ODBC(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation ODBC(3)NAMEDBD::ODBC - ODBC Driver for DBI
VERSION
This documentation refers to DBD::ODBC version 1.33.
SYNOPSIS
use DBI;
$dbh = DBI->connect('dbi:ODBC:DSN', 'user', 'password');
See DBI for more information.
DESCRIPTION
Change log and FAQs
Please note that the change log has been moved to DBD::ODBC::Changes.
To access this documentation, use "perldoc DBD::ODBC::Changes".
The FAQs have also moved to DBD::ODBC::FAQ.pm. To access the FAQs use
"perldoc DBD::ODBC::FAQ".
Important note about the tests
Please note that some tests may fail or report they are unsupported on
this platform. Notably Oracle's ODBC driver will fail the "advanced"
binding tests in t/08bind2.t. These tests run perfectly under SQL
Server 2000. This is normal and expected. Until Oracle fixes their
drivers to do the right thing from an ODBC perspective, it's going to
be tough to fix the issue. The workaround for Oracle is to bind date
types with SQL_TIMESTAMP. Also note that some tests may be skipped,
such as t/09multi.t, if your driver doesn't seem to support returning
multiple result sets. This is normal.
Version Control
DBD::ODBC source code is under version control at svn.perl.org. If you
would like to use the "bleeding" edge version, you can get the latest
from svn.perl.org via Subversion version control. Note there is no
guarantee that this version is any different than what you get from the
tarball from CPAN, but it might be :)
You may read about Subversion at <http://subversion.tigris.org>
You can get a subversion client from there and check dbd-odbc out via:
svn checkout http://svn.perl.org/modules/dbd-odbc/trunk <your directory name here>
Which will pull all the files from the subversion trunk to your
specified directory. If you want to see what has changed since the last
release of DBD::ODBC read the Changes file or use "svn log" to get a
list of checked in changes.
Contributing
There are seven main ways you may help with the development and
maintenance of this module:
Submitting patches
Please use Subversion (see above) to get the latest version of
DBD::ODBC from the trunk and submit any patches against that.
Please, before submitting a patch:
svn update
<try and included a test which demonstrates the fix/change working>
<test your patch>
svn diff > describe_my_diffs.patch
and send the resulting file to me and cc the dbi-users@perl.org
mailing list (if you are not a member - why not!).
Reporting installs
Install CPAN::Reporter and report you installations. This is easy
to do - see "CPAN Testers Reporting".
Report bugs
If you find what you believe is a bug then enter it into the
<http://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Name=DBD-ODBC> system. Where
possible include code which reproduces the problem including any
schema required and the versions of software you are using.
If you are unsure whether you have found a bug report it anyway or
post it to the dbi-users mailing list.
pod comments and corrections
If you find inaccuracies in the DBD::ODBC pod or have a comment
which you think should be added then go to <http://annocpan.org>
and submit them there. I get an email for every comment added and
will review each one and apply any changes to the documentation.
Review DBD::ODBC
Add your review of DBD::ODBC on <http://cpanratings.perl.org>.
If you are a member on ohloh then add your review or register your
use of DBD::ODBC at <http://www.ohloh.net/projects/perl_dbd_odbc>.
submit test cases
Most DBDs are built against a single client library for the
database.
Unlike other DBDs, DBD::ODBC works with many different ODBC
drivers. Although they all should be written with regard to the
ODBC specification drivers have bugs and in some places the
specification is open to interpretation. As a result, when changes
are applied to DBD::ODBC it is very easy to break something in one
ODBC driver.
What helps enormously to identify problems in the many combinations
of DBD::ODBC and ODBC drivers is a large test suite. I would
greatly appreciate any test cases and in particular any new test
cases for databases other than MS SQL Server.
Test DBD::ODBC
I have a lot of problems deciding when to move a development
release to an official release since I get few test reports for
development releases. What often happens is I call for testers on
various lists, get a few and then get inundated with requests to do
an official release. Then I do an official release and loads of rts
appear out of nowhere and the cycle starts again.
DBD::ODBC by its very nature works with many ODBC Drivers and it is
impossible for me to have and test them all (this differs from
other DBDs). If you depend on DBD::ODBC you should be interested in
new releases and if you send me your email address suggesting you
are prepared to be part of the DBD::ODBC testing network I will
credit you in the Changes file and perhaps the main DBD::ODBC file.
DBI attribute handling
If a DBI defined attribute is not mentioned here it behaves as per the
DBI specification.
ReadOnly (boolean)
DBI documents the "ReadOnly" attribute as being settleable and
retrievable on connection and statement handles. In ODBC setting
ReadOnly to true causes the connection attribute "SQL_ATTR_ACCESS_MODE"
to be set to "SQL_MODE_READ_ONLY" and setting it to false will set the
access mode to "SQL_MODE_READ_WRITE" (which is the default in ODBC).
Note: There is no equivalent of setting ReadOnly on a statement handle
in ODBC.
Note: See ODBC documentation on "SQL_ATTR_ACCESS_MODE" as setting it to
"SQL_MODE_READ_ONLY" does not prevent your script from running updates
or deletes; it is simply a hint to the driver/database that you won't
being doing updates.
This attribute requires DBI version 1.55 or better.
Private attributes common to connection and statement handles
odbc_ignore_named_placeholders
Use this if you have special needs (such as Oracle triggers, etc) where
:new or :name mean something special and are not just place holder
names. You must then use ? for binding parameters. Example:
$dbh->{odbc_ignore_named_placeholders} = 1;
$dbh->do("create trigger foo as if :new.x <> :old.x then ... etc");
Without this, DBD::ODBC will think :new and :old are placeholders for
binding and get confused.
odbc_default_bind_type
This value defaults to 0.
Older versions of DBD::ODBC assumed that the parameter binding type was
12 ("SQL_VARCHAR"). Newer versions always attempt to call
"SQLDescribeParam" to find the parameter types but if
"SQLDescribeParam" is unavailable DBD::ODBC falls back to a default
bind type. The internal default bind type is "SQL_VARCHAR" (for non-
unicode build) and "SQL_WVARCHAR" (for a unicode build). If you set
"odbc_default_bind_type" to a value other than 0 you override the
internal default.
N.B If you call the "bind_param" method with a SQL type this overrides
everything else above.
odbc_force_bind_type
This value defaults to 0.
If set to anything other than 0 this will force bound parameters to be
bound as this type and "SQLDescribeParam" will not be used.
Older versions of DBD::ODBC assumed the parameter binding type was 12
("SQL_VARCHAR") and newer versions always attempt to call
"SQLDescribeParam" to find the parameter types. If your driver supports
"SQLDescribeParam" and it succeeds it may still fail to describe the
parameters accurately (MS SQL Server sometimes does this with some SQL
like select myfunc(?) where 1 = 1). Setting "odbc_force_bind_type" to
"SQL_VARCHAR" will force DBD::ODBC to bind all the parameters as
"SQL_VARCHAR" and ignore SQLDescribeParam.
