OCI Miscellaneous Object Functions

Table 18-8 describes the miscellaneous object functions that are described in this section.

Table 18-8 Miscellaneous Object Functions

Function	Purpose
"OCIObjectCopy()"	Copy one instance to another
"OCIObjectGetAttr()"	Get an object attribute
"OCIObjectGetInd()"	Get `NULL` structure of an instance
"OCIObjectGetObjectRef()"	Return reference to a given object
"OCIObjectGetTypeRef()"	Get a reference to a TDO of an instance
"OCIObjectLock()"	Lock a persistent object
"OCIObjectLockNoWait()"	Lock a persistent object but do not wait for the lock
"OCIObjectNew()"	Create a new instance
"OCIObjectSetAttr()"	Set an object attribute

OCIObjectCopy()

Purpose

Copies a source instance to a destination.

Syntax

sword OCIObjectCopy ( OCIEnv              *env,
                      OCIError            *err, 
                      const OCISvcCtx     *svc,
                      void                *source, 
                      void                *null_source, 
                      void                *target, 
                      void                *null_target, 
                      OCIType             *tdo,
                      OCIDuration         duration, 
                      ub1                 option );

Parameters

env (IN/OUT): The OCI environment handle initialized in object mode. See the descriptions of OCIEnvCreate(), OCIEnvNlsCreate(), and OCIInitialize() (deprecated) for more information.
err (IN/OUT): The OCI error handle. If there is an error, it is recorded in err, and this function returns OCI_ERROR. Obtain diagnostic information by calling OCIErrorGet().
svc (IN): An OCI service context handle, specifying the service context on which the copy operation is occurring.
source (IN): A pointer to the source instance; if it is an object, it must be pinned.

See Also:
"OCIObjectPin()"

null_source (IN): Pointer to the NULL structure of the source object.
target (IN): A pointer to the target instance; if it is an object, it must be pinned.
null_target (IN): A pointer to the NULL structure of the target object.
tdo (IN): The TDO for both the source and the target. Can be retrieved with OCIDescribeAny().
duration (IN): Allocation duration of the target memory.
option (IN): This parameter is currently unused. Pass as zero or OCI_DEFAULT.

Comments

This function copies the contents of the source instance to the target instance. This function performs a deep copy such that all of the following information is copied:

All the top-level attributes (see the exceptions later)
All secondary memory (of the source) reachable from the top-level attributes
The NULL structure of the instance

Memory is allocated with the duration specified in the duration parameter.

Certain data items are not copied:

If the option OCI_OBJECTCOPY_NOREF is specified in the option parameter, then all references in the source are not copied. Instead, the references in the target are set to NULL.
If the attribute is an internal LOB, then only the LOB locator from the source object is copied. A copy of the LOB data is not made until OCIObjectFlush() is called. Before the target object is flushed, both the source and the target locators refer to the same LOB value.

The target or the containing instance of the target must have been created. This can be done with OCIObjectNew() or OCIObjectPin() depending on whether the target object exists.

The source and target instances must be of the same type. If the source and target are located in different databases, then the same type must exist in both databases.

Related Functions

OCIObjectPin()

OCIObjectGetAttr()

Purpose

Retrieves an object attribute.

Syntax

sword OCIObjectGetAttr ( OCIEnv             *env,
                         OCIError           *err,
                         void               *instance, 
                         void               *null_struct, 
                         struct OCIType     *tdo,
                         const OraText      **names, 
                         const ub4          *lengths, 
                         const ub4          name_count, 
                         const ub4          *indexes, 
                         const ub4          index_count, 
                         OCIInd             *attr_null_status, 
                         void               **attr_null_struct, 
                         void               **attr_value, 
                         struct OCIType     **attr_tdo );

Parameters

env (IN/OUT): The OCI environment handle initialized in object mode. See the descriptions of OCIEnvCreate(), OCIEnvNlsCreate(), and OCIInitialize() (deprecated) for more information.
err (IN/OUT): The OCI error handle. If there is an error, it is recorded in err, and this function returns OCI_ERROR. Obtain diagnostic information by calling OCIErrorGet().
instance (IN): Pointer to an object.
null_struct (IN): The NULL structure of the object or array.
tdo (IN): Pointer to the type descriptor object (TDO).
names (IN): Array of attribute names. This is used to specify the names of the attributes in the path expression.
lengths (IN): Array of lengths of attribute names, in bytes.
name_count (IN): Number of elements in the array names.
indexes (IN) [optional]: Not currently supported. Pass as (ub4 *)0.
index_count (IN) [optional]: Not currently supported. Pass as (ub4)0.
attr_null_status (OUT): The NULL status of the attribute if the type of attribute is primitive.
attr_null_struct (OUT): This parameter is filled only for object and opaque attributes, not for collections. For collections (pass OCICollGetElem), attr_null_struct is NULL. For collections, this parameter indicates if the entire collection is NULL or not.
attr_value (OUT): Pointer to the attribute value.
attr_tdo (OUT): Pointer to the TDO of the attribute.

