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<chapter id="ecpg">
 <title><application>ECPG</application> - Embedded <acronym>SQL</acronym> in C</title>

 <indexterm zone="ecpg"><primary>embedded SQL</primary><secondary>in C</secondary></indexterm>
 <indexterm zone="ecpg"><primary>C</primary></indexterm>
 <indexterm zone="ecpg"><primary>ECPG</primary></indexterm>

 <para>
  This chapter describes the embedded <acronym>SQL</acronym> package
  for <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>. It was written by
  Linus Tolke (<email>linus@epact.se</email>) and Michael Meskes
  (<email>meskes@postgresql.org</email>). Originally it was written to work with
  <acronym>C</acronym>. It also works with <acronym>C++</acronym>, but
  it does not recognize all <acronym>C++</acronym> constructs yet. 
 </para>

 <para>
  This documentation is quite incomplete.  But since this
  interface is standardized, additional information can be found in
  many resources about SQL.
 </para>

 <sect1 id="ecpg-concept">
  <title>The Concept</title>

  <para>
   An embedded SQL program consists of code written in an ordinary
   programming language, in this case C, mixed with SQL commands in
   specially marked sections.  To build the program, the source code
   is first passed through the embedded SQL preprocessor, which converts it
   to an ordinary C program, and afterwards it can be processed by a C
   compiler.
  </para>

  <para>
   Embedded <acronym>SQL</acronym> has advantages over other methods
   for handling <acronym>SQL</acronym> commands from C code. First, it
   takes care of the tedious passing of information to and from
   variables in your <acronym>C</acronym> program.  Second, the SQL
   code in the program is checked at build time for syntactical
   correctness.  Third, embedded <acronym>SQL</acronym> in C is
   specified in the <acronym>SQL</acronym> standard and supported by
   many other <acronym>SQL</acronym> database systems.  The
   <productname>PostgreSQL</> implementation is designed to match this
   standard as much as possible, and it is usually possible to port
   embedded <acronym>SQL</acronym> programs written for other SQL
   databases to <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> with relative
   ease.
  </para>

  <para>
   As already stated, programs written for the embedded
   <acronym>SQL</acronym> interface are normal C programs with special
   code inserted to perform database-related actions.  This special
   code always has the form
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL ...;
</programlisting>
   These statements syntactically take the place of a C statement.
   Depending on the particular statement, they may appear at the
   global level or within a function.  Embedded
   <acronym>SQL</acronym> statements follow the case-sensitivity rules
   of normal <acronym>SQL</acronym> code, and not those of C.
  </para>

  <para>
   The following sections explain all the embedded SQL statements.
  </para>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="ecpg-connect">
  <title>Connecting to the Database Server</title>

  <para>
   One connects to a database using the following statement:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL CONNECT TO <replaceable>target</replaceable> <optional>AS <replaceable>connection-name</replaceable></optional> <optional>USER <replaceable>user-name</replaceable></optional>;
</programlisting>
   The <replaceable>target</replaceable> can be specified in the
   following ways:

   <itemizedlist>
    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      <literal><replaceable>dbname</><optional>@<replaceable>hostname</></optional><optional>:<replaceable>port</></optional></literal>
     </simpara>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      <literal>tcp:postgresql://<replaceable>hostname</><optional>:<replaceable>port</></optional><optional>/<replaceable>dbname</></optional><optional>?<replaceable>options</></optional></literal>
     </simpara>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      <literal>unix:postgresql://<replaceable>hostname</><optional>:<replaceable>port</></optional><optional>/<replaceable>dbname</></optional><optional>?<replaceable>options</></optional></literal>
     </simpara>
    </listitem>
 
    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      an SQL string literal containing one of the above forms
     </simpara>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      a reference to a character variable containing one of the above forms (see examples)
     </simpara>
    </listitem>
 
    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      <literal>DEFAULT</literal>
     </simpara>
    </listitem>
   </itemizedlist>

   If you specify the connection target literally (that is, not
   through a variable reference) and you don't quote the value, then
   the case-insensitivity rules of normal SQL are applied.  In that
   case you can also double-quote the individual parameters separately
   as needed.  In practice, it is probably less error-prone to use a
   (single-quoted) string literal or a variable reference.  The
   connection target <literal>DEFAULT</literal> initiates a connection
   to the default database under the default user name.  No separate
   user name or connection name may be specified in that case.
  </para>

  <para>
   There are also different ways to specify the user name:

   <itemizedlist>
    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      <literal><replaceable>username</replaceable></literal>
     </simpara>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      <literal><replaceable>username</replaceable>/<replaceable>password</replaceable></literal>
     </simpara>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      <literal><replaceable>username</replaceable> IDENTIFIED BY <replaceable>password</replaceable></literal>
     </simpara>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      <literal><replaceable>username</replaceable> USING <replaceable>password</replaceable></literal>
     </simpara>
    </listitem>
   </itemizedlist>

   As above, the parameters <replaceable>username</replaceable> and
   <replaceable>password</replaceable> may be an SQL identifier, an
   SQL string literal, or a reference to a character variable.
  </para>

  <para>
   The <replaceable>connection-name</replaceable> is used to handle
   multiple connections in one program.  It can be omitted if a
   program uses only one connection.  The most recently opened
   connection becomes the current connection, which is used by default
   when an SQL statement is to be executed (see later in this
   chapter).
  </para>

  <para>
   Here are some examples of <command>CONNECT</command> statements:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL CONNECT TO mydb@sql.mydomain.com;