Bare in mind that if you are inserting unicode data you probably want
to use "SQL_WVARCHAR" and not "SQL_VARCHAR".
As this attribute was created to work around buggy ODBC Drivers which
support SQLDescribeParam but describe the parameters incorrectly you
are probably better specifying the bind type on the "bind_param" call
on a per statement level rather than blindly setting
"odbc_force_bind_type" across a whole connection.
N.B If you call the "bind_param" method with a SQL type this overrides
everything else above.
odbc_force_rebind
This is to handle special cases, especially when using multiple result
sets. Set this before execute to "force" DBD::ODBC to re-obtain the
result set's number of columns and column types for each execute.
Especially useful for calling stored procedures which may return
different result sets each execute. The only performance penalty is
during execute(), but I didn't want to incur that penalty for all
circumstances. It is probably fairly rare that this occurs. This
attribute will be automatically set when multiple result sets are
triggered. Most people shouldn't have to worry about this.
odbc_async_exec
Allow asynchronous execution of queries. This causes a spin-loop (with
a small "sleep") until the ODBC API being called is complete (i.e.,
while the ODBC API returns "SQL_STILL_EXECUTING"). This is useful,
however, if you want the error handling and asynchronous messages (see
the "odbc_err_handler" and t/20SQLServer.t for an example of this).
odbc_query_timeout
This allows you to change the ODBC query timeout (the ODBC statement
attribute "SQL_ATTR_QUERY_TIMEOUT"). ODBC defines the query time out as
the number of seconds to wait for a SQL statement to execute before
returning to the application. A value of 0 (the default) means there is
no time out. Do not confuse this with the ODBC attributes
"SQL_ATTR_LOGIN_TIMEOUT" and "SQL_ATTR_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT". Add
{ odbc_query_timeout => 30 }
to your connect, set on the "dbh" before creating a statement or
explicitly set it on your statement handle. The odbc_query_timeout on a
statement is inherited from the parent connection.
Note that internally DBD::ODBC only sets the query timeout if you set
it explicitly and the default of 0 (no time out) is implemented by the
ODBC driver and not DBD::ODBC.
Note that some ODBC drivers implement a maximum query timeout value and
will limit timeouts set above their maximum. You may see a warning if
your time out is capped by the driver but there is currently no way to
retrieve the capped value back from the driver.
Note that some drivers may not support this attribute.
See t/20SqlServer.t for an example.
odbc_putdata_start
"odbc_putdata_start" defines the size at which DBD::ODBC uses
"SQLPutData" and "SQLParamData" to send larger objects to the database
instead of simply binding them as normal with "SQLBindParameter". It is
mostly a placeholder for future changes allowing chunks of data to be
sent to the database and there is little reason for anyone to change it
currently.
The default for odbc_putdata_start is 32768 because this value was
hard-coded in DBD::ODBC until 1.16_1.
odbc_column_display_size
If you ODBC driver does not support the SQL_COLUMN_DISPLAY_SIZE and
SQL_COLUMN_LENGTH attributes to SQLColAtrributes then DBD::ODBC does
not know how big the column might be. odbc_column_display_size sets the
default value for the column size when retrieving column data where the
size cannot be determined.
The default for odbc_column_display_size is 2001 because this value was
hard-coded in DBD::ODBC until 1.17_3.
odbc_utf8_on
Set this flag to treat all strings returned from the ODBC driver
(except columns described as SQL_BINARY or SQL_TIMESTAMP and its
variations) as UTF-8 encoded. Some ODBC drivers (like Aster and maybe
PostgreSQL) return UTF-8 encoded data but do not support the SQLxxxW
unicode API. Enabling this flag will cause DBD::ODBC to treat driver
returned data as UTF-8 encoded and it will be marked as such in Perl.
Do not confuse this with DBD::ODBC's unicode support. The
"odbc_utf8_on" attribute only applies to non-unicode enabled builds of
DBD::ODBC.
odbc_old_unicode
Defaults to off. If set to true returns DBD::ODBC to the old unicode
behavior in 1.29 and earlier. You can also set this on the prepare
method.
By default DBD::ODBC now binds all char columns as SQL_WCHARs meaning
the driver is asked to return the bound data as wide (Unicode)
characters encoded in UCS2. So long as the driver supports the ODBC
Unicode API properly this should mean you get your data back correctly
in Perl even if it is in a character set (codepage) different from the
one you are working in.
However, if you wrote code using DBD::ODBC 1.29 or earlier and knew
DBD::ODBC bound varchar/longvarchar columns as SQL_CHARs and decoded
them yourself the new behaviour will adversely affect you (sorry). To
revret to the old behaviour set odbc_old_unicode to true.
You can also set this attribute in the attributes passed to the prepare
method.
See the stackoverflow question at
<http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5912082>, the RT at
<http://rt.cpan.org/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=67994> and lastly a
small discussion on dbi-dev at
<http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.dbi.dev/2011/05/msg6559.html>.
odbc_describe_parameters
Defaults to on. When set this allows DBD::ODBC to call SQLDescribeParam
(if the driver supports it) to retrieve information about any
parameters.
When off/false DBD::ODBC will not call SQLDescribeParam and defaults to
binding parameters as SQL_CHAR/SQL_WCHAR depending on the build type.
You do not have to disable odbc_describe_parameters just because your
driver does not support SQLDescribeParam as DBD::ODBC will work this
out at the start via SQLGetFunctions.
Note: disabling odbc_describe_parameters when your driver does support
SQLDescribeParam may prevent DBD::ODBC binding parameters for some
column types properly.
You can also set this attribute in the attributes passed to the prepare
method.
This attribute was added so someone moving from freeTDS (a driver which
does not support SQLDescribeParam) to a driver which does support
SQLDescribeParam could do so without changing any Perl. The situation
was very specific since dates were being bound as dates when
SQLDescribeParam was called and chars without and the data format was
not a supported date format.
Private connection attributes
odbc_err_handler
NOTE: You might want to look at DBI's error handler before using the
one in DBD::ODBC however, there are subtle differences. DBD::ODBC's
odbc_err_handler is called for error and informational diagnostics
i.e., it is called when an ODBC call fails the SQL_SUCCEEDED macro
which means the ODBC call returned SQL_ERROR (-1) or
SQL_SUCCESS_WITH_INFO \fIs0(1).
Allow error and informational diagnostics to be handled by the
application. A call-back function supplied by the application to
handle or ignore messages.
