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This guide is a comprehensive user's guide and on-the-job reference to the Oracle Pro*Ada Precompiler. It explores a full range of topics, from underlying concepts to advanced programming techniques. The guide uses clear examples to show you step-by-step how to develop Ada applications that use embedded SQL statements to access and manipulate Oracle data.

This guide shows you how using the Pro*Ada Precompiler and embedded SQL can benefit your entire applications development process. It gives you the know-how to design and develop applications that harness the power of the Oracle Server and helps you become proficient in writing embedded SQL programs.

An important feature of this guide is its emphasis on getting the most out of Pro*Ada and embedded SQL. This guide shows you all the "tricks of the trade," including ways to improve program performance. It also includes many program examples to improve your understanding and demonstrate the usefulness of embedded SQL.


Audience

Anyone developing new Ada applications or converting existing applications to run in the Oracle environment will benefit from reading this guide. Written especially for programmers, this comprehensive treatment of the Pro*Ada Precompiler will also be of value to systems analysts, project managers, and others interested in embedded SQL applications.

To use this guide effectively, you need a working knowledge of the following:


How The Programmer's Guide to the Pro*Ada Precompiler Is Organized

This guide contains eleven chapters and six appendices. A brief summary of what you will find in each chapter and appendix follows:

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter introduces you to the Pro*Ada Precompiler. You learn how Pro*Ada can aid in developing application programs that manipulate Oracle data, and find out what Pro*Ada allows your applications to do.

Chapter 2: An Overview of Embedded SQL

This chapter explains how embedded SQL programs do their work. You examine the special environment in which they operate, the impact of this environment on the design of your applications, the key concepts of embedded SQL programming, and the steps you take in developing a Pro*Ada application.

Chapter 3: Developing a Pro*Ada Program

In this chapter, you learn about the requirements for designing and writing a complete Pro*Ada program. The chapter describes the Oracle datatypes and data conversion between Oracle data and Ada program variables. It also describes embedded SQL commands that declare communications areas and connect to an Oracle database.

Chapter 4: Using Embedded SQL and PL/SQL

This chapter teaches you the essentials of embedded SQL programming. You learn how to use host variables, indicator variables, and the fundamental SQL commands that insert, update, select, and delete Oracle data. You also learn how to improve performance by embedding PL/SQL blocks in your program.

Chapter 5: Handling Runtime Errors

This chapter provides an in-depth discussion of error reporting and recovery. You learn how to detect and handle errors and warning conditions using the SQLCA, the WHENEVER statement, and indicator variables.

Chapter 6: Defining and Controlling Transactions

This chapter describes transaction processing. You learn the basic techniques that safeguard the consistency of your database.

Chapter 7: Using Host Arrays

This chapter looks into using arrays to improve program performance. You learn how to manipulate Oracle data using arrays, how to operate on all the elements of an array with a single SQL statement, and how to limit the number of array elements processed.

Chapter 8: Introduction to Dynamic SQL

This chapter shows you how to take advantage of dynamic SQL. You are taught three methods, from simple to complex, for writing flexible programs that, among other things, let users build SQL statements interactively at runtime.

Chapter 9: Implementing Dynamic SQL Method 4

This chapter describes dynamic SQL using descriptors (Method 4) in greater detail. You learn about declaring, initializing, and accessing descriptors. You learn the basic steps that you use to develop a dynamic Method 4 application. The chapter concludes with several lengthy demonstration programs that illustrate these steps and provide a model you can use to develop your own dynamic SQL applications.

Chapter 10: SQL*Forms User Exits

This chapter focuses on writing user exits for your SQL*Forms applications. You learn how host-language subroutines can do certain jobs more quickly and easily than SQL*Forms.

Chapter 11: Running the Pro*Ada Precompiler

This chapter details the requirements for running Pro*Ada. You learn what happens during precompilation, how to issue the precompiler command, how to specify the many useful precompiler options, and how to do conditional and separate precompilations.

Appendix A: New Features

This appendix summarizes and briefly describes the new features included in release 1.8 of the Pro*Ada Precompiler.

Appendix B: Quick Reference to Embedded SQL

This appendix focuses on the differences between embedded and interactive SQL. You are given the purpose of each embedded SQL statement, its syntax diagram, parameter descriptions, usage notes, and one or more programming examples.

Appendix C: Oracle Reserved Words, Keywords, and Namespaces

This appendix lists words that have a special meaning to Oracle, and namespaces which are reserved by Oracle products.

Appendix D: Performance Tuning

This appendix shows you some simple, easy-to-apply methods for improving the performance of your applications.

Appendix E: Syntactic Checking

This appendix shows you how to use the SQLCHECK option to control the type and extent of syntactic checking done on embedded SQL statements and PL/SQL blocks.

Appendix F: Operating System-Specific Information

This appendix lists the operating system-specific topics in this guide.

Conventions Used in This Guide

Important terms being defined in the text for the first time are italicized. Presentation of code examples and sample programs generally follows the style of the Ada Language Reference Manual (Ada LRM). Ada keywords, such as procedure or loop, are in lowercase. They are in bold face type in text, but not in code examples. Package names, and the names of program or package variables and subprograms are in uppercase.

Notation

The following notational conventions are used in syntax examples:

[ ]

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 parameter can be repeated, or that statements or clauses irrelevant to the discussion were left out. In code fragments, an ellipsis means that code not relevant to the point has been omitted.

ANSI Standards Compliance

The Pro*Ada Precompiler release 1.8 complies completely with the following standards:

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, see Chapter 11, "Running the Pro*Ada Precompiler."

Your Comments Are Welcome

The Oracle Corporation technical staff values your comments. As we write and revise, your opinions are the most important feedback we receive. Please use the Reader's Comment Form at the back of this guide to tell us what you like and dislike about this Oracle publication. If you prefer, send us a FAX at 415-506-7200, or write to us at the following address:




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