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$Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/libpq.sgml,v 1.131 2003/08/13 16:29:03 tgl Exp $
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 <chapter id="libpq">
  <title><application>libpq</application> - C Library</title>

  <indexterm zone="libpq">
   <primary>libpq</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <para>
   <application>libpq</application> is the <acronym>C</acronym>
   application programmer's interface to
   <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>.  <application>libpq</application> is a set
   of library functions that allow client programs to pass queries to the
   <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> backend server and to receive the
   results of these queries.  <application>libpq</application> is also the
   underlying engine for several other <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
   application interfaces, including <application>libpq++</application> (C++),
   <application>libpgtcl</application> (Tcl), <productname>Perl</productname>, and
   <application>ECPG</application>.  So some aspects of <application>libpq</>'s behavior will be
   important to you if you use one of those packages.
  </para>

  <para>
   Some short programs are included at the end of this chapter (<xref linkend="libpq-example">) to show how
   to write programs that use <application>libpq</application>.  There are also several
   complete examples of <application>libpq</application> applications in the
   directory <filename>src/test/examples</filename> in the source code distribution.
  </para>

  <para>
   Client programs that use <application>libpq</application> must include the
   header file <filename>libpq-fe.h</filename> and must link with the
   <application>libpq</application> library.
  </para>

 <sect1 id="libpq-connect">
  <title>Database Connection Control Functions</title>

  <para>
   The following functions deal with making a connection to a
   <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> backend server.  An
   application program can have several backend connections open at
   one time.  (One reason to do that is to access more than one
   database.)  Each connection is represented by a
   <structname>PGconn</> object which is obtained from the function
   <function>PQconnectdb</> or <function>PQsetdbLogin</>.  Note that
   these functions will always return a non-null object pointer,
   unless perhaps there is too little memory even to allocate the
   <structname>PGconn</> object.  The <function>PQstatus</> function
   should be called to check whether a connection was successfully
   made before queries are sent via the connection object.

   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><function>PQconnectdb</function></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Makes a new connection to the database server.
<synopsis>
PGconn *PQconnectdb(const char *conninfo);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
   This function opens a new database connection using the parameters taken
   from the string <literal>conninfo</literal>.  Unlike <function>PQsetdbLogin</> below,
   the parameter set can be extended without changing the function signature,
   so use of this function (or its nonblocking analogues <function>PQconnectStart</>
   and <function>PQconnectPoll</function>) is preferred for new application programming.
   </para>

   <para>
   The passed string
   can be empty to use all default parameters, or it can contain one or more
   parameter settings separated by whitespace.
   Each parameter setting is in the form <literal>keyword = value</literal>.
   (To write an empty value or a value containing
   spaces, surround it with single quotes, e.g.,
   <literal>keyword = 'a value'</literal>.
   Single quotes and backslashes within the value must be escaped with a
   backslash, i.e., <literal>\'</literal> and <literal>\\</literal>.)
   Spaces around the equal sign are optional.
   </para>

   <para>
   The currently recognized parameter keywords are:

   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>host</literal></term>
     <listitem>
     <para>
      Name of host to connect to. 
      If this begins with a slash, it specifies Unix-domain communication
      rather than TCP/IP communication; the value is the name of the
      directory in which the socket file is stored.
      The default is to connect to a Unix-domain socket in
      <filename>/tmp</filename>.
     </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>hostaddr</literal></term>
     <listitem>
     <para>
      Numeric IP address of host to connect to.  This should be in the
      standard IPv4 address format, e.g., <literal>172.28.40.9</>.  If
      your machine supports IPv6, you can also use those addresses.
      TCP/IP communication is
      always used when a nonempty string is specified for this parameter.
     </para>
     <para>
      Using <literal>hostaddr</> instead of <literal>host</> allows the
      application to avoid a host name look-up, which may be important in
      applications with time constraints. However, Kerberos authentication
      requires the host name. The following therefore applies: If
      <literal>host</> is specified without <literal>hostaddr</>, a host name
      lookup occurs. If <literal>hostaddr</> is specified without
      <literal>host</>, the value for <literal>hostaddr</> gives the remote
      address. When Kerberos is used, a reverse name query occurs to obtain
      the host name for Kerberos. If both
      <literal>host</> and <literal>hostaddr</> are specified, the value for
      <literal>hostaddr</> gives the remote address; the value for
      <literal>host</> is ignored, unless Kerberos is used, in which case that
      value is used for Kerberos authentication. (Note that authentication is
      likely to fail if <application>libpq</application> is passed a host name
      that is not the name of the machine at <literal>hostaddr</>.)  Also,
      <literal>host</> rather than <literal>hostaddr</> is used to identify
      the connection in <filename>$HOME/.pgpass</>.
     </para>
     <para>
      Without either a host name or host address,
      <application>libpq</application> will connect using a
      local Unix domain socket.
     </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>port</literal></term>
     <listitem>
     <para>
      Port number to connect to at the server host,
      or socket file name extension for Unix-domain connections.
     </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>dbname</literal></term>
     <listitem>
     <para>
      The database name.  Defaults to be the same as the user name.
     </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>user</literal></term> 
     <listitem>
     <para>
      <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> user name to connect as.
     </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>password</literal></term>
     <listitem>
     <para>
      Password to be used if the server demands password authentication.
     </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>connect_timeout</literal></term>
     <listitem>
     <para>
      Maximum wait for connection, in seconds (write as a decimal integer
      string). Zero or not specified means wait indefinitely.  It is not
      recommended to use a timeout of less than 2 seconds.
     </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>options</literal></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Command-line options to be sent to the server.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>tty</literal></term>
     <listitem>
     <para>
      Ignored (formerly, this specified where to send server debug output).
     </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>sslmode</literal></term>
     <listitem>
	 <para>
      This option determines whether or with what priority an <acronym>SSL</>
      connection will be negotiated with the server. There are four
      modes: <literal>disable</> will attempt only an unencrypted
      <acronym>SSL</> connection; <literal>allow</> will negotiate,
      trying first a non-<acronym>SSL</> connection, then if that fails,
      trying an <acronym>SSL</> connection; <literal>prefer</>
	  (the default) will negotiate, trying first an <acronym>SSL</> connection,
	  then if that fails, trying a regular non-<acronym>SSL</> connection;
      <literal>require</> will try only an <acronym>SSL</> connection.
	 </para>
	 <para>
	  If <productname>PostgreSQL</> is compiled without SSL support,
	  using option <literal>require</> will cause an error, and options
	  <literal>allow</> and <literal>prefer</> will be tolerated but
	  <application>libpq</> will be unable to negotiate an <acronym>SSL</>
	  connection.
     </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>requiressl</literal></term>
     <listitem>
     <para>
	  This option is deprecated in favor of the <literal>sslmode</>
	  setting.
	 </para>
	 <para>
      If set to 1, an <acronym>SSL</acronym> connection to the server is required
	  (this is equivalent to <literal>sslmode</> <literal>require</>).
      <application>libpq</> will then refuse to connect if the server does not
      accept an <acronym>SSL</acronym> connection.
      If set to 0 (default), <application>libpq</> will negotiate the connection
	  type with the server (equivalent to <literal>sslmode</> <literal>prefer</>).
      This option is only available if
      <productname>PostgreSQL</> is compiled with SSL support.
     </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>service</literal></term>
     <listitem>
     <para>
      Service name to use for additional parameters.  It specifies a service
      name in <filename>pg_service.conf</filename> that holds additional connection parameters.
      This allows applications to specify only a service name so connection parameters 
      can be centrally maintained.  See 
      <filename><replaceable>PREFIX</>/share/pg_service.conf.sample</> for
      information on how to set up the file.
     </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>

   If  any  parameter is unspecified, then the corresponding
   environment variable (see <xref linkend="libpq-envars">)
   is checked. If the  environment  variable is not set either,
   then built-in defaults are used.
   </para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><function>PQsetdbLogin</function></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>
       Makes a new connection to the database server.
<synopsis>
PGconn *PQsetdbLogin(const char *pghost,
                     const char *pgport,
                     const char *pgoptions,
                     const char *pgtty,
                     const char *dbName,
                     const char *login,
                     const char *pwd);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
   This is the predecessor of <function>PQconnectdb</function> with a fixed
   set of parameters.  It has the same functionality except that the
   missing parameters will always take on default values.  Write NULL or an
   empty string for any one of the fixed parameters that is to be defaulted.
   </para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><function>PQsetdb</function></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>
   Makes a new connection to the database server.
<synopsis>
PGconn *PQsetdb(char *pghost,
                char *pgport,
                char *pgoptions,
                char *pgtty,
                char *dbName);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
   This is a macro that calls <function>PQsetdbLogin</function> with null pointers
   for the <parameter>login</> and <parameter>pwd</> parameters.  It is provided
   for backward compatibility with very old programs.
   </para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><function>PQconnectStart</function></term>
  <term><function>PQconnectPoll</function></term>
  <listitem>
  <para>
   <indexterm><primary>nonblocking connection</primary></indexterm>
   Make a connection to the database server in a nonblocking manner.
<synopsis>
PGconn *PQconnectStart(const char *conninfo);
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
PostgresPollingStatusType PQconnectPoll(PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>
<para>
   These two functions are used to open a connection to a database server such
   that your application's thread of execution is not blocked on remote I/O
   whilst doing so.
   The point of this approach is that the waits for I/O to complete can occur
   in the application's main loop, rather than down inside
   <function>PQconnectdb()</>, and so the application can manage this
   operation in parallel with other activities.
  </para>
  <para>
   The database connection is made using the parameters taken from the string
   <literal>conninfo</literal>, passed to <function>PQconnectStart</function>. This string is in
   the same format as described above for <function>PQconnectdb</function>.
  </para>
  <para>
   Neither <function>PQconnectStart</function> nor <function>PQconnectPoll</function> will block, so long as a number of
   restrictions are met:
   <itemizedlist>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      The <literal>hostaddr</> and <literal>host</> parameters are used appropriately to ensure that
      name and reverse name queries are not made. See the documentation of
      these parameters under <function>PQconnectdb</function> above for details.
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      If you call <function>PQtrace</function>, ensure that the stream object
      into which you trace will not block.
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      You ensure that the socket is in the appropriate state
      before calling <function>PQconnectPoll</function>, as described below.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </itemizedlist>
  </para>

  <para>
   To begin a nonblocking connection request, call <literal>conn = PQconnectStart("<replaceable>connection_info_string</>")</literal>.
   If <varname>conn</varname> is null, then <application>libpq</> has been unable to allocate a new <structname>PGconn</>
   structure. Otherwise, a valid <structname>PGconn</> pointer is returned (though not yet
   representing a valid connection to the database). On return from
   <function>PQconnectStart</function>, call <literal>status = PQstatus(conn)</literal>. If <varname>status</varname> equals
   <symbol>CONNECTION_BAD</symbol>, <function>PQconnectStart</function> has failed.
  </para>
  <para>
   If <function>PQconnectStart</> succeeds, the next stage is to poll
   <application>libpq</> so that it may proceed with the connection sequence.
   Use <function>PQsocket(conn)</function> to obtain the descriptor of the
   socket underlying the database connection.
   Loop thus: If <function>PQconnectPoll(conn)</function> last returned
   <symbol>PGRES_POLLING_READING</symbol>, wait until the socket is ready to
   read (as indicated by <function>select()</>, <function>poll()</>, or
   similar system function).
   Then call <function>PQconnectPoll(conn)</function> again.
   Conversely, if <function>PQconnectPoll(conn)</function> last returned
   <symbol>PGRES_POLLING_WRITING</symbol>, wait until the socket is ready
   to write, then call <function>PQconnectPoll(conn)</function> again.
   If you have yet to call
   <function>PQconnectPoll</function>, i.e., just after the call to
   <function>PQconnectStart</function>, behave as if it last returned
   <symbol>PGRES_POLLING_WRITING</symbol>.  Continue this loop until
   <function>PQconnectPoll(conn)</function> returns
   <symbol>PGRES_POLLING_FAILED</symbol>, indicating the connection procedure
   has failed, or <symbol>PGRES_POLLING_OK</symbol>, indicating the connection
   has been successfully made.
  </para>

  <para>
    At any time during connection, the status of the connection may be
    checked by calling <function>PQstatus</>. If this gives <symbol>CONNECTION_BAD</>, then the
    connection procedure has failed; if it gives <function>CONNECTION_OK</>, then the
    connection is ready.  Both of these states are equally detectable
    from the return value of <function>PQconnectPoll</>, described above. Other states may also occur
    during (and only during) an asynchronous connection procedure. These
    indicate the current stage of the connection procedure and may be useful
    to provide feedback to the user for example. These statuses are:

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><symbol>CONNECTION_STARTED</symbol></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Waiting for connection to be made.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry> 

     <varlistentry>
      <term><symbol>CONNECTION_MADE</symbol></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Connection OK; waiting to send.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>  

     <varlistentry>
      <term><symbol>CONNECTION_AWAITING_RESPONSE</symbol></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Waiting for a response from the server.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><symbol>CONNECTION_AUTH_OK</symbol></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Received authentication; waiting for backend start-up to finish.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><symbol>CONNECTION_SSL_STARTUP</symbol></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Negotiating SSL encryption.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><symbol>CONNECTION_SETENV</symbol></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Negotiating environment-driven parameter settings.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

