A Rexx interface to SQL databases

Version 2.5

10 October 2006

2. Overview

Rexx/SQL consists of Rexx external functions that allows a Rexx program to communicate with a SQL database.

Actions requested of the database are made by calling these external functions. Information returned to the Rexx program as a result of these actions is done principally through the Rexx variable pool.

The Rexx external functions are:

SQLCONNECT - connect to the SQL database
SQLDISCONNECT - break the connection to the SQL database made by SQLCONNECT
SQLDEFAULT(1) - switch the default connection to another open connection
SQLCOMMAND - issue a SQL statement to the connected database
SQLPREPARE - allocate a work area for a SQL statement and prepare it for processing
SQLDISPOSE - deallocate a work area for a statement
SQLOPEN - open a cursor for a prepared SELECT statement
SQLCLOSE - close an opened cursor
SQLFETCH - fetch the next row from the open cursor
SQLGETDATA - extracts part of a column from a fetched row
SQLEXECUTE - execute a prepared statement
SQLCOMMIT - commit the current transaction
SQLROLLBACK - rollback the current transaction
SQLDESCRIBE(1) - describe expressions from a SELECT statement
SQLVARIABLE(2) - set or retrieve default run-time values
SQLGETINFO(2) - retrieve Rexx/SQL information for a connection
SQLDATASOURCES(1) - obtain a list of the data sources available
SQLTABLES(1) - obtain a list of tables from the current data source
SQLCOLUMNS(1) - obtain a list of columns in tables from the current data source

(1)Function may not be supported in all implementations.
(2)Values that can be set can vary between implementations.

Status values set by the Rexx external functions are:

SQLCA.SQLCODE - result code of last SQL operation
SQLCA.SQLERRM - text of any error message associated with the above result code
SQLCA.SQLSTATE - a detailed status string (N/A on some ports)
SQLCA.SQLTEXT - text of the last SQL statement
SQLCA.ROWCOUNT - number of rows affected by the last SQL operation
SQLCA.FUNCTION - name of the Rexx external function last called
SQLCA.INTCODE - Rexx/SQL interface error number
SQLCA.INTERRM - text of last Rexx/SQL interface error

At the start of each external function call, the SQLCA. stem values are reset if the previous external function call caused an error or warning. This is done to make Rexx/SQL faster by not resetting these values if they don't need to be. The SQLCA. stem should be considered read-only and the values not changed or DROPped by the Rexx/SQL program.

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Last updated 10 October 2006