EXEC SQL CONNECT TO 'unix:postgresql://sql.mydomain.com/mydb' AS myconnection USER john;

EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
const char *target = "mydb@sql.mydomain.com";
const char *user = "john";
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;
 ...
EXEC SQL CONNECT TO :target USER :user;
</programlisting>
   The last form makes use of the variant referred to above as
   character variable reference.  You will see in later sections how C
   variables can be used in SQL statements when you prefix them with a
   colon.
  </para>

  <para>
   Be advised that the format of the connection target is not
   specified in the SQL standard.  So if you want to develop portable
   applications, you might want to use something based on the last
   example above to encapsulate the connection target string
   somewhere.
  </para>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="ecpg-disconnect">
  <title>Closing a Connection</title>

  <para>
   To close a connection, use the following statement:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL DISCONNECT <optional><replaceable>connection</replaceable></optional>;
</programlisting>
   The <replaceable>connection</replaceable> can be specified
   in the following ways:

   <itemizedlist>
    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      <literal><replaceable>connection-name</replaceable></literal>
     </simpara>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      <literal>DEFAULT</literal>
     </simpara>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      <literal>CURRENT</literal>
     </simpara>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <simpara>
      <literal>ALL</literal>
     </simpara>
    </listitem>
   </itemizedlist>

   If no connection name is specified, the current connection is
   closed.
  </para>

  <para>
   It is good style that an application always explicitly disconnect
   from every connection it opened.
  </para>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="ecpg-commands">
  <title>Running SQL Commands</title>

  <para>
   Any SQL command can be run from within an embedded SQL application.
   Below are some examples of how to do that.
  </para>

  <para>
   Creating a table:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL CREATE TABLE foo (number integer, ascii char(16));
EXEC SQL CREATE UNIQUE INDEX num1 ON foo(number);
EXEC SQL COMMIT;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Inserting rows:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL INSERT INTO foo (number, ascii) VALUES (9999, 'doodad');
EXEC SQL COMMIT;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Deleting rows:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL DELETE FROM foo WHERE number = 9999;
EXEC SQL COMMIT;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Single-row select:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL SELECT foo INTO :FooBar FROM table1 WHERE ascii = 'doodad';
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Select using cursors:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL DECLARE foo_bar CURSOR FOR
    SELECT number, ascii FROM foo
    ORDER BY ascii;
EXEC SQL OPEN foo_bar;
EXEC SQL FETCH foo_bar INTO :FooBar, DooDad;
...
EXEC SQL CLOSE foo_bar;
EXEC SQL COMMIT;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Updates:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL UPDATE foo
    SET ascii = 'foobar'
    WHERE number = 9999;
EXEC SQL COMMIT;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   The tokens of the form
   <literal>:<replaceable>something</replaceable></literal> are
   <firstterm>host variables</firstterm>, that is, they refer to
   variables in the C program.  They are explained in <xref
   linkend="ecpg-variables">.
  </para>

  <para>
   In the default mode, statements are committed only when
   <command>EXEC SQL COMMIT</command> is issued. The embedded SQL
   interface also supports autocommit of transactions (similar to
   <application>libpq</> behavior) via the <option>-t</option> command-line
   option to <command>ecpg</command> (see below) or via the <literal>EXEC SQL
   SET AUTOCOMMIT TO ON</literal> statement. In autocommit mode, each
   command is automatically committed unless it is inside an explicit
   transaction block. This mode can be explicitly turned off using
   <literal>EXEC SQL SET AUTOCOMMIT TO OFF</literal>.
  </para>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="ecpg-set-connection">
  <title>Choosing a Connection</title>

  <para>
   The SQL statements shown in the previous section are executed on
   the current connection, that is, the most recently opened one.  If
   an application needs to manage multiple connections, then there are
   two ways to handle this.
  </para>

  <para>
   The first option is to explicitly choose a connection for each SQL
   statement, for example
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL AT <replaceable>connection-name</replaceable> SELECT ...;
</programlisting>
   This option is particularly suitable if the application needs to
   use several connections in mixed order.
      </para>

      <para>
      If your application uses multiple threads of execution, they cannot share a
      connection concurrently. You must either explicitly control access to the connection
      (using mutexes) or use a connection for each thread. If each thread uses its own connection,
      you will need to use the AT clause to specify which connection the thread will use.
  </para>

  <para>
   The second option is to execute a statement to switch the current
   connection.  That statement is:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL SET CONNECTION <replaceable>connection-name</replaceable>;
</programlisting>
   This option is particularly convenient if many statements are to be
   executed on the same connection.  It is not thread-aware.
  </para>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="ecpg-variables">
  <title>Using Host Variables</title>

  <para>
   In <xref linkend="ecpg-commands"> you saw how you can execute SQL
   statements from an embedded SQL program.  Some of those statements
   only used fixed values and did not provide a way to insert
   user-supplied values into statements or have the program process
   the values returned by the query.  Those kinds of statements are
   not really useful in real applications.  This section explains in
   detail how you can pass data between your C program and the
   embedded SQL statements using a simple mechanism called
   <firstterm>host variables</firstterm>.
  </para>

  <sect2>
   <title>Overview</title>

   <para>
    Passing data between the C program and the SQL statements is
    particularly simple in embedded SQL.  Instead of having the
    program paste the data into the statement, which entails various
    complications, such as properly quoting the value, you can simply
    write the name of a C variable into the SQL statement, prefixed by
    a colon.  For example:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL INSERT INTO sometable VALUES (:v1, 'foo', :v2);
</programlisting>
    This statements refers to two C variables named
    <varname>v1</varname> and <varname>v2</varname> and also uses a
    regular SQL string literal, to illustrate that you are not
    restricted to use one kind of data or the other.
   </para>