    Note that, although these constants will remain (in order to maintain
    compatibility), an application should never rely upon these appearing in a
    particular order, or at all, or on the status always being one of these
    documented values. An application might do something like this:
<programlisting>
switch(PQstatus(conn))
{
    case CONNECTION_STARTED:
        feedback = "Connecting...";
        break;

    case CONNECTION_MADE:
        feedback = "Connected to server...";
        break;
.
.
.
    default:
        feedback = "Connecting...";
}
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   The <literal>connect_timeout</literal> connection parameter is ignored
   when using <function>PQconnectPoll</function>; it is the application's
   responsibility to decide whether an excessive amount of time has elapsed.
   Otherwise, <function>PQconnectStart</function> followed by a
   <function>PQconnectPoll</function> loop is equivalent to
   <function>PQconnectdb</function>.
  </para>

  <para>
   Note that if <function>PQconnectStart</function> returns a non-null pointer, you must call
   <function>PQfinish</function> when you are finished with it, in order to dispose of
   the structure and any associated memory blocks. This must be done even if
   the connection attempt fails or is abandoned.
  </para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><function>PQconndefaults</function></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>
   Returns the default connection options.
<synopsis>
PQconninfoOption *PQconndefaults(void);

typedef struct
{
    char   *keyword;   /* The keyword of the option */
    char   *envvar;    /* Fallback environment variable name */
    char   *compiled;  /* Fallback compiled in default value */
    char   *val;       /* Option's current value, or NULL */
    char   *label;     /* Label for field in connect dialog */
    char   *dispchar;  /* Character to display for this field
                          in a connect dialog. Values are:
                          ""        Display entered value as is
                          "*"       Password field - hide value
                          "D"       Debug option - don't show by default */
    int     dispsize;  /* Field size in characters for dialog */
} PQconninfoOption;
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
   Returns a connection options array.  This may
   be used to determine all possible <function>PQconnectdb</function> options and their
   current default values.  The return value points to an array of
   <structname>PQconninfoOption</structname> structures, which ends with an entry having a null
   <structfield>keyword</> pointer.  Note that the current default values
   (<structfield>val</structfield> fields)
   will depend on environment variables and other context.
   Callers must treat the connection options data as read-only.
   </para>

   <para>
    After processing the options array, free it by passing it to
    <function>PQconninfoFree</function>.  If this is not done, a small amount of memory
    is leaked for each call to <function>PQconndefaults</function>.
   </para>

  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><function>PQfinish</function></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>
   Closes  the  connection to the server.  Also frees
   memory used by the <structname>PGconn</structname> object.
<synopsis>
void PQfinish(PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
   Note that even if the server connection attempt fails (as
   indicated by <function>PQstatus</function>), the application should call <function>PQfinish</function>
   to free the memory used by the <structname>PGconn</structname> object.
   The <structname>PGconn</> pointer must not be used again after
   <function>PQfinish</function> has been called.
   </para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><function>PQreset</function></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>
   Resets the communication channel to the server.
<synopsis>
void PQreset(PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
   This function will close the connection
   to the server and attempt to  reestablish  a  new
   connection to the same server, using all the same
   parameters previously used.  This may be useful for
   error recovery if a working connection is lost.
   </para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><function>PQresetStart</function></term>
  <term><function>PQresetPoll</function></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>
   Reset the communication channel to the server, in a nonblocking manner.
<synopsis>
int PQresetStart(PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
PostgresPollingStatusType PQresetPoll(PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
    These functions will close the connection to the server and attempt to
    reestablish a new connection to the same server, using all the same
    parameters previously used. This may be useful for error recovery if a
    working connection is lost. They differ from <function>PQreset</function> (above) in that they
    act in a nonblocking manner. These functions suffer from the same
    restrictions as <function>PQconnectStart</> and <function>PQconnectPoll</>.
   </para>
   <para>
    To initiate a connection reset, call <function>PQresetStart</function>. If it returns 0, the reset has failed. If it returns 1,
    poll the reset using <function>PQresetPoll</function> in exactly the same way as you would
    create the connection using <function>PQconnectPoll</function>.
   </para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 </variablelist>
</para>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="libpq-status">
<title>Connection Status Functions</title>

  <para>
   These functions may be used to interrogate the status
   of an existing database connection object.
  </para>

<tip>
<para>
<indexterm><primary>libpq-fe.h</></>
<indexterm><primary>libpq-int.h</></>
<application>libpq</application> application programmers should be careful to
maintain the <structname>PGconn</structname> abstraction.  Use the accessor
functions described below to get
at the contents of <structname>PGconn</structname>.  Avoid directly referencing the fields of the
<structname>PGconn</> structure because they are subject to change in the future.
(Beginning in <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> release 6.4, the
definition of the <type>struct</type> behind <structname>PGconn</> is not even provided in <filename>libpq-fe.h</filename>.
If you have old code that accesses <structname>PGconn</structname> fields directly, you can keep using it
by including <filename>libpq-int.h</filename> too, but you are encouraged to fix the code
soon.)
</para>
</tip>

<para>
The following functions return parameter values established at connection.
These values are fixed for the life of the <structname>PGconn</> object.

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQdb</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
         Returns the database name of the connection.
<synopsis>
char *PQdb(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQuser</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
         Returns the user name of the connection.
<synopsis>
char *PQuser(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQpass</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
         Returns the password of the connection.
<synopsis>
char *PQpass(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQhost</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
         Returns the server host name of the connection.
<synopsis>
char *PQhost(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQport</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
         Returns the port of the connection.
<synopsis>
char *PQport(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQtty</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
         Returns the debug <acronym>TTY</acronym> of the connection.
	 (This is obsolete, since the server no longer pays attention
	 to the <acronym>TTY</acronym> setting, but the function remains
	 for backwards compatibility.)
<synopsis>
char *PQtty(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQoptions</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
       Returns the command-line options passed in the connection request.
<synopsis>
char *PQoptions(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>

<para>
The following functions return status data that can change as operations
are executed on the <structname>PGconn</> object.

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQstatus</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
         Returns the status of the connection. 
<synopsis>
ConnStatusType PQstatus(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>

      <para>
       The status can be one of a number of values.
       However, only two of these are
       seen outside of an asynchronous connection procedure:
       <literal>CONNECTION_OK</literal> and
       <literal>CONNECTION_BAD</literal>. A good
       connection to the database has the status <literal>CONNECTION_OK</literal>.
       A failed connection
       attempt is signaled by status
       <literal>CONNECTION_BAD</literal>.
       Ordinarily, an OK status will remain so until
       <function>PQfinish</function>, but a
       communications failure might result in the status changing to
       <literal>CONNECTION_BAD</literal> prematurely.
       In that case the application
       could try to recover by calling <function>PQreset</function>.
      </para>

      <para>
       See the entry for <function>PQconnectStart</> and <function>PQconnectPoll</> with regards
       to other status codes
       that might be seen.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQtransactionStatus</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
         Returns the current in-transaction status of the server.
<synopsis>
PGTransactionStatusType PQtransactionStatus(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>

The status can be <literal>PQTRANS_IDLE</literal> (currently idle),
<literal>PQTRANS_ACTIVE</literal> (a command is in progress),
<literal>PQTRANS_INTRANS</literal> (idle, in a valid transaction block),
or <literal>PQTRANS_INERROR</literal> (idle, in a failed transaction block).
<literal>PQTRANS_UNKNOWN</literal> is reported if the connection is bad.
<literal>PQTRANS_ACTIVE</literal> is reported only when a query
has been sent to the server and not yet completed.
</para>
<caution>
<para>
<function>PQtransactionStatus</> will give incorrect results when using
a <productname>PostgreSQL</> 7.3 server that has <literal>AUTOCOMMIT</>
set to <literal>OFF</>.  The server-side autocommit feature has been
deprecated and does not exist in later server versions.
</para>
</caution>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQparameterStatus</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
         Looks up a current parameter setting of the server.
<synopsis>
const char *PQparameterStatus(const PGconn *conn, const char *paramName);
</synopsis>

Certain parameter values are reported by the server automatically at
connection startup or whenever their values change.
<function>PQparameterStatus</> can be used to interrogate these settings.
It returns the current value of a parameter if known, or NULL if the parameter
is not known.
</para>

<para>
Parameters reported as of the current release include
<literal>server_version</> (cannot change after startup);
<literal>server_encoding</> (also not presently changeable after start);
<literal>client_encoding</>,
<literal>is_superuser</>, and
<literal>DateStyle</>.
</para>

<para>
Pre-3.0-protocol servers do not report parameter settings,
but <application>libpq</> includes logic to obtain values for 
<literal>server_version</>, <literal>server_encoding</>, and
<literal>client_encoding</>.  Applications are encouraged to use
<function>PQparameterStatus</> rather than ad-hoc code to determine these
values.  (Beware however that on a pre-3.0 connection, changing
<literal>client_encoding</> via <command>SET</> after connection startup
will not be reflected by <function>PQparameterStatus</>.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQprotocolVersion</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
         Interrogates the frontend/backend protocol being used.
<synopsis>
int PQprotocolVersion(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
Applications may wish to use this to determine whether certain features
are supported.
Currently, the possible values are 2 (2.0 protocol), 3 (3.0 protocol),
or zero (connection bad).  This will not change after connection
startup is complete, but it could theoretically change during a reset.
The 3.0 protocol will normally be used when communicating with
<productname>PostgreSQL</> 7.4 or later servers; pre-7.4 servers support
only protocol 2.0.  (Protocol 1.0 is obsolete and not supported by libpq.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><function>PQerrorMessage</function></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       <indexterm><primary>error message</></>
       Returns the error message most recently generated by
       an operation on the connection.
<synopsis>
char *PQerrorMessage(const PGconn* conn);
</synopsis>
      </para>

      <para>
       Nearly all <application>libpq</> functions will set a message for
       <function>PQerrorMessage</function> if they fail.
       Note that by <application>libpq</application> convention, a nonempty
       <function>PQerrorMessage</function> result will
       include a trailing newline.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><function>PQsocket</function></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Obtains the file descriptor number of the connection socket to
       the server.  A valid descriptor will be greater than or equal
       to 0; a result of -1 indicates that no server connection is
       currently open.  (This will not change during normal operation,
       but could change during connection setup or reset.)
<synopsis>
int PQsocket(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><function>PQbackendPID</function></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Returns the process <acronym>ID</acronym> of the backend server process
       handling this connection.
<synopsis>
int PQbackendPID(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
       The backend <acronym>PID</acronym> is useful for debugging
       purposes and for comparison to <command>NOTIFY</command>
       messages (which include the <acronym>PID</acronym> of the
       notifying backend process).  Note that the
       <acronym>PID</acronym> belongs to a process executing on the
       database server host, not the local host!
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><function>PQgetssl</function></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       <indexterm><primary>SSL</></>
       Returns the SSL structure used in the connection, or null
       if SSL is not in use. 
<synopsis>
SSL *PQgetssl(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
       This structure can be used to verify encryption levels, check
       server certificates, and more. Refer to the <productname>OpenSSL</> documentation
       for information about this structure.
      </para>
      <para>
       You must define <symbol>USE_SSL</symbol> in order to get the
       prototype for this function. Doing this will also 
       automatically include <filename>ssl.h</filename> from <productname>OpenSSL</productname>.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

</variablelist>
</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="libpq-exec">
<title>Command Execution Functions</title>

<para>
Once a connection to a database server has been successfully
established, the functions described here are used to perform
SQL queries and commands.
</para>

<sect2 id="libpq-exec-main">
  <title>Main Functions</title>

<para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQexec</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Submits a command to the server
          and waits for the result.
<synopsis>
PGresult *PQexec(PGconn *conn, const char *command);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
          Returns a <structname>PGresult</structname> pointer or possibly a null pointer.
          A non-null pointer will generally be returned except in
          out-of-memory conditions or serious errors such as inability
          to send the command to the server.
          If a null pointer is returned, it
	  should be treated like a <symbol>PGRES_FATAL_ERROR</symbol> result.  Use
	  <function>PQerrorMessage</function> to get more information about the error.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

It is allowed to include multiple SQL commands (separated by semicolons) in
the command string.  Multiple queries sent in a single <function>PQexec</>
call are processed in a single transaction, unless there are explicit
BEGIN/COMMIT commands included in the query string to divide it into multiple
transactions.  Note however that the returned <structname>PGresult</structname>
structure describes only the result of the last command executed from the
string.  Should one of the commands fail, processing of the string stops with
it and the returned <structname>PGresult</structname> describes the error
condition.
</para>

<para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQexecParams</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Submits a command to the server and waits for the result,
	  with the ability to pass parameters separately from the SQL
	  command text.
<synopsis>
PGresult *PQexecParams(PGconn *conn,
                       const char *command,
                       int nParams,
                       const Oid *paramTypes,
                       const char * const *paramValues,
                       const int *paramLengths,
                       const int *paramFormats,
                       int resultFormat);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
<function>PQexecParams</> is like <function>PQexec</>, but offers additional
functionality: parameter values can be specified separately from the command
string proper, and query results can be requested in either text or binary
format.  <function>PQexecParams</> is supported only in protocol 3.0 and later
connections; it will fail when using protocol 2.0.
</para>

<para>
If parameters are used, they are referred to in the command string
as <literal>$1</>, <literal>$2</>, etc.
<parameter>nParams</> is the number of parameters supplied; it is the length
of the arrays <parameter>paramTypes[]</>, <parameter>paramValues[]</>,
<parameter>paramLengths[]</>, and <parameter>paramFormats[]</>.  (The
array pointers may be NULL when <parameter>nParams</> is zero.)
<parameter>paramTypes[]</> specifies, by OID, the datatypes to be assigned to
the parameter symbols.  If <parameter>paramTypes</> is NULL, or any particular
element in the array is zero, the backend assigns a datatype to the parameter
symbol in the same way it would do for an untyped literal string.
<parameter>paramValues[]</> specifies the actual values of the parameters.
A NULL pointer in this array means the corresponding parameter is NULL;
otherwise the pointer points to a zero-terminated text string (for text
format) or binary data in the format expected by the backend (for binary
format).
<parameter>paramLengths[]</> specifies the actual data lengths of
binary-format parameters.  It is ignored for NULL parameters and text-format
parameters.  The array pointer may be NULL when there are no binary
parameters.
<parameter>paramFormats[]</> specifies whether parameters are text (put a zero
in the array) or binary (put a one in the array).  If the array pointer is
NULL then all parameters are presumed to be text.
<parameter>resultFormat</> is zero to obtain results in text format, or one to
obtain results in binary format.  (There is not currently a provision to
obtain different result columns in different formats, although that is
possible in the underlying protocol.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

The primary advantage of <function>PQexecParams</> over <function>PQexec</>
is that parameter values may be separated from the command string, thus
avoiding the need for tedious and error-prone quoting and escaping.