The callback function receives four parameters: state (string), error
(string), native error code (number) and the status returned from the
last ODBC API. The fourth argument was added in 1.30_7.
If the error handler returns 0, the error is ignored, otherwise the
error is passed through the normal DBI error handling. Note, if the
status is SQL_SUCCESS_WITH_INFO this will not reach the DBI error
handler as it is not an error.
This can also be used for procedures under MS SQL Server (Sybase too,
probably) to obtain messages from system procedures such as DBCC.
Check t/20SQLServer.t and t/10handler.t.
$dbh->{RaiseError} = 1;
sub err_handler {
($state, $msg, $native, $rc, $status) = @_;
if ($state = '12345')
return 0; # ignore this error
else
return 1; # propagate error
}
$dbh->{odbc_err_handler} = \&err_handler;
# do something to cause an error
$dbh->{odbc_err_handler} = undef; # cancel the handler
odbc_SQL_ROWSET_SIZE
Setting odbc_SQL_ROWSET_SIZE results in a call to SQLSetConnectAttr to
set the ODBC SQL_ROWSET_SIZE \fIs0(9) attribute to whatever value you
set odbc_SQL_ROWSET_SIZE to.
The ODBC default for SQL_ROWSET_SIZE is 1.
Usually MS SQL Server does not support multiple active statements (MAS)
i.e., you cannot have 2 or more outstanding selects. You can set
odbc_SQL_ROWSET_SIZE to 2 to persuade MS SQL Server to support multiple
active statements.
Setting SQL_ROWSET_SIZE usually only affects calls to SQLExtendedFetch
but does allow MAS and as DBD::ODBC does not use SQLExtendedFetch there
should be no ill effects to DBD::ODBC.
Be careful with this attribute as once set to anything larger than 1
(the default) you must retrieve all result-sets before the statement
handle goes out of scope or you can upset the TDS protocol and this can
result in a hang. With DBI this is unlikely as DBI warns when a
statement goes out of scope with outstanding results.
NOTE: if you get an error saying "[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server
Driver]Invalid attribute/option identifier (SQL-HY092)" when you set
odbc_SQL_ROWSET_SIZE in the connect method you need to either a)
upgrade to DBI 1.616 or above b) set odbc_SQL_ROWSET_SIZE after
connect.
In versions of SQL Server 2005 and later see "Multiple Active
Statements (MAS)" in the DBD::ODBC::FAQ instead of using this
attribute.
Thanks to Andrew Brown for the original patch.
DBD developer note: Here lies a bag of worms. Firstly, SQL_ROWSET_SIZE
is an ODBC 2 attribute and is usally a statement attribute not a
connection attribute. However, in ODBC 2.0 you could set statement
attributes on a connection handle and it acted as a default for all
subsequent statement handles created under that connection handle. If
you are using ODBC 3 the driver manager continues to map this call but
the ODBC Driver needs to act on it (the MS SQL Server driver still
appears to but some other ODBC drivers for MS SQL Server do not).
Secondly, somewhere a long the line MS decided it was no longer valid
to retrieve the SQL_ROWSET_SIZE attribute from a connection handle in
an ODBC 3 application (which DBD::ODBC now is). In itself, this would
not be a problem except for a minor bug in DBI which until release
1.616 mistakenly issued a FETCH on any attribute mentioned in the
connect method call. As a result, it you use a DBI prior to 1.616 and
attempt to set odbc_SQL_ROWSET_SIZE in the connect method call, DBI
issues a FETCH on odbc_SQL_ROWSET_SIZE and the driver manager throws it
out as an invalid attribute thus resulting in an error. The only way
around this (other than upgrading DBI) is to set odbc_SQL_ROWSET_SIZE
AFTER the call to connect. Thirdly, MS withdrew the SQLROWSETSIZE macro
from the sql header files in MDAC 2.7 for 64 bit platforms i.e.,
SQLROWSETSIZE is not defined on 64 bit platforms from MDAC 2.7 as it is
in a "#ifdef win32" (see
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms716287%28v=vs.85%29.aspx).
Setting SQL_ROWSET_SIZE still seems to take effect on 64 bit platforms
but you can no longer retrieve its value from a connection handle
(hence the issue above with DBI redundant FETCH).
odbc_exec_direct
Force DBD::ODBC to use "SQLExecDirect" instead of
"SQLPrepare"/"SQLExecute".
There are drivers that only support "SQLExecDirect" and the DBD::ODBCdo() override does not allow returning result sets. Therefore, the way
to do this now is to set the attribute odbc_exec_direct.
NOTE: You may also want to use this option if you are creating
temporary objects (e.g., tables) in MS SQL Server and for some reason
cannot use the "do" method. see
<http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ms131667.aspx> which says
Prepared statements cannot be used to create temporary objects on SQL
Server 2000 or later.... Without odbc_exec_direct, the temporary object
will disappear before you can use it.
There are currently two ways to get this:
$dbh->prepare($sql, { odbc_exec_direct => 1});
and
$dbh->{odbc_exec_direct} = 1;
NOTE: Even if you build DBD::ODBC with unicode support you can still
not pass unicode strings to the prepare method if you also set
odbc_exec_direct. This is a restriction in this attribute which is
unavoidable.
odbc_SQL_DRIVER_ODBC_VER
This, while available via get_info() is captured here. I may get rid
of this as I only used it for debugging purposes.
odbc_cursortype
This allows multiple concurrent statements on SQL*Server. In your
connect, add
{ odbc_cursortype => 2 }.
If you are using DBI > 1.41, you should also be able to use
{ odbc_cursortype => DBI::SQL_CURSOR_DYNAMIC }
instead. For example:
my $dbh = DBI->connect("dbi:ODBC:$DSN", $user, $pass,
{ RaiseError => 1, odbc_cursortype => 2});
my $sth = $dbh->prepare("one statement");
my $sth2 = $dbh->prepare("two statement");
$sth->execute;
my @row;
while (@row = $sth->fetchrow_array) {
$sth2->execute($row[0]);
}
See t/20SqlServer.t for an example.
odbc_has_unicode
A read-only attribute signifying whether DBD::ODBC was built with the C
macro WITH_UNICODE or not. A value of 1 indicates DBD::ODBC was built
with WITH_UNICODE else the value returned is 0.
Building WITH_UNICODE affects columns and parameters which are
SQL_C_WCHAR, SQL_WCHAR, SQL_WVARCHAR, and SQL_WLONGVARCHAR, SQL, the
connect method and a lot more. See "Unicode".
When odbc_has_unicode is 1, DBD::ODBC will:
bind columns the database declares as wide characters as SQL_Wxxx
This means that UNICODE data stored in these columns will be
returned to Perl in UTF-8 and with the UTF8 flag set.
bind parameters the database declares as wide characters as SQL_Wxxx
Parameters bound where the database declares the parameter as being
a wide character (or where the parameter type is explicitly set to
a wide type - SQL_Wxxx) can be UTF8 in Perl and will be mapped to
UTF16 before passing to the driver.