   <para>
    This style of inserting C variables in SQL statements works
    anywhere a value expression is expected in an SQL statement.  In
    the SQL environment we call the references to C variables
    <firstterm>host variables</firstterm>.
   </para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2>
   <title>Declare Sections</title>

   <para>
    To pass data from the program to the database, for example as
    parameters in a query, or to pass data from the database back to
    the program, the C variables that are intended to contain this
    data need to be declared in specially marked sections, so the
    embedded SQL preprocessor is made aware of them.
   </para>

   <para>
    This section starts with
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
</programlisting>
    and ends with
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;
</programlisting>
    Between those lines, there must be normal C variable declarations,
    such as
<programlisting>
int   x;
char  foo[16], bar[16];
</programlisting>
    You can have as many declare sections in a program as you like.
   </para>

   <para>
    The declarations are also echoed to the output file as a normal C
    variables, so there's no need to declare them again.  Variables
    that are not intended to be used in SQL commands can be declared
    normally outside these special sections.
   </para>

   <para>
    The definition of a structure or union also must be listed inside
    a <literal>DECLARE</> section. Otherwise the preprocessor cannot
    handle these types since it does not know the definition.
   </para>

   <para>
    The special type <type>VARCHAR</type> 
    is converted into a named <type>struct</> for every variable. A
    declaration like
<programlisting>
VARCHAR var[180];
</programlisting>
    is converted into
<programlisting>
struct varchar_var { int len; char arr[180]; } var;
</programlisting>
    This structure is suitable for interfacing with SQL datums of type
    <type>varchar</type>.
   </para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2>
   <title><command>SELECT INTO</command> and <command>FETCH INTO</command></title>

   <para>
    Now you should be able to pass data generated by your program into
    an SQL command.  But how do you retrieve the results of a query?
    For that purpose, embedded SQL provides special variants of the
    usual commands <command>SELECT</command> and
    <command>FETCH</command>.  These commands have a special
    <literal>INTO</literal> clause that specifies which host variables
    the retrieved values are to be stored in.
   </para>

   <para>
    Here is an example:
<programlisting>
/*
 * assume this table:
 * CREATE TABLE test1 (a int, b varchar(50));
 */

EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
int v1;
VARCHAR v2;
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;

 ...

EXEC SQL SELECT a, b INTO :v1, :v2 FROM test;
</programlisting>
    So the <literal>INTO</literal> clause appears between the select
    list and the <literal>FROM</literal> clause.  The number of
    elements in the select list and the list after
    <literal>INTO</literal> (also called the target list) must be
    equal.
   </para>

   <para>
    Here is an example using the command <command>FETCH</command>:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
int v1;
VARCHAR v2;
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;

 ...

EXEC SQL DECLARE foo CURSOR FOR SELECT a, b FROM test;

 ...

do {
    ...
    EXEC SQL FETCH NEXT FROM foo INTO :v1, :v2;
    ...
} while (...);
</programlisting>
    Here the <literal>INTO</literal> clause appears after all the
    normal clauses.
   </para>

   <para>
    Both of these methods only allow retrieving one row at a time.  If
    you need to process result sets that potentially contain more than
    one row, you need to use a cursor, as shown in the second example.
   </para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2>
   <title>Indicators</title>

   <para>
    The examples above do not handle null values.  In fact, the
    retrieval examples will raise an error if they fetch a null value
    from the database.  To be able to pass null values to the database
    or retrieve null values from the database, you need to append a
    second host variable specification to each host variable that
    contains data.  This second host variable is called the
    <firstterm>indicator</firstterm> and contains a flag that tells
    whether the datum is null, in which case the value of the real
    host variable is ignored.  Here is an example that handles the
    retrieval of null values correctly:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
VARCHAR val;
int val_ind;
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION:

 ...

EXEC SQL SELECT b INTO :val :val_ind FROM test1;
</programlisting>
    The indicator variable <varname>val_ind</varname> will be zero if
    the value was not null, and it will be negative if the value was
    null.
   </para>

   <para>
    The indicator has another function: if the indicator value is
    positive, it means that the value is not null, but it was
    truncated when it was stored in the host variable.
   </para>
  </sect2>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="ecpg-dynamic">
  <title>Dynamic SQL</title>

  <para>
   In many cases, the particular SQL statements that an application
   has to execute are known at the time the application is written.
   In some cases, however, the SQL statements are composed at run time
   or provided by an external source.  In these cases you cannot embed
   the SQL statements directly into the C source code, but there is a
   facility that allows you to call arbitrary SQL statements that you
   provide in a string variable.
  </para>

  <para>
   The simplest way to execute an arbitrary SQL statement is to use
   the command <command>EXECUTE IMMEDIATE</command>.  For example:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
const char *stmt = "CREATE TABLE test1 (...);";
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;

EXEC SQL EXECUTE IMMEDIATE :stmt;
</programlisting>
   You may not execute statements that retrieve data (e.g.,
   <command>SELECT</command>) this way.
  </para>

  <para>
   A more powerful way to execute arbitrary SQL statements is to
   prepare them once and execute the prepared statement as often as
   you like.  It is also possible to prepare a generalized version of
   a statement and then execute specific versions of it by
   substituting parameters.  When preparing the statement, write
   question marks where you want to substitute parameters later.  For
   example:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
const char *stmt = "INSERT INTO test1 VALUES(?, ?);";
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;