Unlike <function>PQexec</>, <function>PQexecParams</> allows at most one SQL
command in the given string.  (There can be semicolons in it, but not more
than one nonempty command.)  This is a limitation of the underlying protocol,
but has some usefulness as an extra defense against SQL-injection attacks.
</para>

<para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQexecPrepared</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Sends a request to execute a prepared statement with given
	  parameters, and waits for the result.
<synopsis>
PGresult *PQexecPrepared(PGconn *conn,
                         const char *stmtName,
                         int nParams,
                         const char * const *paramValues,
                         const int *paramLengths,
                         const int *paramFormats,
                         int resultFormat);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
<function>PQexecPrepared</> is like <function>PQexecParams</>, but the
command to be executed is specified by naming a previously-prepared
statement, instead of giving a query string.  This feature allows commands
that will be used repeatedly to be parsed and planned just once, rather
than each time they are executed.
<function>PQexecPrepared</> is supported only in protocol 3.0 and later
connections; it will fail when using protocol 2.0.
</para>

<para>
The parameters are identical to <function>PQexecParams</>, except that the
name of a prepared statement is given instead of a query string, and the
<parameter>paramTypes[]</> parameter is not present (it is not needed since
the prepared statement's parameter types were determined when it was created).
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

Presently, prepared statements for use with <function>PQexecPrepared</>
must be set up by executing an SQL <command>PREPARE</> command,
which is typically sent with <function>PQexec</> (though any of
<application>libpq</>'s query-submission functions may be used).
A lower-level interface for preparing statements may be offered in a
future release.
</para>

<para>
The <structname>PGresult</structname> structure encapsulates the result
returned by the server.
<application>libpq</application> application programmers should be careful to
maintain the <structname>PGresult</structname> abstraction.  Use the accessor functions below to get
at the contents of <structname>PGresult</structname>.  Avoid directly referencing the fields of the
<structname>PGresult</structname> structure because they are subject to change in the future.

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQresultStatus</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Returns the result status of the command.
<synopsis>
ExecStatusType PQresultStatus(const PGresult *res);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
<function>PQresultStatus</function> can return one of the following values:

<variablelist>
 <varlistentry>
  <term><literal>PGRES_EMPTY_QUERY</literal></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>The string sent to the server was empty.</para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><literal>PGRES_COMMAND_OK</literal></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>Successful completion of a command returning no data.</para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><literal>PGRES_TUPLES_OK</literal></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>Successful completion of a command returning data (such as
   a <command>SELECT</> or <command>SHOW</>).</para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><literal>PGRES_COPY_OUT</literal></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>Copy Out (from server) data transfer started.</para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><literal>PGRES_COPY_IN</literal></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>Copy In (to server) data transfer started.</para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><literal>PGRES_BAD_RESPONSE</literal></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>The server's response was not understood.</para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><literal>PGRES_NONFATAL_ERROR</literal></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>A nonfatal error (a notice or warning) occurred.</para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>

 <varlistentry>
  <term><literal>PGRES_FATAL_ERROR</literal></term>
  <listitem>
   <para>A fatal error occurred.</para>
  </listitem>
 </varlistentry>
</variablelist>

If the result status is <literal>PGRES_TUPLES_OK</literal>, then the
functions described below can be used to retrieve the rows returned by
the query.  Note that a <command>SELECT</command> command that happens
to retrieve zero rows still shows <literal>PGRES_TUPLES_OK</literal>.
<literal>PGRES_COMMAND_OK</literal> is for commands that can never
return rows (<command>INSERT</command>, <command>UPDATE</command>,
etc.). A response of <literal>PGRES_EMPTY_QUERY</literal> may indicate
a bug in the client software.
</para>

<para>
A result of status <symbol>PGRES_NONFATAL_ERROR</symbol> will never be
returned directly by <function>PQexec</function> or other query
execution functions; results of this kind are instead passed to the notice
processor (see <xref linkend="libpq-notice-processing">).
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQresStatus</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
	Converts the enumerated type returned by <function>PQresultStatus</> into
	a string constant describing the status code.
<synopsis>
char *PQresStatus(ExecStatusType status);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQresultErrorMessage</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Returns the error message associated with the command, or an empty string
if there was no error.
<synopsis>
char *PQresultErrorMessage(const PGresult *res);
</synopsis>
If there was an error, the returned string will include a trailing newline.
</para>

<para>
Immediately following a <function>PQexec</function> or <function>PQgetResult</function>
call, <function>PQerrorMessage</function> (on the connection) will return the same
string as <function>PQresultErrorMessage</function> (on the result).  However, a
<structname>PGresult</structname> will retain its error message
until destroyed, whereas the connection's error message will change when
subsequent operations are done.  Use <function>PQresultErrorMessage</function> when you want to
know the status associated with a particular <structname>PGresult</structname>; use <function>PQerrorMessage</function>
when you want to know the status from the latest operation on the connection.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQresultErrorField</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Returns an individual field of an error report.
<synopsis>
char *PQresultErrorField(const PGresult *res, int fieldcode);
</synopsis>
<parameter>fieldcode</> is an error field identifier defined by the
<productname>PostgreSQL</> protocol (see <xref
linkend="protocol-error-fields">), for example <literal>'C'</> for
the SQLSTATE error code.  NULL is returned if the
<structname>PGresult</structname> is not an error or warning result,
or does not include the specified field.  Field values will normally
not include a trailing newline.
</para>

<para>
Errors generated internally by libpq will have severity and primary message,
but typically no other fields.  Errors returned by a pre-3.0-protocol server
will include severity and primary message, and sometimes a detail message,
but no other fields.
</para>

<para>
Note that error fields are only available from
<structname>PGresult</structname> objects, not
<structname>PGconn</structname> objects; there is no
<function>PQerrorField</function> function.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQclear</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Frees  the  storage  associated with a <structname>PGresult</structname>.
          Every command result should be freed via <function>PQclear</function> when
          it  is  no  longer needed.
<synopsis>
void PQclear(PQresult *res);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
          You can keep a <structname>PGresult</structname> object around for as long as you
          need it; it does not go away when you issue a new command,
          nor even if you close the connection.  To get rid of it,
          you must call <function>PQclear</function>.  Failure to do this will
          result in memory leaks in your application.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQmakeEmptyPGresult</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Constructs an empty <structname>PGresult</structname> object with the given status.
<synopsis>
PGresult* PQmakeEmptyPGresult(PGconn *conn, ExecStatusType status);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
This is <application>libpq</>'s internal function to allocate and initialize an empty
<structname>PGresult</structname> object.  It is exported because some applications find it
useful to generate result objects (particularly objects with error
status) themselves.  If <parameter>conn</parameter> is not null and <parameter>status</> indicates an error,
the current error message of the specified connection is copied into the <structname>PGresult</structname>.
Note that <function>PQclear</function> should eventually be called on the object, just
as with a <structname>PGresult</structname> returned by <application>libpq</application> itself.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="libpq-exec-select-info">
  <title>Retrieving Query Result Information</title>

<para>
These functions are used to extract information from a
<structname>PGresult</structname> object that represents a successful
query result (that is, one that has status
<literal>PGRES_TUPLES_OK</literal>).  For objects with other status
values they will act as though the result has zero rows and zero columns.
</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQntuples</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Returns the number of rows (tuples)
          in the query result.
<synopsis>
int PQntuples(const PGresult *res);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQnfields</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Returns the number of columns (fields)
          in each row of the query result.
<synopsis>
int PQnfields(const PGresult *res);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQfname</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
 Returns the column name associated with the given column number.
 Column numbers start at 0.
<synopsis>
char *PQfname(const PGresult *res,
              int column_number);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
NULL is returned if the column number is out of range.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQfnumber</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
            Returns  the  column number
          associated with the given column name.
<synopsis>
int PQfnumber(const PGresult *res,
              const char *column_name);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
        -1 is returned if the given name does not match any column.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQftable</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
 Returns the OID of the table from which the given column was fetched.
 Column numbers start at 0.
<synopsis>
Oid PQftable(const PGresult *res,
             int column_number);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
<literal>InvalidOid</> is returned if the column number is out of range,
or if the specified column is not a simple reference to a table column,
or when using pre-3.0 protocol.
You can query the system table <literal>pg_class</literal> to determine
exactly which table is referenced.
</para>

<para>
          The type <type>Oid</type> and the constant
          <literal>InvalidOid</literal> will be defined when you include
          the <application>libpq</application> header file. They will
          both be some integer type.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQftablecol</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
 Returns the column number (within its table) of the column making up
 the specified query result column.
 Result column numbers start at 0.
<synopsis>
int PQftablecol(const PGresult *res,
                int column_number);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
Zero is returned if the column number is out of range,
or if the specified column is not a simple reference to a table column,
or when using pre-3.0 protocol.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQfformat</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
 Returns the format code indicating the format of the given column.
 Column numbers start at 0.
<synopsis>
int PQfformat(const PGresult *res,
              int column_number);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
Format code zero indicates textual data representation, while format
code one indicates binary representation.  (Other codes are reserved
for future definition.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQftype</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Returns the data type associated with the
          given  column number.  The  integer  returned is the
          internal OID number of the type.  Column numbers start
          at 0.
<synopsis>
Oid PQftype(const PGresult *res,
            int column_number);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
You can query the system table <literal>pg_type</literal> to obtain
the names and properties of the various data types. The <acronym>OID</acronym>s
of the built-in data types are defined in the file <filename>src/include/catalog/pg_type.h</filename>
in the source tree.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQfmod</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Returns  the type modifier of the column
          associated with the given column number.
          Column numbers start at 0.
<synopsis>
int PQfmod(const PGresult *res,
           int column_number);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
The interpretation of modifier values is type-specific; they typically
indicate precision or size limits.  The value -1 is used to indicate
<quote>no information available</>.  Most data types do not use modifiers,
in which case the value is always -1.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQfsize</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Returns  the  size  in bytes of the column
          associated with the given column number.
          Column numbers start at 0.
<synopsis>
int PQfsize(const PGresult *res,
            int column_number);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
<function>PQfsize</> returns the space allocated for this column in a database
row, in other words the size of the server's internal representation
of the data type.  (Accordingly, it is not really very useful to clients.)
A negative value indicates the data type is variable-length.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQbinaryTuples</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Returns 1 if the <structname>PGresult</> contains binary data
and 0 if it contains text data.
<synopsis>
int PQbinaryTuples(const PGresult *res);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
This function is deprecated (except for its use in connection with
<command>COPY</>), because it is possible for a single
<structname>PGresult</>
to contain text data in some columns and binary data in others.
<function>PQfformat()</> is preferred.  <function>PQbinaryTuples</>
returns 1 only if all columns of the result are binary (format 1).
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQgetvalue</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
            Returns a single field value of one row
	    of a <structname>PGresult</structname>.
            Row and column numbers start at 0.
<synopsis>
char* PQgetvalue(const PGresult *res,
                 int row_number,
                 int column_number);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
For data in text format, the value returned by <function>PQgetvalue</function>
is a null-terminated character string  representation
of the field value.  For data in binary format, the value is in the binary
representation determined by the datatype's <function>typsend</> and
<function>typreceive</> functions.  (The value is actually followed by
a zero byte in this case too, but that is not ordinarily useful, since
the value is likely to contain embedded nulls.)
</para>

<para>
An empty string is returned if the field value is NULL.  See
<function>PQgetisnull</> to distinguish NULLs from empty-string values.
</para>