SQL SQL passed to the "prepare" or "do" methods which has the UTF8 flag
set will be converted to UTF16 before being passed to the ODBC APIs
"SQLPrepare" or "SQLExecDirect".
connection strings
Connection strings passed to the "connect" method will be converted
to UTF16 before being passed to the ODBC API "SQLDriverConnectW".
This happens irrespective of whether the UTF8 flag is set on the
perl connect strings because unixODBC requires an application to
call SQLDriverConnectW to indicate it will be calling the wide ODBC
APIs.
NOTE: You will need at least Perl 5.8.1 to use UNICODE with DBD::ODBC.
NOTE: Binding of unicode output parameters is coded but untested.
NOTE: When building DBD::ODBC on Windows ($^O eq 'MSWin32') the
WITH_UNICODE macro is automatically added. To disable specify -nou as
an argument to Makefile.PL (e.g. "perl Makefile.PL -nou"). On non-
Windows platforms the WITH_UNICODE macro is not enabled by default and
to enable you need to specify the -u argument to Makefile.PL. Please
bare in mind that some ODBC drivers do not support SQL_Wxxx columns or
parameters.
NOTE: Unicode support on Windows 64 bit platforms is currently
untested. Let me know how you get on with it.
UNICODE support in ODBC Drivers differs considerably. Please read the
README.unicode file for further details.
odbc_out_connect_string
After calling the connect method this will be the ODBC driver's out
connection string - see documentation on SQLDriverConnect.
odbc_version
This was added prior to the move to ODBC 3.x to allow the caller to
"force" ODBC 3.0 compatibility. It's probably not as useful now, but
it allowed get_info and get_type_info to return correct/updated
information that ODBC 2.x didn't permit/provide. Since DBD::ODBC is
now 3.x, this can be used to force 2.x behavior via something like: my
$dbh = DBI->connect("dbi:ODBC:$DSN", $user, $pass,
{ odbc_version =>2});
odbc_driver_complete
This attribute was added to DBD::ODBC in 1.32_2.
odbc_driver_complete is only relevant to the Windows operating system
and will be ignored on other platforms. It is off by default.
When set to a true value DBD::ODBC attempts to obtain a window handle
and calls SQLDriverConnect with the SQL_DRIVER_COMPLETE attribute
instead of the normal SQL_DRIVER_NOPROMPT option. What this means is
that if the connection string does not describe sufficient attributes
to enable the ODBC driver manager to connect to a data source it will
throw a dialogue allowing you to input the remaining attributes. Once
you ok that dialogue the ODBC Driver Manager will continue as if you
specified those attributes in the connection string. Once the
connection is complete you may want to look at the
odbc_out_connect_string attribute to obtain a connection string you can
use in the future to pass into the connect method without prompting.
As a window handle is passed to SQLDriverConnect it also means the ODBC
driver may throw a dialogue e.g., if your password has expired the MS
SQL Server driver will often prompt for a new one.
An example is:
my $h = DBI->connect('dbi:ODBC:DRIVER={SQL Server}', "username", "password",
{odbc_driver_complete => 1});
As this only provides the driver and further attributes are required a
dialogue will be thrown allowing you to specify the SQL Server to
connect to and possibly other attributes.
Private statement methods
odbc_lob_read
$chrs_or_bytes_read = $sth->lob_read($column_no, \$lob, $length, \%attr);
Reads $length bytes from the lob at column $column_no returning the lob
into $lob and the number of bytes or characters read into
$chrs_or_bytes_read. If an error occurs undef will be returned. When
there is no more data to be read 0 is returned.
NOTE: This is currently an experimental method and may change in the
future e.g., it may support automatic concatenation of the lob parts
onto the end of the $lob with the addition of an extra flag or
destination offset as in DBI's undocumented blob_read.
The type the lob is retrieved as may be overriden in %attr using "TYPE
=> sql_type". %attr is optional and if omitted defaults to SQL_C_BINARY
for binary columns and SQL_C_CHAR/SQL_C_WCHAR for other column types
depending on whether DBD::ODBC is built with unicode support.
$chrs_or_bytes_read will by the bytes read when the column types
SQL_C_CHAR or SQL_C_BINARY are used and characters read if the column
type is SQL_C_WCHAR.
When built with unicode support $length specifes the amount of buffer
space to be used when retrieving the lob data but as it is returned as
SQLWCHAR characters this means you at most retrieve "$length/2"
characters. When those retrieved characters are encoded in UTF-8 for
Perl, the $lob scalar may need to be larger than $length so DBD::ODBC
grows it appropriately.
You can retrieve a lob in chunks like this:
$sth->bind_col($column, undef, {TreatAsLOB=>1});
while(my $retrieved = $sth->odbc_lob_read($column, \my $data, $length)) {
print "retrieved=$retrieved lob_data=$data\n";
}
NOTE: to retrieve a lob like this you must first bind the lob column
specifying BindAsLOB or DBD::ODBC will 1) bind the column as normal and
it will be subject to LongReadLen and b) fail odbc_lob_read.
NOTE: Some database engines and ODBC drivers do not allow you to
retrieve columns out of order (e.g., MS SQL Server unless you are using
cursors). In those cases you must ensure the lob retrieved is the last
(or only) column in your select list.
NOTE: You can retrieve only part of a lob but you will probably have to
call finish on the statement handle before you do anything else with
that statement.
NOTE: If your select contains multiple lobs you cannot read part of the
first lob, the second lob then return to the first lob. You must read
all lobs in order and completely or read part of a lob and then do no
further calls to odbc_lob_read.
Private statement attributes
odbc_more_results
Use this attribute to determine if there are more result sets
available. SQL Server supports this feature. Use this as follows:
do {
my @row;
while (@row = $sth->fetchrow_array()) {
# do stuff here
}
} while ($sth->{odbc_more_results});
Note that with multiple result sets and output parameters (i.e,. using
bind_param_inout), don't expect output parameters to be bound until ALL
result sets have been retrieved.
Private DBD::ODBC Functions
You use DBD::ODBC private functions like this:
$dbh->func(arg, private_function_name, @args);
GetInfo
This private function is now superceded by DBI's get_info method.
This function maps to the ODBC SQLGetInfo call and the argument should
be a valid ODBC information type (see ODBC specification). e.g.
$value = $dbh->func(6, 'GetInfo');
which returns the "SQL_DRIVER_NAME".
This function returns a scalar value, which can be a numeric or string
value depending on the information value requested.
