Preface

Devoted exclusively to the Pro*PL/1 Precompiler, this manual supplements the language-independent Programmer's Guide to the Oracle Precompilers An understanding of the material in the Programmer's Guide is assumed.

This companion book shows you how to write PL/1 programs that use the powerful database language SQL to access and manipulate Oracle data. It provides easy-to-follow examples, instructions, and programming tips, as well as several full-length programs to better your understanding and demonstrate the usefulness of embedded SQL.

This Preface contains these topics:

Intended Audience
Documentation Accessibility
Structure
Related Documents
Conventions
ANSI Compliance

Intended Audience

Pro*PL/1 Supplement to the Oracle Precompilers Guide is intended for developers who are writing new PL/1 applications or converting existing PL/1 applications to run in the Oracle environment will benefit from reading this manual. Though written especially for programmers, it will also be of value to systems analysts, project managers, and others interested in embedded SQL applications.

To use this document, you need (insert knowledge assumed of users).

applications programming in PL/1
the SQL database language
Oracle database concepts and terminology
the concepts, terminology, methods, requirements, and options detailed in the Programmer's Guide to the Oracle Precompilers

Documentation Accessibility

Our goal is to make Oracle products, services, and supporting documentation accessible, with good usability, to the disabled community. To that end, our documentation includes features that make information available to users of assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Standards will continue to evolve over time, and Oracle is actively engaged with other market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For additional information, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program Web site at

http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/

Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation

JAWS, a Windows screen reader, may not always correctly read the code examples in this document. The conventions for writing code require that closing braces should appear on an otherwise empty line; however, JAWS may not always read a line of text that consists solely of a bracket or brace.

Accessibility of Links to External Web Sites in Documentation

This documentation may contain links to Web sites of other companies or organizations that Oracle does not own or control. Oracle neither evaluates nor makes any representations regarding the accessibility of these Web sites.

Structure

This document contains:

Chapter 1, "Writing a Pro*PL/1 Program"

This chapter provides the basic information you need to write a Pro*PL/1 program. You learn programming guidelines, coding conventions, language-specific features and restrictions, how to equivalence datatypes, and how to connect to Oracle.

Chapter 2, " Error Handling and Diagnostics"

This chapter discusses error reporting and recovery. It shows you how to use the SQLCA and the WHENEVER statement to detect errors and status changes. It also shows you how to use the ORACA to diagnose problems.

Chapter 3, "Running the Pro*PL/1 Precompiler"

This chapter details the requirements for running the Pro*PL/1 Precompiler. You learn how to issue the precompiler command, how to specify useful precompiler options, and when to do separate and conditional precompilations.

Chapter 4, " Sample Programs"

This chapter provides several embedded SQL programs to guide you in writing your own. These well-commented programs illustrate the key concepts and features of Pro*PL/1 programming.

Chapter 5, " Implementing Dynamic SQL Method 4"

This chapter shows you how to implement dynamic SQL Method 4, an advanced programming technique that lets you write highly flexible applications. Numerous examples, including a full-length sample program, are used to illustrate the method.

Appendix A, "Differences from Previous Release"

This appendix lists differences between Pro*PL/1 precompiler release 1.5 and 1.6.

Appendix B, "Operating System Dependencies"

Some details of Pro*PL/1 programming vary from system to system. So, occasionally, you are referred to other manuals. For convenience, this appendix collects all external references to system-specific information.

Conventions

Important terms being defined for the first time are italicized. In discussions, uppercase is used for database objects and SQL keywords, and boldface uppercase is used for the names of PL/1 functions and procedures. All PL/1 code is in uppercase.

The following notational conventions are used in code examples:

< >

Angle brackets enclose the name of a syntactic element.

[ ]

Brackets indicate that the enclosed items are optional.

{ }

Braces indicate that one, and only one, of the enclosed items is required.

A vertical bar is used to separate options within brackets or braces.

...

An ellipsis indicates that the preceding argument or parameter can be repeated, or that statements or clauses irrelevant to the discussion were left out.

ANSI Compliance

The Version 1.6 Pro*PL/1 Precompiler complies completely with the following standards:

American National Standard Database Language SQL, with Integrity Enhancement Option (ANSI X3.135-1989)
International Standards Organization Database Language SQL (ISO 9075-1989)
American National Standard Database Language Embedded SQL (ANSI X3.168-1989)

Compliance with these standards has been tested and validated using the appropriate National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) test suites.

ANSI compliance is governed by the MODE option. For more information about ANSI compliance and the MODE option, see the Programmer's Guide to the Oracle Precompilers