<para>
The pointer
returned  by  <function>PQgetvalue</function> points to storage that is
part of the <structname>PGresult</structname> structure.  One should not modify the data it points to,
and one must explicitly 
copy the data into other storage if it is to
be used past the lifetime of the  <structname>PGresult</structname>  structure itself.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQgetisnull</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
           Tests a field for a null value.
           Row and column numbers start at 0.
<synopsis>
int PQgetisnull(const PGresult *res,
                int row_number,
                int column_number);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
This function returns  1 if the field is null and 0 if
it contains a non-null value.  (Note that <function>PQgetvalue</function>
will return an empty string, not a null pointer, for a null field.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQgetlength</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Returns the actual length of a field value in bytes.
          Row and column numbers start at 0.
<synopsis>
int PQgetlength(const PGresult *res,
                int row_number,
                int column_number);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
This is the actual data length for the particular data value, that is, the
size of the object pointed to by <function>PQgetvalue</function>.  For text
data format this is the same as <function>strlen()</>.  For binary format
this is essential information.  Note that one should <emphasis>not</> rely
on <function>PQfsize</function> to obtain the actual data length.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQprint</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Prints out all the rows and,  optionally,  the
          column names  to  the specified output stream.
<synopsis>
void PQprint(FILE* fout,      /* output stream */
             const PGresult *res,
             const PQprintOpt *po);

typedef struct {
    pqbool  header;      /* print output field headings and row count */
    pqbool  align;       /* fill align the fields */
    pqbool  standard;    /* old brain dead format */
    pqbool  html3;       /* output HTML tables */
    pqbool  expanded;    /* expand tables */
    pqbool  pager;       /* use pager for output if needed */
    char    *fieldSep;   /* field separator */
    char    *tableOpt;   /* attributes for HTML table element */
    char    *caption;    /* HTML table caption */
    char    **fieldName; /* null-terminated array of replacement field names */
} PQprintOpt;
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
This function was formerly used by <application>psql</application>
to print query results, but this is no longer the case.  Note that it
assumes all the data is in text format.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="libpq-exec-nonselect">
  <title>Retrieving Result Information for Other Commands</title>

<para>
These functions are used to extract information from
<structname>PGresult</structname> objects that are not <command>SELECT</>
results.
</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQcmdStatus</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Returns the command status tag from the SQL command that
	  generated the <structname>PGresult</structname>.
<synopsis>
char * PQcmdStatus(PGresult *res);
</synopsis>
</para>
<para>
Commonly this is just the name of the command, but it may include additional
data such as the number of rows processed.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQcmdTuples</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
	  Returns the number of rows affected by the SQL command.
<synopsis>
char * PQcmdTuples(PGresult *res);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
          If the <acronym>SQL</acronym> command that generated the
	  <structname>PGresult</structname> was <command>INSERT</>,
	  <command>UPDATE</>, <command>DELETE</command>, <command>MOVE</>,
	  or <command>FETCH</>, this returns a
	  string containing the number of rows affected.  If the
          command was anything else, it returns the empty string.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQoidValue</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Returns the OID of the inserted row, if the
	  <acronym>SQL</acronym> command was an <command>INSERT</command>
	  that inserted exactly one row into a table that has OIDs.
          Otherwise, returns <literal>InvalidOid</literal>.
<synopsis>
Oid PQoidValue(const PGresult *res);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQoidStatus</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Returns a string with the OID of the inserted row, if the
          <acronym>SQL</acronym> command was an
          <command>INSERT</command>.  (The string will be
          <literal>0</> if the <command>INSERT</command> did not
          insert exactly one row, or if the target table does not have
          OIDs.)  If the command was not an <command>INSERT</command>,
          returns an empty string.
<synopsis>
char * PQoidStatus(const PGresult *res);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
This function is deprecated in favor of <function>PQoidValue</function>.
It is not thread-safe.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="libpq-exec-escape-string">
  <title>Escaping Strings for Inclusion in SQL Commands</title>

   <indexterm zone="libpq-exec-escape-string"><primary>escaping strings</></>

<para>
<function>PQescapeString</function> escapes a string for use within an SQL
commmand.  This is useful when inserting data values as literal constants
in SQL commands.  Certain characters (such as quotes and backslashes) must
be escaped to prevent them from being interpreted specially by the SQL parser.
<function>PQescapeString</> performs this operation.
</para>

<tip>
<para>
It is especially important to do proper escaping when handling strings that
were received from an untrustworthy source.  Otherwise there is a security
risk: you are vulnerable to <quote>SQL injection</> attacks wherein unwanted
SQL commands are fed to your database.
</para>
</tip>

<para>
Note that it is not necessary nor correct to do escaping when a data
value is passed as a separate parameter in <function>PQexecParams</> or
its sibling routines.

<synopsis>
size_t PQescapeString (char *to, const char *from, size_t length);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
The parameter <parameter>from</> points to the first character of the string
that 
is to be escaped, and the <parameter>length</> parameter gives the
number of characters in this string.  (A terminating zero byte is
neither necessary nor counted.)  <parameter>to</> shall point to a
buffer that is able to hold at least one more character than twice
the value of <parameter>length</>, otherwise the behavior is
undefined.  A call to <function>PQescapeString</> writes an escaped
version of the <parameter>from</> string to the <parameter>to</>
buffer, replacing special characters so that they cannot cause any
harm, and adding a terminating zero byte.  The single quotes that
must surround <productname>PostgreSQL</> string literals are not
included in the result string; they should be provided in the SQL
command that the result is inserted into.
</para>
<para>
<function>PQescapeString</> returns the number of characters written
to <parameter>to</>, not including the terminating zero byte.
</para>
<para>
Behavior is undefined if the <parameter>to</> and <parameter>from</>
strings overlap.
</para>
</sect2>


 <sect2 id="libpq-exec-escape-bytea">
  <title>Escaping Binary Strings for Inclusion in SQL Commands</title>
  <indexterm zone="libpq-exec-escape-bytea">
   <primary>escaping binary strings</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <variablelist>
  <varlistentry>
  <term><function>PQescapeBytea</function></term>
  <listitem>
  <para>
   Escapes binary data for use within an SQL command with the type
   <type>bytea</type>.  As with <function>PQescapeString</function>,
   this is only used when inserting data directly into an SQL command string.
<synopsis>
unsigned char *PQescapeBytea(const unsigned char *from,
                             size_t from_length,
                             size_t *to_length);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
   Certain byte values <emphasis>must</emphasis> be escaped (but all
   byte values <emphasis>may</emphasis> be escaped) when used as part
   of a <type>bytea</type> literal in an <acronym>SQL</acronym>
   statement. In general, to escape a byte, it is converted into the
   three digit octal number equal to the octet value, and preceded by
   two backslashes. The single quote (<literal>'</>) and backslash
   (<literal>\</>) characters have special alternative escape
   sequences. See <xref linkend="datatype-binary"> for more
   information. <function>PQescapeBytea</function> performs this
   operation, escaping only the minimally required bytes.
  </para>

  <para>
   The <parameter>from</parameter> parameter points to the first
   byte of the string that is to be escaped, and the
   <parameter>from_length</parameter> parameter gives the number of
   bytes in this binary string.  (A terminating zero byte is
   neither necessary nor counted.)  The <parameter>to_length</parameter>
   parameter points to a variable that will hold the resultant
   escaped string length. The result string length includes the terminating
   zero byte of the result.
  </para>

  <para>
   <function>PQescapeBytea</> returns an escaped version of the
   <parameter>from</parameter> parameter binary string in memory
   allocated with <function>malloc()</>.  This memory must be freed
   using <function>PQfreemem()</> when the result is no longer needed.
   The return string has all special characters replaced
   so that they can be properly processed by the PostgreSQL string literal
   parser, and the <type>bytea</type> input function. A terminating zero
   byte is also added.  The single quotes that must surround
   PostgreSQL string literals are not part of the result string.
  </para>
  </listitem>
  </varlistentry>

  <varlistentry>
  <term><function>PQunescapeBytea</function></term>
  <listitem>
  <para>
   Converts an escaped string representation of binary data into binary
   data --- the reverse of <function>PQescapeBytea</function>.
   This is needed when retrieving <type>bytea</type> data in text format,
   but not when retrieving it in binary format.

<synopsis>
unsigned char *PQunescapeBytea(const unsigned char *from, size_t *to_length);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
   The <parameter>from</parameter> parameter points to an escaped string
   such as might be returned by <function>PQgetvalue</function> when applied to a
   <type>bytea</type> column. <function>PQunescapeBytea</function> converts
   this string representation into its binary representation.
   It returns a pointer to a buffer allocated with
   <function>malloc()</function>, or null on error, and puts the size of
   the buffer in <parameter>to_length</parameter>. The result must be
   freed using <function>PQfreemem()</> when it is no longer needed.
  </para>
  </listitem>
  </varlistentry>

  <varlistentry>
  <term><function>PQfreemem</function></term>
  <listitem>
  <para>
   Frees memory allocated by <application>libpq</>.
<synopsis>
void PQfreemem(void *ptr);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
   Frees memory allocated by <application>libpq</>, particularly
   <function>PQescapeBytea</function>,
   <function>PQunescapeBytea</function>,
   and <function>PQnotifies</function>.
   It is needed by Win32, which can not free memory across
   DLL's, unless multithreaded DLL's (/MD in VC6) are used.
   On other platforms it is the same as <function>free()</>.
  </para>
  </listitem>
  </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
   
 </sect2>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="libpq-async">
<title>Asynchronous Command Processing</title>

  <indexterm zone="libpq-async"><primary>nonblocking connection</></>

<para>
The <function>PQexec</function> function is adequate for submitting commands in
normal, synchronous
applications.  It has a couple of deficiencies, however, that can be of importance to some users:

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
<function>PQexec</function> waits for the command to be completed.  The application may have other
work to do (such as maintaining a user interface), in which case it won't
want to block waiting for the response.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Since the execution of the client application is suspended while it
waits for the result, it is hard for the application to decide that it
would like to try to cancel the ongoing command.  (It can be done from
a signal handler, but not otherwise.)
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<function>PQexec</function> can return only one <structname>PGresult</structname> structure.  If the submitted command
string contains multiple <acronym>SQL</acronym> commands, all but the last <structname>PGresult</structname> are
discarded by <function>PQexec</function>.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>

<para>
Applications that do not like these limitations can instead use the
underlying functions that <function>PQexec</function> is built from:
<function>PQsendQuery</function> and <function>PQgetResult</function>.
There are also <function>PQsendQueryParams</function> and
<function>PQsendQueryPrepared</function>, which can be used with
<function>PQgetResult</function> to duplicate the functionality of
<function>PQexecParams</function> and <function>PQexecPrepared</function>
respectively.

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQsendQuery</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Submits a command to the server without
	  waiting for the result(s).  1 is returned if the command was
	  successfully dispatched and 0 if not (in which case, use
	  <function>PQerrorMessage</> to get more information about the failure).
<synopsis>
int PQsendQuery(PGconn *conn, const char *command);
</synopsis>

	  After successfully calling <function>PQsendQuery</function>, call
          <function>PQgetResult</function> one or more
	  times to obtain the results.  <function>PQsendQuery</function> may not be called
	  again (on the same connection) until <function>PQgetResult</function> has returned a null pointer,
	  indicating that the command is done.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQsendQueryParams</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Submits a command and separate parameters to the server without
	  waiting for the result(s).
<synopsis>
int PQsendQueryParams(PGconn *conn,
                      const char *command,
                      int nParams,
                      const Oid *paramTypes,
                      const char * const *paramValues,
                      const int *paramLengths,
                      const int *paramFormats,
                      int resultFormat);
</synopsis>

	This is equivalent to <function>PQsendQuery</function> except that
	query parameters can be specified separately from the query string.
	The function's parameters are handled identically to
	<function>PQexecParams</function>.  Like
	<function>PQexecParams</function>, it will not work on 2.0-protocol
	connections, and it allows only one command in the query string.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQsendQueryPrepared</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Sends a request to execute a prepared statement with given
	  parameters, without waiting for the result(s).
<synopsis>
int PQsendQueryPrepared(PGconn *conn,
                        const char *stmtName,
                        int nParams,
                        const char * const *paramValues,
                        const int *paramLengths,
                        const int *paramFormats,
                        int resultFormat);
</synopsis>

	This is similar to <function>PQsendQueryParams</function>, but the
	command to be executed is specified by naming a previously-prepared
	statement, instead of giving a query string.
	The function's parameters are handled identically to
	<function>PQexecPrepared</function>.  Like
	<function>PQexecPrepared</function>, it will not work on 2.0-protocol
	connections.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQgetResult</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Waits for the next result from a prior
	  <function>PQsendQuery</function>,
	  <function>PQsendQueryParams</function>, or
	  <function>PQsendQueryPrepared</function> call,
	  and returns it.  A null pointer is returned when the command is complete
	  and there will be no more results.
<synopsis>
PGresult *PQgetResult(PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
	  <function>PQgetResult</function> must be called repeatedly until it returns a null pointer,
	  indicating that the command is done.  (If called when no command is
	  active, <function>PQgetResult</function> will just return a null pointer at once.)
	  Each non-null result from <function>PQgetResult</function> should be processed using
	  the same <structname>PGresult</> accessor functions previously described.
	  Don't forget to free each result object with <function>PQclear</function> when done with it.
	  Note that <function>PQgetResult</function> will block only if a command is active and the
	  necessary response data has not yet been read by <function>PQconsumeInput</function>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>