SQLGetTypeInfo
This private function is now superceded by DBI's type_info and
type_info_all methods.
This function maps to the ODBC SQLGetTypeInfo API and the argument
should be a SQL type number (e.g. SQL_VARCHAR) or SQL_ALL_TYPES.
SQLGetTypeInfo returns information about a data type supported by the
data source.
e.g.
use DBI qw(:sql_types);
$sth = $dbh->func(SQL_ALL_TYPES, GetTypeInfo);
DBI::dump_results($sth);
This function returns a DBI statement handle for the SQLGetTypeInfo
result-set containing many columns of type attributes (see ODBC
specification).
NOTE: It is VERY important that the "use DBI" includes the
"qw(:sql_types)" so that values like SQL_VARCHAR are correctly
interpreted. This "imports" the sql type names into the program's name
space. A very common mistake is to forget the "qw(:sql_types)" and
obtain strange results.
GetFunctions
This function maps to the ODBC SQLGetFunctions API which returns
information on whether a function is supported by the ODBC driver.
The argument should be "SQL_API_ALL_FUNCTIONS" (0) for all functions or
a valid ODBC function number (e.g. "SQL_API_SQLDESCRIBEPARAM" which is
58). See ODBC specification or examine your sqlext.h and sql.h header
files for all the SQL_API_XXX macros.
If called with "SQL_API_ALL_FUNCTIONS" (0), then a 100 element array is
returned where each element will contain a '1' if the ODBC function
with that SQL_API_XXX index is supported or '' if it is not.
If called with a specific SQL_API_XXX value for a single function it
will return true if the ODBC driver supports that function, otherwise
false.
e.g.
my @x = $dbh->func(0,"GetFunctions");
print "SQLDescribeParam is supported\n" if ($x[58]);
or
print "SQLDescribeParam is supported\n"
if $dbh->func(58, "GetFunctions");
GetStatistics
This private function is now superceded by DBI's statistics_info
method.
See the ODBC specification for the SQLStatistics API. You call
SQLStatistics like this:
$dbh->func($catalog, $schema, $table, $unique, 'GetStatistics');
Prior to DBD::ODBC 1.16 $unique was not defined as being true/false or
SQL_INDEX_UNIQUE/SQL_INDEX_ALL. In fact, whatever value you provided
for $unique was passed through to the ODBC API SQLStatistics call
unchanged. This changed in 1.16, where $unique became a true/false
value which is interpreted into SQL_INDEX_UNIQUE for true and
SQL_INDEX_ALL for false.
GetForeignKeys
This private function is now superceded by DBI's foreign_key_info
method.
See the ODBC specification for the SQLForeignKeys API. You call
SQLForeignKeys like this:
$dbh->func($pcatalog, $pschema, $ptable,
$fcatalog, $fschema, $ftable,
"GetForeignKeys");
GetPrimaryKeys
This private function is now superceded by DBI's primary_key_info
method.
See the ODBC specification for the SQLPrimaryKeys API. You call
SQLPrimaryKeys like this:
$dbh->func($catalog, $schema, $table, "GetPrimaryKeys");
data_sources
This private function is now superceded by DBI's data_sources method.
You call data_sources like this:
@dsns = $dbh->func("data_sources);
Handled since 0.21.
GetSpecialColumns
See the ODBC specification for the SQLSpecialColumns API. You call
SQLSpecialColumns like this:
$dbh->func($identifier, $catalog, $schema, $table, $scope,
$nullable, 'GetSpecialColumns');
Handled as of version 0.28
ColAttributes
This private function is now superceded by DBI's statement attributes
NAME, TYPE, PRECISION, SCALE, NULLABLE etc).
See the ODBC specification for the SQLColAttributes API. You call
SQLColAttributes like this:
$dbh->func($column, $ftype, "ColAttributes");
SQL_COLUMN_COUNT = 0
SQL_COLUMN_NAME = 1
SQL_COLUMN_TYPE = 2
SQL_COLUMN_LENGTH = 3
SQL_COLUMN_PRECISION = 4
SQL_COLUMN_SCALE = 5
SQL_COLUMN_DISPLAY_SIZE = 6
SQL_COLUMN_NULLABLE = 7
SQL_COLUMN_UNSIGNED = 8
SQL_COLUMN_MONEY = 9
SQL_COLUMN_UPDATABLE = 10
SQL_COLUMN_AUTO_INCREMENT = 11
SQL_COLUMN_CASE_SENSITIVE = 12
SQL_COLUMN_SEARCHABLE = 13
SQL_COLUMN_TYPE_NAME = 14
SQL_COLUMN_TABLE_NAME = 15
SQL_COLUMN_OWNER_NAME = 16
SQL_COLUMN_QUALIFIER_NAME = 17
SQL_COLUMN_LABEL = 18
Note:Oracle's ODBC driver for linux in instant client 11r1 often
returns strange values for column name e.g., '20291'. It is wiser to
use DBI's NAME and NAME_xx attributes for portability.
DescribeCol
This private function is now superceded by DBI's statement attributes
NAME, TYPE, PRECISION, SCLARE, NULLABLE etc).
See the ODBC specification for the SQLDescribeCol API. You call
SQLDescribeCol like this:
@info = $dbh->func($column, "DescribeCol");
The returned array contains the column attributes in the order
described in the ODBC specification for SQLDescribeCol.
Additional bind_col attributes
DBD::ODBC supports a few additional attributes which may be passed to
the bind_col method in the attributes.
DiscardString
See DBI's sql_type_cast utility function.
If you bind a column as a specific type (SQL_INTEGER, SQL_DOUBLE and
SQL_NUMERIC are the only ones supported currently) and you add
DiscardString to the prepare attributes then if the returned bound data
is capable of being converted to that type the scalar's pv (the string
portion of a scalar) is cleared.
This is especially useful if you are using a module which uses a
scalars flags and/or pv to decide if a scalar is a number. JSON::XS
does this and without this flag you have to add 0 to all bound column
data returning numbers to get JSON::XS to encode it is N instead of
"N".
StrictlyTyped
See DBI's sql_type_cast utility function.
See "DiscardString" above.
Specifies that when DBI's sql_type_cast function is called on returned
data where a bind type is specified that if the conversion cannot be
performed an error will be raised.
This is probably not a lot of use with DBD::ODBC as if you ask for say
an SQL_INTEGER and the data is not able to be converted to an integer
the ODBC driver will problably return "Invalid character value for cast
specification (SQL-22018)".
TreatAsLOB
See "odbc_lob_read".
Tracing
DBD::ODBC now supports the parse_trace_flag and parse_trace_flags
methods introduced in DBI 1.42 (see DBI for a full description). As of
DBI 1.604, the only trace flag defined which is relevant to DBD::ODBC
is 'SQL' which DBD::ODBC supports by outputting the SQL strings (after
modification) passed to the prepare and do methods.