EXEC SQL PREPARE mystmt FROM :stmt;
 ...
EXEC SQL EXECUTE mystmt USING 42, 'foobar';
</programlisting>
   If the statement you are executing returns values, then add an
   <literal>INTO</literal> clause:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
const char *stmt = "SELECT a, b, c FROM test1 WHERE a &gt; ?";
int v1, v2;
VARCHAR v3;
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;

EXEC SQL PREPARE mystmt FROM :stmt;
 ...
EXEC SQL EXECUTE mystmt INTO v1, v2, v3 USING 37;
</programlisting>
   An <command>EXECUTE</command> command may have an
   <literal>INTO</literal> clause, a <literal>USING</literal> clause,
   both, or neither.
  </para>

  <para>
   When you don't need the prepared statement anymore, you should
   deallocate it:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL DEALLOCATE PREPARE <replaceable>name</replaceable>;
</programlisting>
  </para>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="ecpg-descriptors">
  <title>Using SQL Descriptor Areas</title>

  <para>
   An SQL descriptor area is a more sophisticated method for
   processing the result of a <command>SELECT</command> or
   <command>FETCH</command> statement.  An SQL descriptor area groups
   the data of one row of data together with metadata items into one
   data structure.  The metadata is particularly useful when executing
   dynamic SQL statements, where the nature of the result columns may
   not be known ahead of time.
  </para>

  <para>
   An SQL descriptor area consists of a header, which contains
   information concerning the entire descriptor, and one or more item
   descriptor areas, which basically each describe one column in the
   result row.
  </para>

  <para>
   Before you can use an SQL descriptor area, you need to allocate one:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL ALLOCATE DESCRIPTOR <replaceable>identifier</replaceable>;
</programlisting>
   The identifier serves as the <quote>variable name</quote> of the
   descriptor area.  <remark>The scope of the allocated descriptor is WHAT?.</remark>
   When you don't need the descriptor anymore, you should deallocate
   it:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL DEALLOCATE DESCRIPTOR <replaceable>identifier</replaceable>;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   To use a descriptor area, specify it as the storage target in an
   <literal>INTO</literal> clause, instead of listing host variables:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL FETCH NEXT FROM mycursor INTO DESCRIPTOR mydesc;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Now how do you get the data out of the descriptor area?  You can
   think of the descriptor area as a structure with named fields.  To
   retrieve the value of a field from the header and store it into a
   host variable, use the following command:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL GET DESCRIPTOR <replaceable>name</replaceable> :<replaceable>hostvar</replaceable> = <replaceable>field</replaceable>;
</programlisting>
   Currently, there is only one header field defined:
   <replaceable>COUNT</replaceable>, which tells how many item
   descriptor areas exist (that is, how many columns are contained in
   the result).  The host variable needs to be of an integer type.  To
   get a field from the item descriptor area, use the following
   command:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL GET DESCRIPTOR <replaceable>name</replaceable> VALUE <replaceable>num</replaceable> :<replaceable>hostvar</replaceable> = <replaceable>field</replaceable>;
</programlisting>
   <replaceable>num</replaceable> can be a literal integer or a host
   variable containing an integer. Possible fields are:

   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>CARDINALITY</literal> (integer)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       number of rows in the result set
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>DATA</literal></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       actual data item (therefore, the data type of this field
       depends on the query)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>DATETIME_INTERVAL_CODE</literal> (integer)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       ?
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>DATETIME_INTERVAL_PRECISION</literal> (integer)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       not implemented
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>INDICATOR</literal> (integer)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       the indicator (indicating a null value or a value truncation)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>KEY_MEMBER</literal> (integer)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       not implemented
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>LENGTH</literal> (integer)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       length of the datum in characters
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>NAME</literal> (string)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       name of the column
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>NULLABLE</literal> (integer)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       not implemented
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>OCTET_LENGTH</literal> (integer)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       length of the character representation of the datum in bytes
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>PRECISION</literal> (integer)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       precision (for type <type>numeric</type>)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>RETURNED_LENGTH</literal> (integer)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       length of the datum in characters
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>RETURNED_OCTET_LENGTH</literal> (integer)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       length of the character representation of the datum in bytes
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>SCALE</literal> (integer)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       scale (for type <type>numeric</type>)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>TYPE</literal> (integer)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       numeric code of the data type of the column
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </para>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="ecpg-errors">
  <title>Error Handling</title>

  <para>
   This section describes how you can handle exceptional conditions
   and warnings in an embedded SQL program.  There are several
   nonexclusive facilities for this.
  </para>

  <sect2>
   <title>Setting Callbacks</title>

   <para>
    One simple method to catch errors and warnings is to set a
    specific action to be executed whenever a particular condition
    occurs.  In general:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL WHENEVER <replaceable>condition</replaceable> <replaceable>action</replaceable>;
</programlisting>
   </para>

   <para>
    <replaceable>condition</replaceable> can be one of the following:

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>SQLERROR</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The specified action is called whenever an error occurs during
        the execution of an SQL statement.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>SQLWARNING</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The specified action is called whenever a warning occurs
        during the execution of an SQL statement.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>NOT FOUND</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The specified action is called whenever an SQL statement
        retrieves or affects zero rows.  (This condition is not an
        error, but you might be interested in handling it specially.)
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
   </para>

   <para>
    <replaceable>action</replaceable> can be one of the following:

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>CONTINUE</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        This effectively means that the condition is ignored.  This is
        the default.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>GOTO <replaceable>label</replaceable></literal></term>
      <term><literal>GO TO <replaceable>label</replaceable></literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Jump to the specified label (using a C <literal>goto</literal>
        statement).
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>SQLPRINT</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Print a message to standard error.  This is useful for simple
        programs or during prototyping.  The details of the message
        cannot be configured.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>STOP</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Call <literal>exit(1)</literal>, which will terminate the
        program.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>BREAK</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Execute the C statement <literal>break</literal>.  This should
        only be used in loops or <literal>switch</literal> statements.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>CALL <replaceable>name</replaceable> (<replaceable>args</replaceable>)</literal></term>
      <term><literal>DO <replaceable>name</replaceable> (<replaceable>args</replaceable>)</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Call the specified C functions with the specified arguments.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

    The SQL standard only provides for the actions
    <literal>CONTINUE</literal> and <literal>GOTO</literal> (and
    <literal>GO TO</literal>).
   </para>

   <para>
    Here is an example that you might want to use in a simple program.
    It prints a simple message when a warning occurs and aborts the
    program when an error happens.
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL WHENEVER SQLWARNING SQLPRINT;
EXEC SQL WHENEVER SQLERROR STOP;
</programlisting>
   </para>

   <para>
    The statement <literal>EXEC SQL WHENEVER</literal> is a directive
    of the SQL preprocessor, not a C statement.  The error or warning
    actions that it sets apply to all embedded SQL statements that
    appear below the point where the handler is set, unless a
    different action was set for the same condition between the first
    <literal>EXEC SQL WHENEVER</literal> and the SQL statement causing
    the condition, regardless of the flow of control in the C program.
    So neither of the two following C program excerpts will have the
    desired effect.
<programlisting>
/*
 * WRONG
 */
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    ...
    if (verbose) {
        EXEC SQL WHENEVER SQLWARNING SQLPRINT;
    }
    ...
    EXEC SQL SELECT ...;
    ...
}
</programlisting>

<programlisting>
/*
 * WRONG
 */
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    ...
    set_error_handler();
    ...
    EXEC SQL SELECT ...;
    ...
}

static void set_error_handler(void)
{
    EXEC SQL WHENEVER SQLERROR STOP;
}
</programlisting>
   </para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2>
   <title>sqlca</title>

   <para>
    For more powerful error handling, the embedded SQL interface
    provides a global variable with the name <varname>sqlca</varname>
    that has the following structure:
<programlisting>
struct
{
    char sqlcaid[8];
    long sqlabc;
    long sqlcode;
    struct
    {
        int sqlerrml;
        char sqlerrmc[70];
    } sqlerrm;
    char sqlerrp[8];
    long sqlerrd[6];
    char sqlwarn[8];
    char sqlstate[5];
} sqlca;
</programlisting>
    (In a multithreaded program, every thread automatically gets its
    own copy of <varname>sqlca</varname>.  This works similarly to the
    handling of the standard C global variable
    <varname>errno</varname>.)
   </para>

   <para>
    <varname>sqlca</varname> covers both warnings and errors.  If
    multiple warnings or errors occur during the execution of a
    statement, then <varname>sqlca</varname> will only contain
    information about the last one.
   </para>

   <para>
    If no error occurred in the last <acronym>SQL</acronym> statement,
    <literal>sqlca.sqlcode</literal> will be 0 and
    <literal>sqlca.sqlstate</literal> will be
    <literal>"00000"</literal>.  If a warning or error occurred, then
    <literal>sqlca.sqlcode</literal> will be negative and
    <literal>sqlca.sqlstate</literal> will be different from
    <literal>"00000"</literal>.  A positive
    <literal>sqlca.sqlcode</literal> indicates a harmless condition,
    such as that the last query returned zero rows.
    <literal>sqlcode</literal> and <literal>sqlstate</literal> are two
    different error code schemes; details appear below.
   </para>

   <para>
    If the last SQL statement was successful, then
    <literal>sqlca.sqlerrd[1]</literal> contains the OID of the
    processed row, if applicable, and
    <literal>sqlca.sqlerrd[2]</literal> contains the number of
    processed or returned rows, if applicable to the command.
   </para>

   <para>
    In case of an error or warning,
    <literal>sqlca.sqlerrm.sqlerrmc</literal> will contain a string
    that describes the error.  The field
    <literal>sqlca.sqlerrm.sqlerrml</literal> contains the length of
    the error message that is stored in
    <literal>sqlca.sqlerrm.sqlerrmc</literal> (the result of
    <function>strlen()</function>, not really interesting for a C
    programmer).  Note that some messages are too long to fit in the
    fixed-size <literal>sqlerrmc</literal> array; they will be truncated.
   </para>

   <para>
    In case of a warning, <literal>sqlca.sqlwarn[2]</literal> is set
    to <literal>W</literal>.  (In all other cases, it is set to
    something different from <literal>W</literal>.)  If
    <literal>sqlca.sqlwarn[1]</literal> is set to
    <literal>W</literal>, then a value was truncated when it was
    stored in a host variable.  <literal>sqlca.sqlwarn[0]</literal> is
    set to <literal>W</literal> if any of the other elements are set
    to indicate a warning.
   </para>

   <para>
    The fields <structfield>sqlcaid</structfield>,
    <structfield>sqlcabc</structfield>,
    <structfield>sqlerrp</structfield>, and the remaining elements of
    <structfield>sqlerrd</structfield> and
    <structfield>sqlwarn</structfield> currently contain no useful
    information.
   </para>