<para>
Using <function>PQsendQuery</function> and <function>PQgetResult</function>
solves one of <function>PQexec</function>'s problems:
If a command string contains multiple <acronym>SQL</acronym> commands, the results of those
commands can be obtained individually.  (This allows a simple form of
overlapped processing, by the way: the client can be handling the
results of one command while the server is still working on later
queries in the same command string.)  However, calling <function>PQgetResult</function> will
still cause the client to block until the server completes the
next <acronym>SQL</acronym> command.  This can be avoided by proper use of two
more functions:

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQconsumeInput</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
	  If input is available from the server, consume it.
<synopsis>
int PQconsumeInput(PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
<function>PQconsumeInput</function> normally returns 1 indicating <quote>no error</quote>,
but returns 0 if there was some kind of trouble (in which case
<function>PQerrorMessage</function> can be consulted).  Note that the result
does not say 
whether any input data was actually collected. After calling
<function>PQconsumeInput</function>, the application may check
<function>PQisBusy</function> and/or <function>PQnotifies</function> to see if
their state has changed.
</para>
<para>
<function>PQconsumeInput</function> may be called even if the application is not
prepared to deal with a result or notification just yet.  The
function will read available data and save it in a buffer, thereby
causing a <function>select()</function> read-ready indication to go away.  The
application can thus use <function>PQconsumeInput</function> to clear the
<function>select()</function> condition immediately, and then examine the results at leisure.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQisBusy</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Returns 1 if a command is busy, that is, <function>PQgetResult</function> would block
waiting for input.  A 0 return indicates that <function>PQgetResult</function> can
be called with assurance of not blocking.
<synopsis>
int PQisBusy(PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
<function>PQisBusy</function> will not itself attempt to read data from the server;
therefore <function>PQconsumeInput</function> must be invoked first, or the busy
state will never end.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>

<para>
A typical application using these functions will have a main loop that uses
<function>select()</function> or <function>poll()</> to wait for all the
conditions that it must
respond to.  One of the conditions will be input available from the server,
which in terms of <function>select()</function> means readable data on the file
descriptor identified by <function>PQsocket</function>.
When the main loop detects input ready, it should call
<function>PQconsumeInput</function> to read the input.  It can then call
<function>PQisBusy</function>, followed by <function>PQgetResult</function>
if <function>PQisBusy</function> returns false (0).  It can also call
<function>PQnotifies</function> to detect <command>NOTIFY</> messages (see <xref linkend="libpq-notify">).
</para>

<para>
A client that uses <function>PQsendQuery</function>/<function>PQgetResult</function>
can also attempt to cancel a command that is still being processed by the server.

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQrequestCancel</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
	  Requests that the server abandon
	  processing of the current command.
<synopsis>
int PQrequestCancel(PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
The return value is 1 if the cancel request was successfully
dispatched and 0 if not.  (If not, <function>PQerrorMessage</function> tells why not.)
Successful dispatch is no guarantee that the request will have any
effect, however.  Regardless of the return value of <function>PQrequestCancel</function>,
the application must continue with the normal result-reading
sequence using <function>PQgetResult</function>.  If the cancellation
is effective, the current command will terminate early and return
an error result.  If the cancellation fails (say, because the
server was already done processing the command), then there will
be no visible result at all.
</para>

<para>
Note that if the current command is part of a transaction block, cancellation
will abort the whole transaction.
</para>

<para>
<function>PQrequestCancel</function> can safely be invoked from a signal handler.
So, it is also possible to use it in conjunction with plain
<function>PQexec</function>, if the decision to cancel can be made in a signal
handler.  For example, <application>psql</application> invokes
<function>PQrequestCancel</function> from a <symbol>SIGINT</> signal handler, thus allowing
interactive cancellation of commands that it issues through <function>PQexec</function>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>

<para>
By using the functions described above, it is possible to avoid blocking
while waiting for input from the database server.  However, it is still
possible that the application will block waiting to send output to the
server.  This is relatively uncommon but can happen if very long SQL commands
or data values are sent.  (It is much more probable if the application
sends data via COPY IN, however.)  To prevent this possibility and achieve
completely nonblocking database operation, the following additional
functions may be used.

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
 <term><function>PQsetnonblocking</function></term>
 <listitem>
   <para>
    Sets the nonblocking status of the connection.
<synopsis>
int PQsetnonblocking(PGconn *conn, int arg);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
    Sets the state of the connection to nonblocking if
    <parameter>arg</parameter> is 1, or
    blocking if <parameter>arg</parameter> is 0.  Returns 0 if OK, -1 if error.
   </para>
   <para>
    In the nonblocking state, calls to
    <function>PQsendQuery</function>,
    <function>PQputline</function>, <function>PQputnbytes</function>,
    and <function>PQendcopy</function>
    will not block but instead return an error if they need to be called
    again.
   </para>
   <para>
    Note that <function>PQexec</function> does not honor nonblocking mode;
    if it is called, it will act in blocking fashion anyway.
   </para>
 </listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQisnonblocking</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
       Returns the blocking status of the database connection.
<synopsis>
int PQisnonblocking(const PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
       Returns 1 if the connection is set to nonblocking mode and
       0 if blocking.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQflush</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Attempts to flush any queued output data to the server.
Returns 0 if successful (or if the send queue is empty), -1 if it failed for
some reason, or 1 if it was unable to send all the data in the send queue yet
(this case can only occur if the connection is nonblocking).
<synopsis>
int PQflush(PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>

<para>
After sending any command or data on a nonblocking connection, call
<function>PQflush</function>.  If it returns 1, wait for the socket to be
write-ready and call it again; repeat until it returns 0.  Once
<function>PQflush</function> returns 0, wait for the socket to be read-ready
and then read the response as described above.
</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="libpq-fastpath">
<title>The Fast-Path Interface</title>

<para>
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> provides a fast-path interface to send
simple function calls to the server.
</para>

<tip>
<para>
This interface is somewhat obsolete, as one may achieve similar performance
and greater functionality by setting up a prepared statement to define the
function call.  Then, executing the statement with binary transmission of
parameters and results substitutes for a fast-path function call.
</para>
</tip>

<para>
The function <function>PQfn</function> requests execution of a server
function via the fast-path interface:
<synopsis>
PGresult* PQfn(PGconn* conn,
               int fnid,
               int *result_buf,
               int *result_len,
               int result_is_int,
               const PQArgBlock *args,
               int nargs);

typedef struct {
    int len;
    int isint;
    union {
        int *ptr;
        int integer;
    } u;
} PQArgBlock;
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
     The <parameter>fnid</> argument is the OID of the function to be
     executed.  <parameter>args</> and <parameter>nargs</> define the
     parameters to be passed to the function; they must match the declared
     function argument list.  When the <parameter>isint</> field of a
     parameter
     struct is true,
     the <parameter>u.integer</> value is sent to the server as an integer
     of the indicated length (this must be 1, 2, or 4 bytes); proper
     byte-swapping occurs.  When <parameter>isint</> is false, the
     indicated number of bytes at <parameter>*u.ptr</> are sent with no
     processing; the data must be in the format expected by the server for
     binary transmission of the function's argument datatype.
     <parameter>result_buf</parameter> is the buffer in which
     to place the return value.  The caller must  have  allocated
     sufficient space to store the return value.  (There is no check!)
     The actual result length will be returned in the integer pointed
     to  by  <parameter>result_len</parameter>.
     If a 1, 2, or 4-byte integer result is expected, set
     <parameter>result_is_int</parameter> to 1, otherwise set it to 0.
     Setting <parameter>result_is_int</parameter> to 1
     causes <application>libpq</> to byte-swap the value if necessary, so that
     it is
     delivered as a proper <type>int</type> value for the client machine.  When
     <parameter>result_is_int</> is 0, the binary-format byte string sent by
     the server is returned unmodified.
</para>

<para>
<function>PQfn</function> always returns a valid <structname>PGresult</structname> pointer. The result status
should be checked before the result is used.   The
caller is responsible for  freeing  the  <structname>PGresult</structname>  with
<function>PQclear</function> when it is no longer needed.
</para>

<para>
Note that it is not possible to handle NULL arguments, NULL results, nor
set-valued results when using this interface.
</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="libpq-notify">
<title>Asynchronous Notification</title>

  <indexterm zone="libpq-notify"><primary>NOTIFY</primary></indexterm>

<para>
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> offers asynchronous notification via the
<command>LISTEN</command> and <command>NOTIFY</command> commands.  A client session registers its interest in a particular
notification condition with the <command>LISTEN</command> command (and can stop listening
with the <command>UNLISTEN</command> command).  All sessions listening on a
particular condition will be notified asynchronously when a <command>NOTIFY</command> command with that
condition name is executed by any session.  No additional information is
passed from the notifier to the listener.  Thus, typically, any actual data
that needs to be communicated is transferred through a database table.
Commonly, the condition name is the same as the associated table, but it is
not necessary for there to be any associated table.
</para>

<para>
<application>libpq</application> applications submit <command>LISTEN</command> and <command>UNLISTEN</command>
commands as ordinary SQL commands.  The arrival of <command>NOTIFY</command>
messages can subsequently be detected by calling <function>PQnotifies</function>.
</para>

<para>
The function <function>PQnotifies</function>
          returns  the next notification from a list of unhandled
          notification messages received from the server.  It returns a null pointer if
          there are no pending notifications.  Once a notification is
	  returned from <function>PQnotifies</>, it is considered handled and will be
	  removed from the list of notifications.
<synopsis>
PGnotify* PQnotifies(PGconn *conn);

typedef struct pgNotify {
    char *relname;              /* notification condition name */
    int  be_pid;                /* process ID of server process */
    char *extra;                /* notification parameter */
} PGnotify;
</synopsis>
After processing a <structname>PGnotify</structname> object returned by
<function>PQnotifies</function>, be sure to free it with
<function>PQfreemem</function>.  It is sufficient to free the
<structname>PGnotify</structname> pointer; the
<structfield>relname</structfield> and <structfield>extra</structfield> fields
do not represent separate allocations.
</para>

<note>
<para>
 At present the <structfield>extra</structfield> field is unused and will
 always point to an empty string.
</para>
</note>

<note>
<para>
 In <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> 6.4 and later,
 the <structfield>be_pid</structfield> is that of the notifying backend process,
 whereas in earlier versions it was always the <acronym>PID</acronym> of your own backend process.
</para>
</note>

<para>
<xref linkend="libpq-example-2"> gives a sample program that illustrates the use
of asynchronous notification.
</para>

<para>
<function>PQnotifies()</function> does not actually read data from the server; it just
returns messages previously absorbed by another <application>libpq</application>
function.  In prior releases of <application>libpq</application>, the only way
to ensure timely receipt of <command>NOTIFY</> messages was to constantly submit commands,
even empty ones, and then check <function>PQnotifies()</function> after each
<function>PQexec()</function>.  While this still works, it is
deprecated as a waste of processing power.
</para>

<para>
A better way to check for <command>NOTIFY</>
messages when you have no useful commands to execute is to call
<function>PQconsumeInput()</function>, then check
<function>PQnotifies()</function>.
You can use <function>select()</function> to wait for data to
arrive from the server, thereby using no <acronym>CPU</acronym> power unless there is something
to do.  (See <function>PQsocket()</function> to obtain the file descriptor
number to use with <function>select()</function>.)
Note that this will work OK whether you submit commands with
<function>PQsendQuery</function>/<function>PQgetResult</function> or simply
use <function>PQexec</function>.  You should, however, remember to
check <function>PQnotifies()</function> after each
<function>PQgetResult</function> or <function>PQexec</function>, to see
if any notifications came in during the processing of the command.
</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="libpq-copy">
<title>Functions Associated with the <command>COPY</command> Command</title>

<indexterm zone="libpq-copy">
 <primary>COPY</primary>
 <secondary>with libpq</secondary>
</indexterm>

<para>
 The <command>COPY</command> command in <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
 has options to read from or write to the network connection used by
 <application>libpq</application>.  The functions described in this section
 allow applications to take advantage of this capability by supplying or
 consuming copied data.
</para>

<para>
 The overall process is that the application first issues the SQL
 <command>COPY</command> command via <function>PQexec</function> or one
 of the equivalent functions.  The response to this (if there is no error
 in the command) will be a <structname>PGresult</> object bearing a status
 code of <literal>PGRES_COPY_OUT</literal> or <literal>PGRES_COPY_IN</literal>
 (depending on the specified copy direction).  The application should then
 use the functions of this section to receive or transmit data rows.
 When the data transfer is complete, another <structname>PGresult</> object
 is returned to indicate success or failure of the transfer.  Its status
 will be <literal>PGRES_COMMAND_OK</literal> for success or
 <literal>PGRES_FATAL_ERROR</literal> if some problem was encountered.
 At this point further SQL commands may be issued via
 <function>PQexec</function>.  (It is not possible to execute other SQL
 commands using the same connection while the <command>COPY</command>
 operation is in progress.)
</para>