From DBI 1.617 DBI also defines ENC (encoding), CON (connection) TXN
(transaction) and DBD (DBD only) trace flags. DBI's ENC and CON trace
flags are synonomous with DBD::ODBC's odbcunicode and odbcconnection
trace flags though I may remove the DBD::ODBC ones in the future. DBI's
DBD trace flag allows output of only DBD::ODBC trace messages without
DBI's trace messages.
Currently DBD::ODBC supports two private trace flags. The 'odbcunicode'
flag traces some unicode operations and the odbcconnection traces the
connect process.
To enable tracing of particular flags you use:
$h->trace($h->parse_trace_flags('SQL|odbcconnection'));
$h->trace($h->parse_trace_flags('1|odbcunicode'));
In the first case 'SQL' and 'odbcconnection' tracing is enabled on $h.
In the second case trace level 1 is set and 'odbcunicode' tracing is
enabled.
If you want to enable a DBD::ODBC private trace flag before connecting
you need to do something like:
use DBD::ODBC;
DBI->trace(DBD::ODBC->parse_trace_flag('odbcconnection'));
or
use DBD::ODBC;
DBI->trace(DBD::ODBC->parse_trace_flags('odbcconnection|odbcunicode'));
or
DBI_TRACE=odbcconnection|odbcunicode perl myscript.pl
From DBI 1.617 you can output only DBD::ODBC trace messages using
DBI_TRACE=DBD perl myscript.pl
DBD::ODBC outputs tracing at levels 3 and above (as levels 1 and 2 are
reserved for DBI).
For comprehensive tracing of DBI method calls without all the DBI
internals see DBIx::Log4perl.
Deviations from the DBI specification
last_insert_id
DBD::ODBC does not support DBI's last_insert_id. There is no ODBC
defined way of obtaining this information. Generally the mechanism (and
it differs vastly between databases and ODBC drivers) it to issue a
select of some form (e.g., select @@identity or select sequence.currval
from dual, etc).
There are literally dozens of databases and ODBC drivers supported by
DBD::ODBC and I cannot have them all. If you know how to retrieve the
information for last_insert_id and you mail me the ODBC Driver
name/version and database name/version with a small working example I
will collect examples and document them here.
Microsoft Access. Recent versions of MS Access support select
@@identity to retrieve the last insert ID. See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/815629. Information provided by Robert
Freimuth.
Comments in SQL
DBI does not say anything in particular about comments in SQL.
DBD::ODBC looks for placeholders in the SQL string and until 1.24_2 it
did not recognise comments in SQL strings so could find what it
believes to be a placeholder in a comment e.g.,
select '1' /* placeholder ? in comment */
select -- named placeholder :named in comment
'1'
I cannot be exact about support for ignoring placeholders in literals
but it has existed for a long time in DBD::ODBC. Support for ignoring
placeholders in comments was added in 1.24_2. If you find a case where
a named placeholder is not ignored and should be, see
"odbc_ignore_named_placeholders" for a workaround and mail me an
example along with your ODBC driver name.
do
This is not really a deviation from the DBI specification since DBI
allows a driver to avoid the overhead of creating an DBI statement
handle for do().
DBD::ODBC implements "do" by calling SQLExecDirect in ODBC and not
SQLPrepare followed by SQLExecute so "do" is not the same as:
$dbh->prepare($sql)->execute()
It does this to avoid a round-trip to the server so it is faster.
Normally this is good but some people fall foul of this with MS SQL
Server if they call a procedure which outputs print statements (e.g.,
backup) as the procedure may not complete. See the DBD::ODBC FAQ and in
general you are better to use prepare/execute when calling procedures.
In addition, you should realise that since DBD::ODBC does not create a
DBI statement for do calls, if you set up an error handler the handle
passed in when a do fails will be the database handle and not a
statement handle.
Mixed placeholder types
There are 3 conventions for place holders in DBI. These are '?', ':N'
and ':name' (where 'N' is a number and 'name' is an alpha numeric
string not beginning with a number). DBD::ODBC supports all these
methods for naming placeholders but you must only use one method
throughout a particular SQL string. If you mix placeholder methods you
will get an error like:
Can't mix placeholder styles (1/2)
Using the same placeholder more than once
DBD::ODBC does not support (currently) the use of one named placeholder
more than once in the a single SQL string. i.e.,
insert into foo values (:bar, :p1, :p2, :bar);
is not supported because 'bar' is used more than once but:
insert into foo values(:bar, :p1, :p2)
is ok. If you do the former you will get an error like:
DBD::ODBC does not yet support binding a named parameter more than once
Binding named placeholders
Although the DBI documentation (as of 1.604) does not say how named
parameters are bound Tim Bunce has said that in Oracle they are bound
with the leading ':' as part of the name and that has always been the
case. i.e.,
prepare("insert into mytable values (:fred)");
bind_param(":foo", 1);
DBD::ODBC does not support binding named parameters with the ':'
introducer. In the above example you must use:
bind_param("foo", 1);
In discussion on the dbi-dev list is was suggested that the ':' could
be made optional and there were no basic objections but it has not made
it's way into the pod yet.
Sticky Parameter Types
The DBI specification post 1.608 says in bind_param:
The data type is 'sticky' in that bind values passed to execute()
are bound with the data type specified by earlier bind_param()
calls, if any. Portable applications should not rely on being able
to change the data type after the first C<bind_param> call.
DBD::ODBC does allow a parameter to be rebound with another data type
as ODBC inherently allows this. Therefore you can do:
# parameter 1 set as a SQL_LONGVARCHAR
$sth->bind_param(1, $data, DBI::SQL_LONGVARCHAR);
# without the bind above the $data parameter would be either a DBD::ODBC
# internal default or whatever the ODBC driver said it was but because
# parameter types are sticky, the type is still SQL_LONGVARCHAR.
$sth->execute($data);
# change the bound type to SQL_VARCHAR
# some DBDs will ignore the type in the following, DBD::ODBC does not
$sth->bind_param(1, $data, DBI::SQL_VARCHAR);
disconnect and transactions
DBI does not define whether a driver commits or rolls back any
outstanding transaction when disconnect is called. As such DBD::ODBC
cannot deviate from the specification but you should know it rolls back
an uncommitted transaction when disconnect is called if SQLDisconnect
returns state 25000 (transaction in progress).
Unicode
The ODBC specification supports wide character versions (a postfix of
'W') of some of the normal ODBC APIs e.g., SQLDriverConnectW is a wide
character version of SQLDriverConnect.