   <para>
    The structure <varname>sqlca</varname> is not defined in the SQL
    standard, but is implemented in several other SQL database
    systems.  The definitions are similar at the core, but if you want
    to write portable applications, then you should investigate the
    different implementations carefully.
   </para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2>
   <title><literal>SQLSTATE</literal> vs <literal>SQLCODE</literal></title>

   <para>
    The fields <literal>sqlca.sqlstate</literal> and
    <literal>sqlca.sqlcode</literal> are two different schemes that
    provide error codes.  Both are specified in the SQL standard, but
    <literal>SQLCODE</literal> has been marked deprecated in the 1992
    edition of the standard and has been dropped in the 1999 edition.
    Therefore, new applications are strongly encouraged to use
    <literal>SQLSTATE</literal>.
   </para>

   <para>
    <literal>SQLSTATE</literal> is a five-character array.  The five
    characters contain digits or upper-case letters that represent
    codes of various error and warning conditions.
    <literal>SQLSTATE</literal> has a hierarchical scheme: the first
    two characters indicate the general class of the condition, the
    last three characters indicate a subclass of the general
    condition.  A successful state is indicated by the code
    <literal>00000</literal>.  The <literal>SQLSTATE</literal> codes are for
    the most part defined in the SQL standard.  The
    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> server natively supports
    <literal>SQLSTATE</literal> error codes; therefore a high degree
    of consistency can be achieved by using this error code scheme
    throughout all applications.  For further information see
    <xref linkend="errcodes-appendix">.
   </para>

   <para>
    <literal>SQLCODE</literal>, the deprecated error code scheme, is a
    simple integer.  A value of 0 indicates success, a positive value
    indicates success with additional information, a negative value
    indicates an error.  The SQL standard only defines the positive
    value +100, which indicates that the last command returned or
    affected zero rows, and no specific negative values.  Therefore,
    this scheme can only achieve poor portability and does not have a
    hierarchical code assignment.  Historically, the embedded SQL
    processor for <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> has assigned
    some specific <literal>SQLCODE</literal> values for its use, which
    are listed below with their numeric value and their symbolic name.
    Remember that these are not portable to other SQL implementations.
    To simplify the porting of applications to the
    <literal>SQLSTATE</literal> scheme, the corresponding
    <literal>SQLSTATE</literal> is also listed.  There is, however, no
    one-to-one or one-to-many mapping between the two schemes (indeed
    it is many-to-many), so you should consult the global
    <literal>SQLSTATE</literal> listing in <xref linkend="errcodes-appendix">
    in each case.
   </para>

   <para>
    These are the assigned <literal>SQLCODE</literal> values:

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term>-12 (<symbol>ECPG_OUT_OF_MEMORY</symbol>)</term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Indicates that your virtual memory is exhausted. (SQLSTATE
        YE001)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-200 (<symbol>ECPG_UNSUPPORTED</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Indicates the preprocessor has generated something that the
       library does not know about.  Perhaps you are running
       incompatible versions of the preprocessor and the
       library. (SQLSTATE YE002)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-201 (<symbol>ECPG_TOO_MANY_ARGUMENTS</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       This means that the command specified more host variables than
       the command expected.  (SQLSTATE 07001 or 07002)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-202 (<symbol>ECPG_TOO_FEW_ARGUMENTS</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       This means that the command specified fewer host variables than
       the command expected.  (SQLSTATE 07001 or 07002)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-203 (<symbol>ECPG_TOO_MANY_MATCHES</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       This means a query has returned multiple rows but the statement
       was only prepared to store one result row (for example, because
       the specified variables are not arrays).  (SQLSTATE 21000)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-204 (<symbol>ECPG_INT_FORMAT</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The host variable is of type <type>int</type> and the datum in
       the database is of a different type and contains a value that
       cannot be interpreted as an <type>int</type>.  The library uses
       <function>strtol()</function> for this conversion.  (SQLSTATE
       42804)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-205 (<symbol>ECPG_UINT_FORMAT</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The host variable is of type <type>unsigned int</type> and the
       datum in the database is of a different type and contains a
       value that cannot be interpreted as an <type>unsigned
       int</type>.  The library uses <function>strtoul()</function>
       for this conversion.  (SQLSTATE 42804)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-206 (<symbol>ECPG_FLOAT_FORMAT</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The host variable is of type <type>float</type> and the datum
       in the database is of another type and contains a value that
       cannot be interpreted as a <type>float</type>.  The library
       uses <function>strtod()</function> for this conversion.
       (SQLSTATE 42804)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-207 (<symbol>ECPG_CONVERT_BOOL</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       This means the host variable is of type <type>bool</type> and
       the datum in the database is neither <literal>'t'</> nor
       <literal>'f'</>.  (SQLSTATE 42804)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-208 (<symbol>ECPG_EMPTY</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The statement sent to the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
       server was empty.  (This cannot normally happen in an embedded
       SQL program, so it may point to an internal error.)  (SQLSTATE
       YE002)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-209 (<symbol>ECPG_MISSING_INDICATOR</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       A null value was returned and no null indicator variable was
       supplied.  (SQLSTATE 22002)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-210 (<symbol>ECPG_NO_ARRAY</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       An ordinary variable was used in a place that requires an
       array.  (SQLSTATE 42804)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-211 (<symbol>ECPG_DATA_NOT_ARRAY</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The database returned an ordinary variable in a place that
       requires array value.  (SQLSTATE 42804)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-220 (<symbol>ECPG_NO_CONN</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The program tried to access a connection that does not exist.
       (SQLSTATE 08003)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-221 (<symbol>ECPG_NOT_CONN</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The program tried to access a connection that does exist but is
       not open.  (This is an internal error.)  (SQLSTATE YE002)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-230 (<symbol>ECPG_INVALID_STMT</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The statement you are trying to use has not been prepared.
       (SQLSTATE 26000)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-240 (<symbol>ECPG_UNKNOWN_DESCRIPTOR</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The descriptor specified was not found.  The statement you are
       trying to use has not been prepared.  (SQLSTATE 33000)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-241 (<symbol>ECPG_INVALID_DESCRIPTOR_INDEX</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The descriptor index specified was out of range.  (SQLSTATE
       07009)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-242 (<symbol>ECPG_UNKNOWN_DESCRIPTOR_ITEM</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       An invalid descriptor item was requested.  (This is an internal
       error.)  (SQLSTATE YE002)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-243 (<symbol>ECPG_VAR_NOT_NUMERIC</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       During the execution of a dynamic statement, the database
       returned a numeric value and the host variable was not numeric.
       (SQLSTATE 07006)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-244 (<symbol>ECPG_VAR_NOT_CHAR</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       During the execution of a dynamic statement, the database
       returned a non-numeric value and the host variable was numeric.
       (SQLSTATE 07006)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-400 (<symbol>ECPG_PGSQL</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Some error caused by the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
       server.  The message contains the error message from the
       <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> server.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-401 (<symbol>ECPG_TRANS</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> server signaled that
       we cannot start, commit, or rollback the transaction.
       (SQLSTATE 08007)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>-402 (<symbol>ECPG_CONNECT</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The connection attempt to the database did not succeed.
       (SQLSTATE 08001)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term>100 (<symbol>ECPG_NOT_FOUND</symbol>)</term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       This is a harmless condition indicating that the last command
       retrieved or processed zero rows, or that you are at the end of
       the cursor.  (SQLSTATE 02000)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </para>
  </sect2>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="ecpg-include">
  <title>Including Files</title>