<para>
 If a <command>COPY</command> command is issued via
 <function>PQexec</function> in a string that could contain additional
 commands, the application must continue fetching results via
 <function>PQgetResult</> after completing the <command>COPY</command>
 sequence.  Only when <function>PQgetResult</> returns NULL is it certain
 that the <function>PQexec</function> command string is done and it is
 safe to issue more commands.
</para>

<para>
 The functions of this section should be executed only after obtaining a
 result status of <literal>PGRES_COPY_OUT</literal> or
 <literal>PGRES_COPY_IN</literal> from <function>PQexec</function> or
 <function>PQgetResult</function>.
</para>

<para>
 A <structname>PGresult</> object bearing one of these status values
 carries some additional data about the <command>COPY</command> operation that
 is starting.  This additional data is available using functions that are
 also used in connection with query results:

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQnfields</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Returns the number of columns (fields) to be copied.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQbinaryTuples</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
                0 indicates the overall copy format is textual (rows
		separated by newlines, columns separated by separator
		characters, etc).
		1 indicates the overall copy format is binary.
		See <xref linkend="sql-copy" endterm="sql-copy-title">
		for more information.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQfformat</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Returns the format code (0 for text, 1 for binary) associated
	  with each column of the copy operation.  The per-column format
	  codes will always be zero when the overall copy format is textual,
	  but the binary format can support both text and binary columns.
	  (However, as of the current implementation of <command>COPY</>,
	  only binary columns appear in a binary copy; so the per-column
	  formats always match the overall format at present.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>

<note>
<para>
These additional data values are only available when using protocol 3.0.
When using protocol 2.0, all these functions will return 0.
</para>
</note>

<sect2 id="libpq-copy-send">
  <title>Functions for Sending <command>COPY</command> Data</title>

<para>
 These functions are used to send data during <literal>COPY FROM STDIN</>.
 They will fail if called when the connection is not in <literal>COPY_IN</>
 state.
</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQputCopyData</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
 Sends data to the server during <literal>COPY_IN</> state.
<synopsis>
int PQputCopyData(PGconn *conn,
                  const char *buffer,
                  int nbytes);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
Transmits the COPY data in the specified <parameter>buffer</>, of length
<parameter>nbytes</>, to the server.  The result is 1 if the data was sent,
zero if it was not sent because the attempt would block (this case is only
possible if the connection is in nonblock mode), or -1 if an error occurred.
(Use <function>PQerrorMessage</function> to retrieve details if the return
value is -1.  If the value is zero, wait for write-ready and try again.)
</para>

<para>
The application may divide the COPY datastream into bufferloads of any
convenient size.  Bufferload boundaries have no semantic significance when
sending.  The contents of the datastream must match the data format expected
by the <command>COPY</> command; see
<xref linkend="sql-copy" endterm="sql-copy-title"> for details.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQputCopyEnd</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
 Sends end-of-data indication to the server during <literal>COPY_IN</> state.
<synopsis>
int PQputCopyEnd(PGconn *conn,
                 const char *errormsg);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
Ends the <literal>COPY_IN</> operation successfully if <parameter>errormsg</>
is NULL.  If <parameter>errormsg</> is not NULL then the <command>COPY</>
is forced to fail, with the string pointed to by <parameter>errormsg</>
used as the error message.  (One should not assume that this exact error
message will come back from the server, however, as the server might have
already failed the <command>COPY</> for its own reasons.  Also note that the
option to force failure does not work when using pre-3.0-protocol connections.)
</para>

<para>
The result is 1 if the termination data was sent,
zero if it was not sent because the attempt would block (this case is only
possible if the connection is in nonblock mode), or -1 if an error occurred.
(Use <function>PQerrorMessage</function> to retrieve details if the return
value is -1.  If the value is zero, wait for write-ready and try again.)
</para>

<para>
After successfully calling <function>PQputCopyEnd</>, call
<function>PQgetResult</> to obtain the final result status of the
<command>COPY</> command.  One may wait for
this result to be available in the usual way.  Then return to normal
operation.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="libpq-copy-receive">
  <title>Functions for Receiving <command>COPY</command> Data</title>

<para>
 These functions are used to receive data during <literal>COPY TO STDOUT</>.
 They will fail if called when the connection is not in <literal>COPY_OUT</>
 state.
</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQgetCopyData</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
 Receives data from the server during <literal>COPY_OUT</> state.
<synopsis>
int PQgetCopyData(PGconn *conn,
                  char **buffer,
                  int async);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
Attempts to obtain another row of data from the server during a COPY.
Data is always returned one data row at a time; if only a partial row
is available, it is not returned.  Successful return of a data row
involves allocating a chunk of memory to hold the data.  The
<parameter>buffer</> parameter must be non-NULL.  <parameter>*buffer</>
is set to point to the allocated memory, or to NULL in cases where no
buffer is returned.  A non-NULL result buffer must be freed using
<function>PQfreemem</> when no longer needed.
</para>

<para>
When a row is successfully returned, the return value is the number of
data bytes in the row (this will always be greater than zero).  The
returned string is always null-terminated, though this is probably only
useful for textual COPY.  A result of zero indicates that the COPY is
still in progress, but no row is yet available (this is only possible
when <parameter>async</> is true).  A
result of -1 indicates that the COPY is done.
A result of -2 indicates that an error occurred (consult
<function>PQerrorMessage</> for the reason).
</para>

<para>
When <parameter>async</> is true (not zero), <function>PQgetCopyData</>
will not block waiting for input; it will return zero if the COPY is still
in progress but no complete row is available.  (In this case wait for
read-ready before trying again; it does not matter whether you call
<function>PQconsumeInput</>.)  When <parameter>async</> is
false (zero), <function>PQgetCopyData</> will block until data is available
or the operation completes.
</para>

<para>
After <function>PQgetCopyData</> returns -1, call
<function>PQgetResult</> to obtain the final result status of the
<command>COPY</> command.  One may wait for
this result to be available in the usual way.  Then return to normal
operation.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="libpq-copy-deprecated">
  <title>Obsolete Functions for <command>COPY</command></title>

<para>
 These functions represent older methods of handling <command>COPY</>.
 Although they still work, they are deprecated due to poor error handling,
 inconvenient methods of detecting end-of-data, and lack of support for binary
 or nonblocking transfers.
</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQgetline</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Reads  a  newline-terminated  line  of  characters
          (transmitted  by the server) into a buffer
          string of size <parameter>length</>.
<synopsis>
int PQgetline(PGconn *conn,
              char *buffer,
              int length);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
This function copies up to <parameter>length</>-1 characters
into the buffer and converts
the terminating newline into a zero byte.
<function>PQgetline</function> returns <symbol>EOF</symbol> at the end of input, 0 if the
entire line has been read, and 1 if the buffer is full but the
terminating newline has not yet been read.
</para>
<para>
Note that the application must check to see if a
new line consists of  the  two characters  <literal>\.</literal>,
which  indicates  that the server has finished sending
the results  of  the <command>COPY</command> command.
If  the  application might
receive lines that are more than <parameter>length</>-1  characters  long,
care is needed to be sure it recognizes the <literal>\.</literal> line correctly
(and does not, for example, mistake the end of a long data line
for a terminator line).
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQgetlineAsync</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Reads a row of COPY data
          (transmitted  by the server) into a buffer
          without blocking.
<synopsis>
int PQgetlineAsync(PGconn *conn,
                   char *buffer,
                   int bufsize);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
This function is similar to <function>PQgetline</function>, but it can be used
by applications
that must read <command>COPY</command> data asynchronously, that is, without blocking.
Having issued the <command>COPY</command> command and gotten a <literal>PGRES_COPY_OUT</literal>
response, the
application should call <function>PQconsumeInput</function> and
<function>PQgetlineAsync</function> until the
end-of-data signal is detected.
</para>
<para>
Unlike <function>PQgetline</function>, this function takes
responsibility for detecting end-of-data.
</para>
<para>
On each call, <function>PQgetlineAsync</function> will return data if a
complete data row is available in <application>libpq</>'s input buffer.
Otherwise, no data is returned until the rest of the row arrives.
The function returns -1 if the end-of-copy-data marker has been recognized,
or 0 if no data is available, or a positive number giving the number of
bytes of data returned.  If -1 is returned, the caller must next call
<function>PQendcopy</function>, and then return to normal processing.
</para>
<para>
The data returned will not extend beyond a data-row boundary.  If possible
a whole row will be returned at one time.  But if the buffer offered by
the caller is too small to hold a row sent by the server, then a partial
data row will be returned.  With textual data this can be detected by testing
whether the last returned byte is <literal>\n</literal> or not.  (In a binary
COPY, actual parsing of the COPY data format will be needed to make the
equivalent determination.)
The returned string is not null-terminated.  (If you want to add a
terminating null, be sure to pass a <parameter>bufsize</parameter> one smaller
than the room actually available.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQputline</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Sends  a  null-terminated  string  to  the server.
Returns 0 if OK and <symbol>EOF</symbol> if unable to send the string.
<synopsis>
int PQputline(PGconn *conn,
              const char *string);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
The COPY datastream sent by a series of calls to
<function>PQputline</function> has the same format as that returned by
<function>PQgetlineAsync</function>, except that applications are not
obliged to send exactly one data row per <function>PQputline</function>
call; it is okay to send a partial line or multiple lines per call.
</para>

<note>
<para>
Before <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> protocol 3.0, it was necessary
for the application to explicitly send the two characters
<literal>\.</literal> as a final line to indicate to the server that it had
finished sending COPY data.  While this still works, it is deprecated and the
special meaning of <literal>\.</literal> can be expected to be removed in a
future release.  It is sufficient to call <function>PQendcopy</function> after
having sent the actual data.
</para>
</note>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQputnbytes</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Sends  a  non-null-terminated  string  to  the server.
Returns 0 if OK and <symbol>EOF</symbol> if unable to send the string.
<synopsis>
int PQputnbytes(PGconn *conn,
                const char *buffer,
                int nbytes);
</synopsis>
</para>

<para>
This is exactly like <function>PQputline</function>, except that the data
buffer need not be null-terminated since the number of bytes to send is
specified directly.  Use this procedure when sending binary data.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQendcopy</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
 Synchronizes with the server.
<synopsis>
int PQendcopy(PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
 This function waits until
 the  server  has  finished  the copying.  It should
 either be issued when the  last  string  has  been
 sent  to  the  server using <function>PQputline</function> or when the
 last string has been  received  from  the  server
 using <function>PGgetline</function>.  It must be issued or the server
 will get <quote>out of sync</quote> with  the client.   Upon
 return from this function, the server is ready to
 receive the next SQL command.
 The return value is 0  on  successful  completion,
 nonzero otherwise.  (Use <function>PQerrorMessage</function> to retrieve
 details if the return value is nonzero.)
</para>

<para>
When using <function>PQgetResult</function>, the application should respond to
a <literal>PGRES_COPY_OUT</literal> result by executing <function>PQgetline</function>
repeatedly, followed by <function>PQendcopy</function> after the terminator line is seen.
It should then return to the <function>PQgetResult</function> loop until
<function>PQgetResult</function> returns a null pointer. Similarly a <literal>PGRES_COPY_IN</literal>
result is processed by a series of <function>PQputline</function> calls followed by
<function>PQendcopy</function>, then return to the <function>PQgetResult</function> loop.
This arrangement will ensure that
a <command>COPY</command> command embedded in a series of <acronym>SQL</acronym> commands
will be executed correctly.
</para>

<para>
Older applications are likely to submit a <command>COPY</command>
via <function>PQexec</function> and assume that the transaction is done after
<function>PQendcopy</function>.
This will work correctly only if the <command>COPY</command> is the only
<acronym>SQL</acronym> command in the command string.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect2>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="libpq-control">
<title>Control Functions</title>

<para>
These functions control miscellaneous details of
<application>libpq</>'s behavior.
</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQsetErrorVerbosity</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Determines the verbosity of messages returned by
<function>PQerrorMessage</> and <function>PQresultErrorMessage</>.
<synopsis>
typedef enum {
    PQERRORS_TERSE, PQERRORS_DEFAULT, PQERRORS_VERBOSE
} PGVerbosity;

PGVerbosity PQsetErrorVerbosity(PGconn *conn, PGVerbosity verbosity);
</synopsis>
<function>PQsetErrorVerbosity</> sets the verbosity mode, returning the
connection's previous setting.
In TERSE mode, returned messages include severity, primary text, and position
only; this will normally fit on a single line.  The DEFAULT mode produces
messages that include the above plus any detail, hint, or context fields
(these may span multiple lines).  The VERBOSE mode includes all available
fields.  Changing the verbosity does not affect the messages available from
already-existing <structname>PGresult</> objects, only subsequently-created
ones.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQtrace</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Enables  tracing of the client/server communication to a debugging file stream.
<synopsis>
void PQtrace(PGconn *conn, FILE *stream);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><function>PQuntrace</function></term>
<listitem>
<para>
          Disables tracing started by <function>PQtrace</function>.
<synopsis>
void PQuntrace(PGconn *conn);
</synopsis>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="libpq-notice-processing">
<title>Notice Processing</title>

<para>
Notice and warning messages generated by the server are not returned by the
query execution functions, since they do not imply failure of the query.
Instead they are passed to a notice handling function, and execution continues
normally after the handler returns.  The default notice handling function
prints the message on <filename>stderr</filename>, but the application can
override this behavior by supplying its own handling function.
</para>

<para>
For historical reasons, there are two levels of notice handling, called the
notice receiver and notice processor.  The default behavior is for the notice
receiver to format the notice and pass a string to the notice processor
for printing.  However, an application that chooses to provide its own notice
receiver will typically ignore the notice processor layer and just do all the
work in the notice receiver.
</para>

<para>
The function <function>PQsetNoticeReceiver</function>
<indexterm><primary>notice receiver</></>
sets or examines the current notice receiver for a connection object.
Similarly, <function>PQsetNoticeProcessor</function>
<indexterm><primary>notice processor</></>
sets or examines the current notice processor.