In ODBC on Windows the wide characters are defined as SQLWCHARs (2
bytes) and are UCS-2. On non-Windows, the main driver managers I know
of have implemented the wide character APIs differently:
unixODBC
unixODBC mimics the Windows ODBC API precisely meaning the wide
character versions expect and return 2-byte characters in UCS-2.
unixODBC will happily recognise ODBC drivers which only have the
ANSI versions of the ODBC API and those that have the wide versions
too.
unixODBC will allow an ANSI application to work with a unicode ODBC
driver and vice versa (although in the latter case you obviously
cannot actually use unicode).
unixODBC does not prevent you sending UTF-8 in the ANSI versions of
the ODBC APIs but whether that is understood by your ODBC driver is
another matter.
unixODBC differs in only one way from the Microsoft ODBC driver in
terms of unicode support in that it avoids unnecessary translations
between single byte and double byte characters when an ANSI
application is using a unicode-aware ODBC driver by requiring
unicode applications to signal their intent by calling
SQLDriverConnectW first. On Windows, the ODBC driver manager always
uses the wide versions of the ODBC API in ODBC drivers which
provide the wide versions regardless of what the application really
needs and this results in a lot of unnecessary character
translations when you have an ANSI application and a unicode ODBC
driver.
iODBC
The wide character versions expect and return wchar_t types.
DBD::ODBC has gone with unixODBC so you cannot use iODBC with a unicode
build of DBD::ODBC. However, some ODBC drivers support UTF-8 (although
how they do this with SQLGetData reliably I don't know) and so you
should be able to use those with DBD::ODBC not built for unicode.
Enabling and Disabling Unicode support
On Windows Unicode support is enabled by default and to disable it you
will need to specify "-nou" to Makefile.PL to get back to the original
behavior of DBD::ODBC before any Unicode support was added.
e.g.,
perl Makfile.PL -nou
On non-Windows platforms Unicode support is disabled by default. To
enable it specify "-u" to Makefile.PL when you configure DBD::ODBC.
e.g.,
perl Makefile.PL -u
Unicode - What is supported?
As of version 1.17 DBD::ODBC has the following unicode support:
SQL (introduced in 1.16_2)
Unicode strings in calls to the "prepare" and "do" methods are
supported so long as the "odbc_execdirect" attribute is not used.
unicode connection strings (introduced in 1.16_2)
Unicode connection strings are supported but you will need a DBI
post 1.607 for that.
column names
Unicode column names are returned.
bound columns (introduced in 1.15)
If the DBMS reports the column as being a wide character (SQL_Wxxx)
it will be bound as a wide character and any returned data will be
converted from UTF16 to UTF8 and the UTF8 flag will then be set on
the data.
bound parameters
If the perl scalars you bind to parameters are marked UTF8 and the
DBMS reports the type as being a wide type or you bind the
parameter as a wide type they will be converted to wide characters
and bound as such.
Since version 1.16_4, the default parameter bind type is SQL_WVARCHAR
for unicode builds of DBD::ODBC. This only affects ODBC drivers which
do not support SQLDescribeParam and only then if you do not
specifically set a sql type on the bind_param method call.
The above Unicode support has been tested with the SQL Server, Oracle
9.2+ and Postgres drivers on Windows and various Easysoft ODBC drivers
on UNIX.
Unicode - What is not supported?
You cannot use unicode parameter names e.g.,
select * from table where column = :unicode_param_name
You cannot use unicode strings in calls to prepare if you set the
odbc_execdirect attribute.
You cannot pass unicode catalog, schema, table and column names into
metadata calls (like column_info) at present because the XS interface
uses char * instead of Perl scalars. NOTE: as of DBD::ODBC 1.32_3
Unicode is fully supported for input parameters in table_info. As of
DBD::ODBC 1.32_5 Unicode is fully supported for input parameters in
column_info.
You cannot use the iODBC driver manager with DBD::ODBC built for
unicode.
Unicode - Caveats
For Unicode support on any platform in Perl you will need at least Perl
5.8.1 - sorry but this is the way it is with Perl.
The Unicode support in DBD::ODBC expects a WCHAR to be 2 bytes (as it
is on Windows and as the ODBC specification suggests it is). Until ODBC
specifies any other Unicode support it is not envisioned this will
change. On UNIX there are a few different ODBC driver managers. I have
only tested the unixODBC driver manager (http://www.unixodbc.org) with
Unicode support and it was built with defaults which set WCHAR as 2
bytes.
I believe that the iODBC driver manager expects wide characters to be
wchar_t types (which are usually 4) and hence DBD::ODBC will not work
iODBC when built for unicode.
The ODBC Driver must expect Unicode data specified in SQLBindParameter
and SQLBindCol to be UTF16 in local endianness. Similarly, in calls to
SQLPrepareW, SQLDescribeColW and SQLDriverConnectW.
You should be aware that once Unicode support is enabled it affects a
number of DBI methods (some of which you might not expect). For
instance, when listing tables, columns etc some drivers (e.g. Microsoft
SQL Server) will report the column types as wide types even if the
strings actually fit in 7-bit ASCII. As a result, there is an overhead
for retrieving this column data as 2 bytes per character will be
transmitted (compared with 1 when Unicode support is not enabled) and
these strings will be converted into UTF8 but will end up fitting (in
most cases) into 7bit ASCII so a lot of conversion work has been
performed for nothing. If you don't have Unicode table and column names
or Unicode column data in your tables you are best disabling Unicode
support.
I am at present unsure if ChopBlanks processing on Unicode strings is
working correctly on UNIX. If nothing else the construct L' ' in
dbdimp.c might not work with all UNIX compilers. Reports of issues and
patches welcome.
Unicode implementation in DBD::ODBC
DBD::ODBC uses the wide character versions of the ODBC API and the
SQL_WCHAR ODBC type to support unicode in Perl.
Wide characters returned from the ODBC driver will be converted to
UTF-8 and the perl scalars will have the utf8 flag set (by using
sv_utf8_decode).
perl scalars which are UTF-8 and are sent through the ODBC API will be
converted to UTF-16 and passed to the ODBC wide APIs or signalled as
SQL_WCHARs (e.g., in the case of bound columns).
When built for unicode, DBD::ODBC will always call SQLDriverConnectW
(and not SQLDriverConnect) even if a) your connection string is not
unicode b) you have not got a DBI later than 1.607, because unixODBC
requires SQLDriverConnectW to be called if you want to call other
unicode ODBC APIs later. As a result, if you build for unicode and pass
ASCII strings to the connect method they will be converted to UTF-16
and passed to SQLDriverConnectW. This should make no real difference to
perl not using unicode connection strings.
You will need a DBI later than 1.607 to support unicode connection
strings because until post 1.607 there was no way for DBI to pass
unicode strings to the DBD.