Comments

This function gets a value from an object or from an array. If the parameter instance points to an object, then the path expression specifies the location of the attribute in the object. It is assumed that the object is pinned and that the value returned is valid until the object is unpinned.

If both attr_null_status and attr_null_struct are NULL, no NULL information is returned.

Related Functions

OCIObjectSetAttr()

OCIObjectGetInd()

Purpose

Retrieves the NULL indicator structure of a standalone instance.

Syntax

sword OCIObjectGetInd ( OCIEnv        *env, 
                        OCIError      *err, 
                        void          *instance, 
                        void          **null_struct );

Parameters

env (IN/OUT): The OCI environment handle initialized in object mode. See the descriptions of OCIEnvCreate(), OCIEnvNlsCreate(), and OCIInitialize() (deprecated) for more information.
err (IN/OUT): The OCI error handle. If there is an error, it is recorded in err, and this function returns OCI_ERROR. Obtain diagnostic information by calling OCIErrorGet().
instance (IN): A pointer to the instance whose NULL structure is being retrieved. The instance must be standalone. If instance is an object, it must already be pinned.
null_struct (OUT): The NULL indicator structure for the instance.

See Also:

"NULL Indicator Structure" for a discussion of the NULL indicator structure and examples of its use

Comments

None.

Related Functions

OCIObjectPin()

OCIObjectGetObjectRef()

Purpose

Returns a reference to a given persistent object.

Syntax

sword OCIObjectGetObjectRef ( OCIEnv        *env, 
                              OCIError      *err,
                              void          *object, 
                              OCIRef        *object_ref );

Parameters

env (IN/OUT): The OCI environment handle initialized in object mode. See the descriptions of OCIEnvCreate(), OCIEnvNlsCreate(), and OCIInitialize() (deprecated) for more information.
err (IN/OUT): The OCI error handle. If there is an error, it is recorded in err, and this function returns OCI_ERROR. Obtain diagnostic information by calling OCIErrorGet().
object (IN): Pointer to a persistent object. It must already be pinned.
object_ref (OUT): A reference to the object specified in object. The reference must already be allocated. This can be accomplished with OCIObjectNew().

Comments

This function returns a reference to the given persistent object, when given a pointer to the object. Passing a value (rather than an object) to this function causes an error.

See Also:

"Object Meta-Attributes"

Related Functions

OCIObjectPin()

OCIObjectGetTypeRef()

Purpose

Returns a reference to the type descriptor object (TDO) of a standalone instance.

Syntax

sword OCIObjectGetTypeRef ( OCIEnv        *env, 
                            OCIError      *err, 
                            void          *instance, 
                            OCIRef        *type_ref );

Parameters

env (IN/OUT): The OCI environment handle initialized in object mode. See the descriptions of OCIEnvCreate(), OCIEnvNlsCreate(), and OCIInitialize() (deprecated) for more information.
err (IN/OUT): The OCI error handle. If there is an error, it is recorded in err, and this function returns OCI_ERROR. Obtain diagnostic information by calling OCIErrorGet().
instance (IN): A pointer to the standalone instance. It must be standalone, and if it is an object, it must already be pinned.
type_ref (OUT): A reference to the type of the object. The reference must already be allocated. This can be accomplished with OCIObjectNew().

Comments

None.

Related Functions

OCIObjectPin()

OCIObjectLock()

Purpose

Locks a persistent object at the server.

Syntax

sword OCIObjectLock ( OCIEnv        *env, 
                      OCIError      *err, 
                      void          *object );

Parameters

env (IN/OUT): The OCI environment handle initialized in object mode. See the descriptions of OCIEnvCreate(), OCIEnvNlsCreate(), and OCIInitialize() (deprecated) for more information.
err (IN/OUT): The OCI error handle. If there is an error, it is recorded in err, and this function returns OCI_ERROR. Obtain diagnostic information by calling OCIErrorGet().
object (IN): A pointer to the persistent object being locked. It must already be pinned.

Comments

This function returns an error for transient objects and values. It also returns an error if the object does not exist.

See Also:

"Locking Objects for Update"

Related Functions

OCIObjectPin(), OCIObjectIsLocked(), OCIObjectGetProperty(), OCIObjectLockNoWait()

OCIObjectLockNoWait()

Purpose

Locks a persistent object at the server but does not wait for the lock. Returns an error if the lock is unavailable.