<synopsis>
typedef void (*PQnoticeReceiver) (void *arg, const PGresult *res);

PQnoticeReceiver
PQsetNoticeReceiver(PGconn *conn,
                    PQnoticeReceiver proc,
                    void *arg);

typedef void (*PQnoticeProcessor) (void *arg, const char *message);

PQnoticeProcessor
PQsetNoticeProcessor(PGconn *conn,
                     PQnoticeProcessor proc,
                     void *arg);
</synopsis>

Each of these functions returns the previous notice receiver or processor
function pointer, and sets the new value.
If you supply a null function pointer, no action is taken,
but the current pointer is returned.
</para>

<para>
When a notice or warning message is received from the server, or generated
internally by <application>libpq</application>, the notice receiver function
is called.  It is passed the message in the form of a
<symbol>PGRES_NONFATAL_ERROR</symbol> <structname>PGresult</structname>.
(This allows the receiver to extract individual fields using
<function>PQresultErrorField</>, or the complete preformatted message using
<function>PQresultErrorMessage</>.)
The same void pointer passed to 
<function>PQsetNoticeReceiver</function> is also passed.
(This pointer can be used to access application-specific state if needed.)
</para>

<para>
The default notice receiver simply extracts the message (using
<function>PQresultErrorMessage</>) and passes it to the notice processor.
</para>

<para>
The notice processor is responsible for handling a notice or warning message
given in text form.  It is passed the string text of the message
(including a trailing newline), plus
a void pointer that is the same one passed to
<function>PQsetNoticeProcessor</function>.
(This pointer can be used to access application-specific state if needed.)
</para>

<para>
The default notice processor is simply
<programlisting>
static void
defaultNoticeProcessor(void * arg, const char * message)
{
    fprintf(stderr, "%s", message);
}
</programlisting>
</para>

<para>
Once you have set a notice receiver or processor, you should expect that that
function could be called as long as either the <structname>PGconn</> object or
<structname>PGresult</> objects made from it exist.  At creation of a
<structname>PGresult</>, the <structname>PGconn</>'s current notice handling
pointers are copied into the <structname>PGresult</> for possible use by
functions like <function>PQgetvalue</function>.
</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="libpq-envars">
<title>Environment Variables</title>

<indexterm zone="libpq-envars">
 <primary>environment variables</primary>
</indexterm>

<para>
The following environment variables can be used to select default
connection parameter values, which will be used by
<function>PQconnectdb</>, <function>PQsetdbLogin</> and
<function>PQsetdb</> if no value is directly specified by the calling
code.  These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection
information into simple client applications, for example.

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGHOST</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGHOST</envar> sets the database server name.
If this begins with a slash, it specifies Unix-domain communication
rather than TCP/IP communication; the value is the name of the
directory in which the socket file is stored (default <filename>/tmp</filename>).
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGHOSTADDR</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGHOSTADDR</envar> specifies the numeric IP address of the database
server.  This can be set instead of <envar>PGHOST</envar> to avoid DNS
lookup overhead. See the documentation of
these parameters, under <function>PQconnectdb</function> above, for details
on their interaction.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGPORT</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGPORT</envar> sets the TCP port number or Unix-domain
socket file extension for communicating with the
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> server.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGDATABASE</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGDATABASE</envar>  sets the 
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database name.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGUSER</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGUSER</envar>
sets the user name used to connect to the database.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGPASSWORD</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGPASSWORD</envar>
sets the password used if the server demands password
authentication.  This environment variable is deprecated for security
reasons; consider migrating to use the <filename>$HOME/.pgpass</>
file (see <xref linkend="libpq-pgpass">).
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGSERVICE</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGSERVICE</envar>
sets the service name to be looked up in <filename>pg_service.conf</filename>.
This offers a shorthand way of setting all the parameters.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGREALM</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGREALM</envar> sets the Kerberos realm to  use  with  
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname>, if  it is different from the local realm.
If <envar>PGREALM</envar> is set, <application>libpq</application>
applications  will  attempt authentication  with  servers for this realm and use
separate ticket files to avoid conflicts with  local
ticket  files.   This  environment  variable is only
used if Kerberos authentication is selected by the server.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGOPTIONS</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGOPTIONS</envar> sets additional run-time  options  for  
the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> server.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGSSLMODE</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGSSLMODE</envar> determines whether and with what priority an
<acronym>SSL</> connection will be negotiated with the server. There are
four modes: <literal>disable</> will attempt only an unencrypted
<acronym>SSL</> connection; <literal>allow</> will negotiate,
trying first a non-<acronym>SSL</> connection, then if that fails,
trying an <acronym>SSL</> connection; <literal>prefer</>
(the default) will negotiate, trying first an <acronym>SSL</>
connection, then if that fails, trying a regular non-<acronym>SSL</>
connection; <literal>require</> will try only an <acronym>SSL</>
connection. If <productname>PostgreSQL</> is compiled without SSL support,
using option <literal>require</> will cause an error, and options
<literal>allow</> and <literal>prefer</> will be tolerated but
<application>libpq</> will be unable to negotiate an <acronym>SSL</>
connection.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGREQUIRESSL</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGREQUIRESSL</envar> sets whether or not the connection must be
made over <acronym>SSL</acronym>. If set to
<quote>1</quote>, <application>libpq</>
will refuse to connect if the server does not accept
an <acronym>SSL</acronym> connection (equivalent to <literal>sslmode</>
<literal>prefer</>).
This option is deprecated in favor of the <literal>sslmode</>
setting, and is only available if
<productname>PostgreSQL</> is compiled with SSL support.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGCONNECT_TIMEOUT</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGCONNECT_TIMEOUT</envar> sets the maximum number of seconds
that <application>libpq</application> will wait when attempting to
connect to the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> server.  If unset
or set to zero, <application>libpq</application> will wait indefinitely.
It is not recommended to set the timeout to less than 2 seconds.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>

<para>
The following environment variables can be used to specify default
behavior for each <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> session.
(See also the <command>ALTER USER</> and <command>ALTER DATABASE</>
commands for ways to set default behavior on a per-user or per-database
basis.)

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGDATESTYLE</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGDATESTYLE</envar>
sets the default style of date/time representation.
(Equivalent to <literal>SET datestyle TO ...</literal>.)
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGTZ</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGTZ</envar>
sets the default time zone.
(Equivalent to <literal>SET timezone TO ...</literal>.)
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGCLIENTENCODING</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGCLIENTENCODING</envar>
sets the default client character set encoding.
(Equivalent to <literal>SET client_encoding TO ...</literal>.)
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<indexterm>
 <primary><envar>PGGEQO</envar></primary>
</indexterm>
<envar>PGGEQO</envar>
sets the default mode for the genetic query optimizer.
(Equivalent to <literal>SET geqo TO ...</literal>.)
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

Refer to the <acronym>SQL</acronym> command <command>SET</command>
for information on correct values for these environment variables.
</para>

</sect1>


<sect1 id="libpq-pgpass">
<title>The Password File</title>

<indexterm zone="libpq-pgpass">
 <primary>password file</primary>
</indexterm>
<indexterm zone="libpq-pgpass">
 <primary>.pgpass</primary>
</indexterm>

<para>
The file <filename>.pgpass</filename> in a user's home directory is a file
that can contain passwords to be used if the connection requires a
password (and no password has been specified otherwise).
This file should have lines of the following format:
<synopsis>
<replaceable>hostname</replaceable>:<replaceable>port</replaceable>:<replaceable>database</replaceable>:<replaceable>username</replaceable>:<replaceable>password</replaceable>
</synopsis>
Each of the first four fields may be a literal value, or <literal>*</literal>,
which
matches anything.  The password field from the first line that matches the
current connection parameters will be used.  (Therefore, put more-specific
entries first when you are using wildcards.)
If an entry needs to contain <literal>:</literal> or
<literal>\</literal>, escape this character with <literal>\</literal>.
</para>
<para>
The permissions on <filename>.pgpass</filename> must disallow any
access to world or group; achieve this by the command
<command>chmod 0600 ~/.pgpass</command>.
If the permissions are less strict than this, the file will be ignored.
</para>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="libpq-threading">
<title>Threading Behavior</title>

<indexterm zone="libpq-threading">
 <primary>threads</primary>
 <secondary>with libpq</secondary>
</indexterm>

<para>
<application>libpq</application> is thread-safe if the library is
compiled using <filename>configure</filename>'s 
<literal>--enable-thread-safety</> command-line option.  
(In addition, you might need to use other threading command-line 
options to compile your client code.)
</para>

<para>
One restriction is that no two threads attempt to manipulate the same
<structname>PGconn</> object at the same time. In particular, you cannot
issue concurrent commands from different threads through the same
connection object. (If you need to run concurrent commands, start up
multiple connections.)
</para>

<para>
<structname>PGresult</> objects are read-only after creation, and so can be 
passed around freely between threads.
</para>

<para>
The deprecated functions <function>PQoidStatus</function> and
<function>fe_setauthsvc</function> are not thread-safe and should not be
used in multithread programs.  <function>PQoidStatus</function> can be
replaced by <function>PQoidValue</function>.  There is no good reason to
call <function>fe_setauthsvc</function> at all.
</para>

<para>
<application>libpq</application> applications that use the <literal>crypt</literal>
authentication method rely on the <literal>crypt()</literal> operating
system function, which is often not thread-safe. It is better to use the
<literal>md5</literal> method, which is thread-safe on all
platforms.
</para>
</sect1>


 <sect1 id="libpq-build">
  <title>Building <application>libpq</application> Programs</title>

  <para>
   To build (i.e., compile and link) your <application>libpq</application> programs you need to
   do all of the following things:

   <itemizedlist>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Include the <filename>libpq-fe.h</filename> header file:
<programlisting>
#include &lt;libpq-fe.h&gt;
</programlisting>
      If you failed to do that then you will normally get error
      messages from your compiler similar to
<screen>
foo.c: In function `main':
foo.c:34: `PGconn' undeclared (first use in this function)
foo.c:35: `PGresult' undeclared (first use in this function)
foo.c:54: `CONNECTION_BAD' undeclared (first use in this function)
foo.c:68: `PGRES_COMMAND_OK' undeclared (first use in this function)
foo.c:95: `PGRES_TUPLES_OK' undeclared (first use in this function)
</screen>
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      Point your compiler to the directory where the <productname>PostgreSQL</> header
      files were installed, by supplying the
      <literal>-I<replaceable>directory</replaceable></literal> option
      to your compiler.  (In some cases the compiler will look into
      the directory in question by default, so you can omit this
      option.)  For instance, your compile command line could look
      like:
<programlisting>
cc -c -I/usr/local/pgsql/include testprog.c
</programlisting>
      If you are using makefiles then add the option to the
      <varname>CPPFLAGS</varname> variable:
<programlisting>
CPPFLAGS += -I/usr/local/pgsql/include
</programlisting>
     </para>

     <para>
      <indexterm><primary>pg_config</></>
      If there is any chance that your program might be compiled by
      other users then you should not hardcode the directory location
      like that.  Instead, you can run the utility
      <command>pg_config</command> to find out where the header files
      are on the local system:
<screen>
<prompt>$</prompt> pg_config --includedir
<computeroutput>/usr/local/include</computeroutput>
</screen>
     </para>

     <para>
      Failure to specify the correct option to the compiler will
      result in an error message such as
<screen>
testlibpq.c:8:22: libpq-fe.h: No such file or directory
</screen>
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      When linking the final program, specify the option
      <literal>-lpq</literal> so that the <application>libpq</application> library gets pulled
      in, as well as the option
      <literal>-L<replaceable>directory</replaceable></literal> to
      point the compiler to the directory where the <application>libpq</application> library resides.  (Again, the
      compiler will search some directories by default.)  For maximum
      portability, put the <option>-L</option> option before the
      <option>-lpq</option> option.  For example:
<programlisting>
cc -o testprog testprog1.o testprog2.o -L/usr/local/pgsql/lib -lpq
</programlisting>
     </para>

     <para>
      You can find out the library directory using
      <command>pg_config</command> as well:
<screen>
<prompt>$</prompt> pg_config --libdir
<computeroutput>/usr/local/pgsql/lib</computeroutput>
</screen>
     </para>

