Getting Acquainted

This chapter introduces you to the Oracle Precompilers. You look at their role in developing application programs that manipulate Oracle data and find out what they allow your applications to do.

Learning the Basics

This chapter explains how embedded SQL programs do their work. You examine the special environment in which they operate, the impact of this environment on the design of your applications, the key concepts of embedded SQL programming, and the steps you take in developing an application.

Meeting Program Requirements

This chapter shows you how to meet embedded SQL program requirements. You learn the embedded SQL commands that declare variables, declare communications areas, and connect to an Oracle database. You also learn about the Oracle datatypes, Globalization Support (Globalization Support), data conversion, and how to take advantage of datatype equivalencing. In addition, this chapter shows you how to embed Oracle Call Interface (OCI) calls in your program and how to develop X/Open applications.

 Using Embedded SQL

This chapter teaches you the essentials of embedded SQL programming. You learn how to use host variables, indicator variables, cursors, cursor variables, and the fundamental SQL commands that insert, update, select, and delete Oracle data.

Using Embedded PL/SQL

This chapter shows you how to improve performance by embedding PL/SQL transaction processing blocks in your program. You learn how to use PL/SQL with host variables, indicator variables, cursors, stored subprograms, host arrays, and dynamic SQL.

Running the Oracle Precompilers

This chapter details the requirements for running an Oracle Precompiler. You learn what happens during precompilation, how to issue the precompiler command, how to specify the many useful precompiler options, how to do conditional and separate precompilations, and how to embed OCI calls in your host program.

Defining and Controlling Transactions

This chapter describes transaction processing. You learn the basic techniques that safeguard the consistency of your database.

Error Handling and Diagnostics

This chapter provides an in-depth discussion of error reporting and recovery. You learn how to detect and handle errors using the status variable SQLSTATE, the SQLCA structure, and the WHENEVER statement. You also learn how to diagnose problems using the ORACA.

Using Host Arrays

This chapter looks at using arrays to improve program performance. You learn how to manipulate Oracle data using arrays, how to operate on all the elements of an array with a single SQL statement, and how to limit the number of array elements processed.

Using Dynamic SQL

This chapter shows you how to take advantage of dynamic SQL. You are taught four methods--from simple to complex--for writing flexible programs that, among other things, let users build SQL statements interactively at run time.

Writing User Exits

This chapter focuses on writing user exits for your SQL*Forms or Oracle Forms applications. First, you learn the commands that allow a Forms application to interface with user exits. Then, you learn how to write and link a Forms user exit.

New Features

This appendix highlights the improvements and new features introduced with Release 1.8 of the Oracle Precompilers.

Oracle Reserved Words_ Keywords_ and Namespaces

This appendix lists words that have a special meaning to Oracle and namespaces that are reserved for Oracle libraries.

Performance Tuning

This appendix gives you some simple, easy-to-apply methods for improving the performance of your applications.

Syntactic and Semantic Checking

This appendix shows you how to use the SQLCHECK option to control the type and extent of syntactic and semantic checking done on embedded SQL statements and PL/SQL blocks.

Embedded SQL Commands and Directives

This appendix contains descriptions of precompiler directives, embedded SQL commands, and Oracle embedded SQL extensions. These commands are prefaced in your source code with the keywords, EXEC SQL.