  <para>
   To include an external file into your embedded SQL program, use:
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL INCLUDE <replaceable>filename</replaceable>;
</programlisting>
   The embedded SQL preprocessor will look for a file named
   <literal><replaceable>filename</replaceable>.h</literal>,
   preprocess it, and include it in the resulting C output.  Thus,
   embedded SQL statements in the included file are handled correctly.
  </para>

  <para>
   Note that this is <emphasis>not</emphasis> the same as
<programlisting>
#include &lt;<replaceable>filename</replaceable>.h&gt;
</programlisting>
   because this file would not be subject to SQL command preprocessing.
   Naturally, you can continue to use the C
   <literal>#include</literal> directive to include other header
   files.
  </para>

  <note>
   <para>
    The include file name is case-sensitive, even though the rest of
    the <literal>EXEC SQL INCLUDE</literal> command follows the normal
    SQL case-sensitivity rules.
   </para>
  </note>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="ecpg-process">
  <title>Processing Embedded SQL Programs</title>

  <para>
   Now that you have an idea how to form embedded SQL C programs, you
   probably want to know how to compile them.  Before compiling you
   run the file through the embedded <acronym>SQL</acronym>
   <acronym>C</acronym> preprocessor, which converts the
   <acronym>SQL</acronym> statements you used to special function
   calls.  After compiling, you must link with a special library that
   contains the needed functions. These functions fetch information
   from the arguments, perform the <acronym>SQL</acronym> command using
   the <application>libpq</application> interface, and put the result
   in the arguments specified for output.
  </para>

  <para>
   The preprocessor program is called <filename>ecpg</filename> and is
   included in a normal <productname>PostgreSQL</> installation.
   Embedded SQL programs are typically named with an extension
   <filename>.pgc</filename>.  If you have a program file called
   <filename>prog1.pgc</filename>, you can preprocess it by simply
   calling
<programlisting>
ecpg prog1.pgc
</programlisting>
   This will create a file called <filename>prog1.c</filename>.  If
   your input files do not follow the suggested naming pattern, you
   can specify the output file explicitly using the
   <option>-o</option> option.
  </para>

  <para>
   The preprocessed file can be compiled normally, for example:
<programlisting>
cc -c prog1.c
</programlisting>
   The generated C source files include header files from the
   <productname>PostgreSQL</> installation, so if you installed
   <productname>PostgreSQL</> in a location that is not searched by
   default, you have to add an option such as
   <literal>-I/usr/local/pgsql/include</literal> to the compilation
   command line.
  </para>

  <para>
   To link an embedded SQL program, you need to include the
   <filename>libecpg</filename> library, like so:
<programlisting>
cc -o myprog prog1.o prog2.o ... -lecpg
</programlisting>
   Again, you might have to add an option like
   <literal>-L/usr/local/pgsql/lib</literal> to that command line.
  </para>

  <para>
   If you manage the build process of a larger project using
   <application>make</application>, it may be convenient to include
   the following implicit rule to your makefiles:
<programlisting>
ECPG = ecpg

%.c: %.pgc
        $(ECPG) $<
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   The complete syntax of the <command>ecpg</command> command is
   detailed in <xref linkend="app-ecpg">.
  </para>

  <para>
   The <application>ecpg</application> library is thread-safe if it is built
   using the <option>--enable-thread-safety</> command-line option to
   <filename>configure</filename>.  (You might need to use other threading
   command-line options to compile your client code.)
  </para>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="ecpg-library">
  <title>Library Functions</title>