     <para>
      Error messages that point to problems in this area could look
      like the following.
<screen>
testlibpq.o: In function `main':
testlibpq.o(.text+0x60): undefined reference to `PQsetdbLogin'
testlibpq.o(.text+0x71): undefined reference to `PQstatus'
testlibpq.o(.text+0xa4): undefined reference to `PQerrorMessage'
</screen>
      This means you forgot <option>-lpq</option>.
<screen>
/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lpq
</screen>
      This means you forgot the <option>-L</option> option or did not specify
      the right directory.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </itemizedlist>
  </para>

  <para>
   <indexterm><primary>libpq-int.h</></>
   If your codes references the header file
   <filename>libpq-int.h</filename> and you refuse to fix your code to
   not use it, starting in <productname>PostgreSQL</> 7.2, this file will be found in
   <filename><replaceable>includedir</replaceable>/postgresql/internal/libpq-int.h</filename>,
   so you need to add the appropriate <option>-I</option> option to
   your compiler command line.
  </para>

 </sect1>


 <sect1 id="libpq-example">
  <title>Example Programs</title>

  <para>
   These examples and others can be found in the
   directory <filename>src/test/examples</filename> in the source code
   distribution.
  </para>

  <example id="libpq-example-1">
   <title><application>libpq</application> Example Program 1</title>

<programlisting>
/*
 * testlibpq.c
 *
 *		Test the C version of LIBPQ, the POSTGRES frontend library.
 */
#include &lt;stdio.h&gt;
#include &lt;stdlib.h&gt;
#include "libpq-fe.h"

static void
exit_nicely(PGconn *conn)
{
	PQfinish(conn);
	exit(1);
}

int
main(int argc, char **argv)
{
	const char *conninfo;
	PGconn	   *conn;
	PGresult   *res;
	int			nFields;
	int			i,
				j;

	/*
	 * If the user supplies a parameter on the command line, use it as
	 * the conninfo string; otherwise default to setting dbname=template1
	 * and using environment variables or defaults for all other connection
	 * parameters.
	 */
	if (argc &gt; 1)
		conninfo = argv[1];
	else
		conninfo = "dbname = template1";

	/* Make a connection to the database */
	conn = PQconnectdb(conninfo);

	/* Check to see that the backend connection was successfully made */
	if (PQstatus(conn) != CONNECTION_OK)
	{
		fprintf(stderr, "Connection to database '%s' failed.\n", PQdb(conn));
		fprintf(stderr, "%s", PQerrorMessage(conn));
		exit_nicely(conn);
	}

	/*
	 * Our test case here involves using a cursor, for which we must be
	 * inside a transaction block.  We could do the whole thing with a
	 * single PQexec() of "select * from pg_database", but that's too
	 * trivial to make a good example.
	 */

	/* Start a transaction block */
	res = PQexec(conn, "BEGIN");
	if (PQresultStatus(res) != PGRES_COMMAND_OK)
	{
		fprintf(stderr, "BEGIN command failed: %s", PQerrorMessage(conn));
		PQclear(res);
		exit_nicely(conn);
	}

	/*
	 * Should PQclear PGresult whenever it is no longer needed to avoid
	 * memory leaks
	 */
	PQclear(res);

	/*
	 * Fetch rows from pg_database, the system catalog of databases
	 */
	res = PQexec(conn, "DECLARE myportal CURSOR FOR select * from pg_database");
	if (PQresultStatus(res) != PGRES_COMMAND_OK)
	{
		fprintf(stderr, "DECLARE CURSOR failed: %s", PQerrorMessage(conn));
		PQclear(res);
		exit_nicely(conn);
	}
	PQclear(res);

	res = PQexec(conn, "FETCH ALL in myportal");
	if (PQresultStatus(res) != PGRES_TUPLES_OK)
	{
		fprintf(stderr, "FETCH ALL failed: %s", PQerrorMessage(conn));
		PQclear(res);
		exit_nicely(conn);
	}

	/* first, print out the attribute names */
	nFields = PQnfields(res);
	for (i = 0; i &lt; nFields; i++)
		printf("%-15s", PQfname(res, i));
	printf("\n\n");

	/* next, print out the rows */
	for (i = 0; i &lt; PQntuples(res); i++)
	{
		for (j = 0; j &lt; nFields; j++)
			printf("%-15s", PQgetvalue(res, i, j));
		printf("\n");
	}

	PQclear(res);

	/* close the portal ... we don't bother to check for errors ... */
	res = PQexec(conn, "CLOSE myportal");
	PQclear(res);

	/* end the transaction */
	res = PQexec(conn, "END");
	PQclear(res);

	/* close the connection to the database and cleanup */
	PQfinish(conn);

	return 0;
}
</programlisting>
  </example>

  <example id="libpq-example-2">
   <title><application>libpq</application> Example Program 2</title>

<programlisting>
/*
 * testlibpq2.c
 *		Test of the asynchronous notification interface
 *
 * Start this program, then from psql in another window do
 *   NOTIFY TBL2;
 * Repeat four times to get this program to exit.
 *
 * Or, if you want to get fancy, try this:
 * populate a database with the following commands
 * (provided in src/test/examples/testlibpq2.sql):
 *
 *   CREATE TABLE TBL1 (i int4);
 *
 *   CREATE TABLE TBL2 (i int4);
 *
 *   CREATE RULE r1 AS ON INSERT TO TBL1 DO
 *     (INSERT INTO TBL2 VALUES (new.i); NOTIFY TBL2);
 *
 * and do this four times:
 *
 *   INSERT INTO TBL1 VALUES (10);
 */
#include &lt;stdio.h&gt;
#include &lt;stdlib.h&gt;
#include &lt;string.h&gt;
#include &lt;errno.h&gt;
#include &lt;sys/time.h&gt;
#include "libpq-fe.h"

static void
exit_nicely(PGconn *conn)
{
	PQfinish(conn);
	exit(1);
}

int
main(int argc, char **argv)
{
	const char *conninfo;
	PGconn	   *conn;
	PGresult   *res;
	PGnotify   *notify;
	int			nnotifies;

	/*
	 * If the user supplies a parameter on the command line, use it as
	 * the conninfo string; otherwise default to setting dbname=template1
	 * and using environment variables or defaults for all other connection
	 * parameters.
	 */
	if (argc &gt; 1)
		conninfo = argv[1];
	else
		conninfo = "dbname = template1";

	/* Make a connection to the database */
	conn = PQconnectdb(conninfo);

	/* Check to see that the backend connection was successfully made */
	if (PQstatus(conn) != CONNECTION_OK)
	{
		fprintf(stderr, "Connection to database '%s' failed.\n", PQdb(conn));
		fprintf(stderr, "%s", PQerrorMessage(conn));
		exit_nicely(conn);
	}

	/*
	 * Issue LISTEN command to enable notifications from the rule's NOTIFY.
	 */
	res = PQexec(conn, "LISTEN TBL2");
	if (PQresultStatus(res) != PGRES_COMMAND_OK)
	{
		fprintf(stderr, "LISTEN command failed: %s", PQerrorMessage(conn));
		PQclear(res);
		exit_nicely(conn);
	}

	/*
	 * should PQclear PGresult whenever it is no longer needed to avoid
	 * memory leaks
	 */
	PQclear(res);

	/* Quit after four notifies are received. */
	nnotifies = 0;
	while (nnotifies &lt; 4)
	{
		/*
		 * Sleep until something happens on the connection.  We use select(2)
		 * to wait for input, but you could also use poll() or similar
		 * facilities.
		 */
		int			sock;
		fd_set		input_mask;

		sock = PQsocket(conn);

		if (sock &lt; 0)
			break;				/* shouldn't happen */

		FD_ZERO(&amp;input_mask);
		FD_SET(sock, &amp;input_mask);

		if (select(sock + 1, &amp;input_mask, NULL, NULL, NULL) &lt; 0)
		{
			fprintf(stderr, "select() failed: %s\n", strerror(errno));
			exit_nicely(conn);
		}

		/* Now check for input */
		PQconsumeInput(conn);
		while ((notify = PQnotifies(conn)) != NULL)
		{
			fprintf(stderr,
					"ASYNC NOTIFY of '%s' received from backend pid %d\n",
					notify-&gt;relname, notify-&gt;be_pid);
			PQfreemem(notify);
			nnotifies++;
		}
	}

	fprintf(stderr, "Done.\n");

	/* close the connection to the database and cleanup */
	PQfinish(conn);

	return 0;
}
</programlisting>
  </example>

  <example id="libpq-example-3">
   <title><application>libpq</application> Example Program 3</>

<programlisting>
/*
 * testlibpq3.c
 *		Test out-of-line parameters and binary I/O.
 *
 * Before running this, populate a database with the following commands
 * (provided in src/test/examples/testlibpq3.sql):
 *
 * CREATE TABLE test1 (i int4, t text, b bytea);
 *
 * INSERT INTO test1 values (1, 'joe''s place', '\\000\\001\\002\\003\\004');
 * INSERT INTO test1 values (2, 'ho there', '\\004\\003\\002\\001\\000');
 *
 * The expected output is:
 *
 * tuple 0: got
 *  i = (4 bytes) 1
 *  t = (11 bytes) 'joe's place'
 *  b = (5 bytes) \000\001\002\003\004
 *
 */
#include &lt;stdio.h&gt;
#include &lt;stdlib.h&gt;
#include &lt;string.h&gt;
#include &lt;sys/types.h&gt;
#include "libpq-fe.h"

/* for ntohl/htonl */
#include &lt;netinet/in.h&gt;
#include &lt;arpa/inet.h&gt;


static void
exit_nicely(PGconn *conn)
{
	PQfinish(conn);
	exit(1);
}

int
main(int argc, char **argv)
{
	const char *conninfo;
	PGconn	   *conn;
	PGresult   *res;
	const char *paramValues[1];
	int			i,
				j;
	int			i_fnum,
				t_fnum,
				b_fnum;

	/*
	 * If the user supplies a parameter on the command line, use it as
	 * the conninfo string; otherwise default to setting dbname=template1
	 * and using environment variables or defaults for all other connection
	 * parameters.
	 */
	if (argc &gt; 1)
		conninfo = argv[1];
	else
		conninfo = "dbname = template1";

	/* Make a connection to the database */
	conn = PQconnectdb(conninfo);

	/* Check to see that the backend connection was successfully made */
	if (PQstatus(conn) != CONNECTION_OK)
	{
		fprintf(stderr, "Connection to database '%s' failed.\n", PQdb(conn));
		fprintf(stderr, "%s", PQerrorMessage(conn));
		exit_nicely(conn);
	}

	/*
	 * The point of this program is to illustrate use of PQexecParams()
	 * with out-of-line parameters, as well as binary transmission of
	 * results.  By using out-of-line parameters we can avoid a lot of
	 * tedious mucking about with quoting and escaping.  Notice how we
	 * don't have to do anything special with the quote mark in the
	 * parameter value.
	 */

	/* Here is our out-of-line parameter value */
	paramValues[0] = "joe's place";

	res = PQexecParams(conn,
					   "SELECT * FROM test1 WHERE t = $1",
					   1,		/* one param */
					   NULL,	/* let the backend deduce param type */
					   paramValues,
					   NULL,	/* don't need param lengths since text */
					   NULL,	/* default to all text params */
					   1);		/* ask for binary results */

	if (PQresultStatus(res) != PGRES_TUPLES_OK)
	{
		fprintf(stderr, "SELECT failed: %s", PQerrorMessage(conn));
		PQclear(res);
		exit_nicely(conn);
	}

	/* Use PQfnumber to avoid assumptions about field order in result */
	i_fnum = PQfnumber(res, "i");
	t_fnum = PQfnumber(res, "t");
	b_fnum = PQfnumber(res, "b");

	for (i = 0; i &lt; PQntuples(res); i++)
	{
		char	   *iptr;
		char	   *tptr;
		char	   *bptr;
		int			blen;
		int			ival;

		/* Get the field values (we ignore possibility they are null!) */
		iptr = PQgetvalue(res, i, i_fnum);
		tptr = PQgetvalue(res, i, t_fnum);
		bptr = PQgetvalue(res, i, b_fnum);

		/*
		 * The binary representation of INT4 is in network byte order,
		 * which we'd better coerce to the local byte order.
		 */
		ival = ntohl(*((uint32_t *) iptr));

		/*
		 * The binary representation of TEXT is, well, text, and since
		 * libpq was nice enough to append a zero byte to it, it'll work
		 * just fine as a C string.
		 *
		 * The binary representation of BYTEA is a bunch of bytes, which
		 * could include embedded nulls so we have to pay attention to
		 * field length.
		 */
		blen = PQgetlength(res, i, b_fnum);

		printf("tuple %d: got\n", i);
		printf(" i = (%d bytes) %d\n",
			   PQgetlength(res, i, i_fnum), ival);
		printf(" t = (%d bytes) '%s'\n",
			   PQgetlength(res, i, t_fnum), tptr);
		printf(" b = (%d bytes) ", blen);
		for (j = 0; j &lt; blen; j++)
			printf("\\%03o", bptr[j]);
		printf("\n\n");
	}

	PQclear(res);

	/* close the connection to the database and cleanup */
	PQfinish(conn);

	return 0;
}
</programlisting>
  </example>

 </sect1>
</chapter>

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