Syntax

sword OCIObjectLockNoWait ( OCIEnv        *env, 
                            OCIError      *err, 
                            void          *object );

Parameters

env (IN/OUT): The OCI environment handle initialized in object mode. See the descriptions of OCIEnvCreate(), OCIEnvNlsCreate(), and OCIInitialize() (deprecated) for more information.
err (IN/OUT): The OCI error handle. If there is an error, it is recorded in err, and this function returns OCI_ERROR. Obtain diagnostic information by calling OCIErrorGet().
object (IN): A pointer to the persistent object being locked. It must already be pinned.

Comments

This function locks a persistent object at the server. However, unlike OCIObjectLock(), this function does not wait if another user holds the lock on the object and an error is returned if the object is currently locked by another user. This function also returns an error for transient objects and values, or objects that do not exist.

The lock of an object is released at the end of a transaction.

See Also:

"Locking Objects for Update"

OCIObjectLockNoWait() returns the following values:

OCI_INVALID_HANDLE, if the environment handle or error handle is NULL
OCI_SUCCESS, if the operation succeeds
OCI_ERROR, if the operation fails

Related Functions

OCIObjectPin(), OCIObjectIsLocked(), OCIObjectGetProperty(), OCIObjectLock()

OCIObjectNew()

Purpose

Creates a standalone instance.

Syntax

sword OCIObjectNew ( OCIEnv            *env, 
                     OCIError          *err, 
                     const OCISvcCtx   *svc, 
                     OCITypeCode       typecode,
                     OCIType           *tdo, 
                     void              *table,
                     OCIDuration       duration,
                     boolean           value,
                     void              **instance );

Parameters

env (IN/OUT): The OCI environment handle initialized in object mode. The handle can be initialized in UTF-16 (Unicode) mode. See the description of OCIEnvNlsCreate().
err (IN/OUT): The OCI error handle. If there is an error, it is recorded in err, and this function returns OCI_ERROR. Obtain diagnostic information by calling OCIErrorGet().
svc (IN): OCI service handle.
typecode (IN): The typecode of the type of the instance.

See Also:
"Typecodes"

tdo (IN) [optional]: Pointer to the type descriptor object. The TDO describes the type of the instance that is to be created. See OCITypeByName() for obtaining a TDO. The TDO is required for creating a named type, such as an object or a collection.
table (IN) [optional]: Pointer to a table object that specifies a table in the server. This parameter can be set to NULL if no table is given. See the following description to learn how the table object and the TDO are used together to determine the kind of instances (persistent, transient, value) to be created. Also see OCIObjectPinTable() for retrieving a table object.
duration (IN): This is an overloaded parameter. The use of this parameter is based on the kind of the instance that is to be created. See Table 18-9 for more information.

For a persistent object type of instance, this parameter specifies the pin duration.
For a transient object type of instance, this parameter specifies the allocation duration and pin duration.
For a value type of instance, this parameter specifies the allocation duration.

value (IN): Specifies whether the created object is a value. If TRUE, then a value is created. Otherwise, a referenceable object is created. If the instance is not an object, then this parameter is ignored.
instance (OUT): Address of the newly created instance. The instance can be a character string in UTF-16 (Unicode) if the environment handle has the appropriate setting and the object is OCIString.

Comments

This function creates a new instance of the type specified by the typecode or the TDO. The type can be complex or primitive.

For Records

When creating a package record type using OCIObjectNew(), clients must use typecode OCI_TYPECODE_RECORD when instantiating a record type.

Records are allocated in the allocation duration specified in OCIObjectNew(). They are subsequently freed at the end of that duration.

Record field initializers are not supported for records instantiated on the client. For instance, given the following mypack package definition, the following error is returned when you resolve it using OCITypeByFullName(): OCI-22352: Type is unsupported or contains an unsupported attribute or element. (Thus, you will never even get to call OCIObjectNew()).

create or replace package mypack is
  type r is record (rec_field number := 10);
end;

All records are null activated; that is, all fields of an instantiated record are set to NULL. In keeping with PL/SQL null semantics, all instantiated records are also atomically not-NULL.

For Collections

When creating a new instance of a package collection type, the value parameter must be TRUE. This is because package collection types cannot be persistent or referenceable, and so they must always be instantiated as values. Calling OCIObjectNew() for a package collection type with a FALSE value parameter results in an error.

Package collections are allocated in the allocation duration specified in OCIObjectNew(). They are subsequently freed at the end of that duration.

When creating a package, clients can use the typecodes as follows:

OCI_TYPECODE_NAMEDCOLLECTION for schema level collections and package collection types
OCI_TYPECODE_ITABLE for index tables
OCI_TYPECODE_TABLE for nested tables
OCI_TYPECODE_VARRAY for varrays

For Booleans

When creating new Boolean types, clients should use OCI_TYPECODE_BOOLEAN.

