnection::NativeHandles.
You have to use native API handles when you want to call specific Oracle API functions which are not directly supported by the Library. API functions usually need to receive one or more active handles as a parameter(s). SACommand::NativeHandles method returns a pointer to the set of native API command related handles. To use API handles directly you have to downcast saCommandHandles pointer to the appropriate type and use its implementation-specific members. The following table shows what type cast you have to make and what additional header file you have to include to work with specific Oracle API.
| Type casting |
|---|
Cast the result to class oraCommandHandles: #include "oraAPI.h" saCommandHandles *pResult = cmd.NativeHandles(); oraCommandHandles *p_oraCH = (oraCommandHandles*)pResult; |
To get more information about DBMS API functions and handles see this DBMS specific documentation.
For more details see SACommand::NativeHandles.
When an error occurs inside SQLAPI++ Library it throws an exception of type SAException.
SAException::ErrPos method gets an error position in SQL statement. In Oracle server SAException::ErrPos method returns parse error offset.
For more details see How To - Error handling, SAException object.
The header files are in the include subdirectory of SQLAPI++ distributions:
For more details see Documentation - Instructions for Compiling and Linking Applications with SQLAPI++