Unicode and Oracle
You have to set the environment variables "NLS_NCHAR=AL32UTF8" and
"NLS_LANG=AMERICAN_AMERICA.AL32UTF8" (or any other language setting
ending with ".AL32UTF8") before loading DBD::ODBC to make Oracle return
Unicode data. (See also "Oracle and Unicode" in the POD of
DBD::Oracle.)
On Windows, using the Oracle ODBC Driver you have to enable the Force
SQL_WCHAR support Workaround in the data source configuration to make
Oracle return Unicode to a non-Unicode application. Alternatively, you
can include "FWC=T" in your connect string.
Unless you need to use ODBC, if you want Unicode support with Oracle
you are better off using DBD::Oracle.
Unicode and PostgreSQL
See the odbc_utf8_on parameter to treat all strings as utf8.
Some tests from the original DBD::ODBC 1.13 fail with PostgreSQL 8.0.3,
so you may not want to use DBD::ODBC to connect to PostgreSQL 8.0.3.
Unicode tests fail because PostgreSQL seems not to give any hints about
Unicode, so all data is treated as non-Unicode.
Unless you need to use ODBC, if you want Unicode support with Postgres
you are better off with DBD::Pg as it has a specific attribute named
"pg_enable_utf8" to enable Unicode support.
Unicode and Easysoft ODBC Drivers
We have tested the Easysoft SQL Server, Oracle and ODBC Bridge drivers
with DBD::ODBC built for Unicode. All work as described without
modification except for the Oracle driver you will need to set you
NLS_LANG as mentioned above.
Unicode and other ODBC drivers
If you have a unicode-enabled ODBC driver and it works with DBD::ODBC
let me know and I will include it here.
ODBC Support in ODBC Drivers
Drivers without SQLDescribeParam
Some drivers do not support the "SQLDescribeParam" ODBC API (e.g.,
Microsoft Access, FreeTDS).
DBD::ODBC uses the "SQLDescribeParam" API when parameters are bound to
your SQL to find the types of the parameters. If the ODBC driver does
not support "SQLDescribeParam", DBD::ODBC assumes the parameters are
"SQL_VARCHAR" or "SQL_WVARCHAR" types (depending on whether DBD::ODBC
is built for unicode or not). In any case, if you bind a parameter and
specify a SQL type this overrides any type DBD::ODBC would choose.
For ODBC drivers which do not support "SQLDescribeParam" the default
behavior in DBD::ODBC may not be what you want. To change the default
parameter bind type set "odbc_default_bind_type". If, after that you
have some SQL where you need to vary the parameter types used add the
SQL type to the end of the "bind_param" method.
use DBI qw(:sql_types);
$h = DBI->connect;
# set the default bound parameter type
$h->{odbc_default_bind_type} = SQL_VARCHAR;
# bind a parameter with a specific type
$s = $h->prepare(q/insert into mytable values(?)/);
$s->bind_param(1, "\x{263a}", SQL_WVARCHAR);
CPAN Testers Reporting
Please, please, please (is that enough), consider installing
CPAN::Reporter so that when you install perl modules a report of the
installation success or failure can be sent to cpan testers. In this
way module authors 1) get feedback on the fact that a module is being
installed 2) get to know if there are any installation problems. Also
other people like you may look at the test reports to see how
successful they are before choosing the version of a module to install.
See this guide on how to get started with sending test reports:
<http://wiki.cpantesters.org/wiki/QuickStart>.
Others/todo?
Level 2
SQLColumnPrivileges
SQLProcedureColumns
SQLProcedures
SQLTablePrivileges
SQLDrivers
SQLNativeSql
Random Links
These are in need of sorting and annotating. Some are relevant only to
ODBC developers.
You can find DBD::ODBC on ohloh now at:
<http://www.ohloh.net/projects/perl_dbd_odbc>
If you use ohloh and DBD::ODBC please say you use it and rate it.
There is a good search engine for the various Perl DBI lists at the
following URLS:
<http://perl.markmail.org/search/list:org.perl.dbi-users>
<http://perl.markmail.org/search/list:org.perl.dbi-dev>
<http://perl.markmail.org/search/list:org.perl.dbi-announce>
<http://www.syware.com>
<http://www.microsoft.com/odbc>
For Linux/Unix folks, compatible ODBC driver managers can be found at:
<http://www.unixodbc.org> (unixODBC source and rpms)
<http://www.iodbc.org> (iODBC driver manager source)
For Linux/Unix folks, you can checkout the following for ODBC Drivers
and Bridges:
<http://www.easysoft.com>
<http://www.openlinksw.com>
<http://www.datadirect.com>
<http://www.atinet.com>
Some useful tutorials:
Debugging Perl DBI:
<http://www.easysoft.com/developer/languages/perl/dbi-debugging.html>
Enabling ODBC support in Perl with Perl DBI and DBD::ODBC:
<http://www.easysoft.com/developer/languages/perl/dbi_dbd_odbc.html>
Perl DBI/DBD::ODBC Tutorial Part 1 - Drivers, Data Sources and
Connection:
<http://www.easysoft.com/developer/languages/perl/dbd_odbc_tutorial_part_1.html>
Perl DBI/DBD::ODBC Tutorial Part 2 - Introduction to retrieving data
from your database:
<http://www.easysoft.com/developer/languages/perl/dbd_odbc_tutorial_part_2.html>
Perl DBI/DBD::ODBC Tutorial Part 3 - Connecting Perl on UNIX or Linux
to Microsoft SQL Server:
<http://www.easysoft.com/developer/languages/perl/sql_server_unix_tutorial.html>
Perl DBI - Put Your Data On The Web:
<http://www.easysoft.com/developer/languages/perl/tutorial_data_web.html>
Multiple Active Statements (MAS) and DBD::ODBC
<http://www.easysoft.com/developer/languages/perl/multiple-active-statements.html>
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently asked questions are now in DBD::ODBC::FAQ. Run "perldoc
DBD::ODBC::FAQ" to view them.
CONFIGURATION AND ENVIRONMENT
You should consult the documentation for the ODBC Driver Manager you
are using.
DEPENDENCIES
DBI
Test::Simple
INCOMPATIBILITIES
None known.
BUGS AND LIMITATIONS
None known other than the deviations from the DBI specification
mentioned above in "Deviations from the DBI specification".
Please report any to me via the CPAN RT system. See
<http://rt.cpan.org/> for more details.
AUTHOR
Tim Bunce
Jeff Urlwin
Thomas K. Wenrich
Martin J. Evans
LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself. See perlartistic. This program is
distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Portions of this software are Copyright Tim Bunce, Thomas K. Wenrich,
Jeff Urlwin and Martin J. Evans - see the source.
SEE ALSO
DBI
perl v5.18.1 2011-12-01 ODBC(3)