OCI String Objects

It can create an OCIString object with a Unicode buffer if the typecode indicates the object to be created is OCIString.

See Also:

"Typecodes"

Table 18-9 shows that based on the parameters typecode (or tdo), value, and table, different instances are created.

Table 18-9 Instances Created

Type of the Instance	Table != NULL	Table == NULL
object type (value=`TRUE`)	value	value
object type (value=`FALSE`)	persistent object	transient object
built-in type	value	value
collection type	value	value

This function allocates the top-level memory chunk of an instance. The attributes in the top-level memory are initialized, which means that an attribute of VARCHAR2 is initialized to an OCIString of 0 length. If the instance is an object, the object is marked existent but is atomically NULL.

See Also:

"Create Objects Based on Object Views and Object Tables with Primary-Key-Based OIDs" for information about creating new objects based on object views or user-created OIDs

For Persistent Objects: The object is marked dirty and existent. The allocation duration for the object is session. The object is pinned, and the pin duration is specified by the given parameter duration. Creating a persistent object does not cause any entries to be made into a database table until the object is flushed to the server.
For Transient Objects: The object is pinned. The allocation duration and the pin duration are specified by the given parameter duration.
For Values: The allocation duration is specified by the given parameter duration.

Attribute Values of New Objects

By default, all attributes of a newly created object have NULL values. After initializing attribute data, the user must change the corresponding NULL status of each attribute to non-NULL.

It is possible to have attributes set to non-NULL values when an object is created. This is accomplished by setting the OCI_ATTR_OBJECT_NEWNOTNULL attribute of the environment handle to TRUE using OCIAttrSet(). This mode can later be turned off by setting the attribute to FALSE. If OCI_ATTR_OBJECT_NEWNOTNULL is set to TRUE, then OCIObjectNew() creates a non-NULL object.

See Also:

"Attribute Values of New Objects"

Objects with LOB Attributes

If the object contains an internal LOB attribute, the LOB is set to empty. The object must be marked as dirty and flushed (to insert the object into the table) and repinned before the user can start writing data into the LOB. When pinning the object after creating it, you must use the OCI_PIN_LATEST pin option to retrieve the newly updated LOB locator from the server.

If the object contains an external LOB attribute (FILE), the FILE locator is allocated but not initialized. The user must call OCILobFileSetName() to initialize the FILE attribute before flushing the object to the database. It is an error to perform an INSERT or UPDATE operation on a FILE without first indicating a directory object and file name. Once the file name is set, the user can start reading from the FILE.

Note:

Oracle Database supports only binary FILEs (BFILEs).

Related Functions

OCIObjectPinTable(), OCIObjectFree()

OCIObjectSetAttr()

Purpose

Sets an object attribute.

Syntax

sword OCIObjectSetAttr ( OCIEnv              *env, 
                         OCIError            *err, 
                         void                *instance, 
                         void                *null_struct, 
                         struct OCIType      *tdo, 
                         const OraText       **names, 
                         const ub4           *lengths, 
                         const ub4           name_count,
                         const ub4           *indexes, 
                         const ub4           index_count, 
                         const OCIInd        *attr_null_status, 
                         const void          *attr_null_struct,
                         const void          *attr_value );

Parameters

env (IN/OUT): The OCI environment handle initialized in object mode. See the descriptions of OCIEnvCreate(), OCIEnvNlsCreate(), and OCIInitialize() (deprecated) for more information.
err (IN/OUT): The OCI error handle. If there is an error, it is recorded in err, and this function returns OCI_ERROR. Obtain diagnostic information by calling OCIErrorGet().
instance (IN): Pointer to an object instance.
null_struct (IN): The NULL structure of the object instance or array.
tdo (IN): Pointer to the TDO.
names (IN): Array of attribute names. This is used to specify the names of the attributes in the path expression.
lengths (IN): Array of lengths of attribute names, in bytes.
name_count (IN): Number of elements in the array names.
indexes (IN) [optional]: Not currently supported. Pass as (ub4 *)0.
index_count (IN) [optional]: Not currently supported. Pass as (ub4)0.
attr_null_status (IN): The NULL status of the attribute if the type of attribute is primitive.
attr_null_struct (IN): The NULL structure of an object or collection attribute.
attr_value (IN): Pointer to the attribute value.

Comments

This function sets the attribute of the given object with the given value. The position of the attribute is specified as a path expression, which is an array of names and an array of indexes.

Example

For the path expression stanford.cs.stu[5].addr, the arrays appear as:

names = {"stanford", "cs", "stu", "addr"}

lengths = {8, 2, 3, 4}

indexes = {5}

Related Functions

OCIObjectGetAttr()