  <para>
   The <filename>libecpg</filename> library primarily contains
   <quote>hidden</quote> functions that are used to implement the
   functionality expressed by the embedded SQL commands.  But there
   are some functions that can usefully be called directly.  Note that
   this makes your code unportable.
  </para>

  <itemizedlist>
   <listitem>
    <para>
     <function>ECPGdebug(int <replaceable>on</replaceable>, FILE
     *<replaceable>stream</replaceable>)</function> turns on debug
     logging if called with the first argument non-zero. Debug logging
     is done on <replaceable>stream</replaceable>.  The log contains
     all <acronym>SQL</acronym> statements with all the input
     variables inserted, and the results from the
     <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> server. This can be very
     useful when searching for errors in your <acronym>SQL</acronym>
     statements.
    </para>
   </listitem>

   <listitem>
    <para>
     <function>ECPGstatus(int <replaceable>lineno</replaceable>,
     const char* <replaceable>connection_name</replaceable>)</function>
     returns true if you are connected to a database and false if not.
     <replaceable>connection_name</replaceable> can be <literal>NULL</> 
     if a single connection is being used.
    </para>
   </listitem>
  </itemizedlist>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="ecpg-develop">
  <title>Internals</title>

  <para>
   This section explains how <application>ECPG</application> works
   internally. This information can occasionally be useful to help
   users understand how to use <application>ECPG</application>.
  </para>

   <para>
    The first four lines written by <command>ecpg</command> to the
    output are fixed lines.  Two are comments and two are include
    lines necessary to interface to the library.  Then the
    preprocessor reads through the file and writes output.  Normally
    it just echoes everything to the output.
   </para>

   <para>
    When it sees an <command>EXEC SQL</command> statement, it
    intervenes and changes it. The command starts with <command>EXEC
    SQL</command> and ends with <command>;</command>. Everything in
    between is treated as an <acronym>SQL</acronym> statement and
    parsed for variable substitution.
   </para>

   <para>
    Variable substitution occurs when a symbol starts with a colon
    (<literal>:</literal>). The variable with that name is looked up
    among the variables that were previously declared within a
    <literal>EXEC SQL DECLARE</> section.
   </para>

   <para>
    The most important function in the library is
    <function>ECPGdo</function>, which takes care of executing most
    commands. It takes a variable number of arguments. This can easily
    add up to 50 or so arguments, and we hope this will not be a
    problem on any platform.
   </para>

   <para>
    The arguments are:

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term>A line number</term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        This is the line number of the original line; used in error
        messages only.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term>A string</term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        This is the <acronym>SQL</acronym> command that is to be issued.
        It is modified by the input variables, i.e., the variables that
        where not known at compile time but are to be entered in the
        command. Where the variables should go the string contains
        <literal>?</literal>.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term>Input variables</term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Every input variable causes ten arguments to be created.  (See below.)
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><parameter>ECPGt_EOIT</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        An <type>enum</> telling that there are no more input
        variables.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term>Output variables</term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Every output variable causes ten arguments to be created.
        (See below.)  These variables are filled by the function.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
       <term><parameter>ECPGt_EORT</></term>
       <listitem>
       <para>
        An <type>enum</> telling that there are no more variables.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
   </para>

   <para>
    For every variable that is part of the <acronym>SQL</acronym>
    command, the function gets ten arguments:

    <orderedlist>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The type as a special symbol.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para> 
       A pointer to the value or a pointer to the pointer.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       The size of the variable if it is a <type>char</type> or <type>varchar</type>.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       The number of elements in the array (for array fetches).
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       The offset to the next element in the array (for array fetches).
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       The type of the indicator variable as a special symbol.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       A pointer to the indicator variable.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       0
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       The number of elements in the indicator array (for array fetches).
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       The offset to the next element in the indicator array (for
       array fetches).
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </orderedlist>
   </para>

   <para>
    Note that not all SQL commands are treated in this way.  For
    instance, an open cursor statement like
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL OPEN <replaceable>cursor</replaceable>;
</programlisting>
    is not copied to the output. Instead, the cursor's
    <command>DECLARE</> command is used at the position of the <command>OPEN</> command
    because it indeed opens the cursor.
   </para>

   <para>
    Here is a complete example describing the output of the
    preprocessor of a file <filename>foo.pgc</filename> (details may
    change with each particular version of the preprocessor):
<programlisting>
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
int index;
int result;
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;
...
EXEC SQL SELECT res INTO :result FROM mytable WHERE index = :index;
</programlisting>
    is translated into:
<programlisting>
/* Processed by ecpg (2.6.0) */
/* These two include files are added by the preprocessor */
#include &lt;ecpgtype.h&gt;;
#include &lt;ecpglib.h&gt;;

/* exec sql begin declare section */

#line 1 "foo.pgc"

 int index;
 int result;
/* exec sql end declare section */
...
ECPGdo(__LINE__, NULL, "SELECT res FROM mytable WHERE index = ?     ",
        ECPGt_int,&amp;(index),1L,1L,sizeof(int),
        ECPGt_NO_INDICATOR, NULL , 0L, 0L, 0L, ECPGt_EOIT,
        ECPGt_int,&amp;(result),1L,1L,sizeof(int),
        ECPGt_NO_INDICATOR, NULL , 0L, 0L, 0L, ECPGt_EORT);
#line 147 "foo.pgc"
</programlisting>
    (The indentation here is added for readability and not
    something the preprocessor does.)
   </para>
 </sect1>
</chapter>

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