DBI - Database independent interface for Perl use DBI; @driver_names = DBI->available_drivers; @data_sources = DBI->data_sources($driver_name); $dbh = DBI->connect($data_source, $username, $auth, \%attr); $rv = $dbh->do($statement); $rv = $dbh->do($statement, \%attr); $rv = $dbh->do($statement, \%attr, @bind_values); $ary_ref = $dbh->selectall_arrayref($statement); $ary_ref = $dbh->selectall_hashref($statement); $ary_ref = $dbh->selectcol_arrayref($statement); $ary_ref = $dbh->selectrow_arrayref($statement); @row_ary = $dbh->selectrow_array($statement); $sth = $dbh->prepare($statement); $sth = $dbh->prepare_cached($statement); $rv = $sth->bind_param($p_num, $bind_value); $rv = $sth->bind_param($p_num, $bind_value, $bind_type); $rv = $sth->bind_param($p_num, $bind_value, \%attr); $rv = $sth->execute; $rv = $sth->execute(@bind_values); $rc = $sth->bind_col($col_num, \$col_variable); $rc = $sth->bind_columns(@list_of_refs_to_vars_to_bind); @row_ary = $sth->fetchrow_array; $ary_ref = $sth->fetchrow_arrayref; $hash_ref = $sth->fetchrow_hashref; $ary_ref = $sth->fetchall_arrayref; $rv = $sth->rows; $rc = $dbh->commit; $rc = $dbh->rollback; $sql = $dbh->quote($string); $rc = $h->err; $str = $h->errstr; $rv = $h->state; $rc = $dbh->disconnect; This synopsis above only lists the major methods.

GETTING HELP
If you have questions about DBI, you can get help from the dbi-users@perl.org mailing list. You can subscribe to the list by emailing: dbi-users-help@perl.org Also worth a visit is the DBI home page at: http://dbi.perl.org/ Before asking any questions, reread this document, consult the archives and read the DBI FAQ. The archives are listed at the end of this document. The FAQ is installed as a DBI::FAQ module so you can read it by executing `perldoc DBI::FAQ'. Please note that Tim Bunce does not maintain the mailing lists or the web page (generous volunteers do that). So please don't send mail directly to him; he just doesn't have the time to answer questions personally. The dbi-users mailing list has lots of experienced people who should be able to help you if you need it.

NOTE
This is the DBI specification that corresponds to the DBI version 1.15 (`$Date: 2001/03/30 14:35:41 $'). The DBI specification is evolving at a steady pace, so it's important to check that you have the latest copy. The RECENT CHANGES section below has a summary of user-visible changes. The Changes file supplied with the DBI holds more detailed change information. Note also that whenever the DBI changes, the drivers take some time to catch up. Recent versions of the DBI have added new features (marked NEW in the text) that may not yet be supported by the drivers you use. Talk to the authors of those drivers if you need the features. Extensions to the DBI and other DBI related modules use the `DBIx::*' namespace. See the Naming Conventions and Name Space entry elsewhere in this document and: http://www.perl.com/CPAN/modules/by-module/DBIx/

RECENT CHANGES
Here is a brief summary of significant user-visible changes in recent versions. (If a recent version isn't mentioned, it simply means that there were no significant user-visible changes in that version.) Added selectall_hashref, selectrow_hashref, selectrow_arrayref methods. The DBI is a database access module for the Perl programming language. It defines a set of methods, variables, and conventions that provide a consistent database interface, independent of the actual database being used. It is important to remember that the DBI is just an interface. The DBI is a layer of "glue" between an application and one or more database driver modules. It is the driver modules which do most of the real work. The DBI provides a standard interface and framework for the drivers to operate within.

Architecture of a DBI Application
|<- Scope of DBI ->| .-. .--------------. .-------------. .-------. | |---| XYZ Driver |---| XYZ Engine | | Perl | | | `--------------' `-------------' | script| |A| |D| .--------------. .-------------. | using |--|P|--|B|---|Oracle Driver |---|Oracle Engine| | DBI | |I| |I| `--------------' `-------------' | API | | |... |methods| | |... Other drivers `-------' | |... `-' The API, or Application Programming Interface, defines the call interface and variables for Perl scripts to use. The API is implemented by the Perl DBI extension. The DBI "dispatches" the method calls to the appropriate driver for actual execution. The DBI is also responsible for the dynamic loading of drivers, error checking and handling, providing default implementations for methods, and many other non-database specific duties. Each driver contains implementations of the DBI methods using the private interface functions of the corresponding database engine. Only authors of sophisticated/multi-database applications or generic library functions need be concerned with drivers.

Notation and Conventions
The following conventions are used in this document: $dbh Database handle object $sth Statement handle object $drh Driver handle object (rarely seen or used in applications) $h Any of the handle types above ($dbh, $sth, or $drh) $rc General Return Code (boolean: true=ok, false=error) $rv General Return Value (typically an integer) @ary List of values returned from the database, typically a row of data $rows Number of rows processed (if available, else -1) $fh A filehandle undef NULL values are represented by undefined values in Perl \%attr Reference to a hash of attribute values passed to methods Note that Perl will automatically destroy database and statement handle objects if all references to them are deleted.

Outline Usage
To use DBI, first you need to load the DBI module: use DBI; use strict; (The `use strict;' isn't required but is strongly recommended.) Then you need to the connect entry elsewhere in this document to your data source and get a handle for that connection: $dbh = DBI->connect($dsn, $user, $password, { RaiseError => 1, AutoCommit => 0 }); Since connecting can be expensive, you generally just connect at the start of your program and disconnect at the end. Explicitly defining the required `AutoCommit' behavior is strongly recommended and may become mandatory in a later version. This determines whether changes are automatically committed to the database when executed, or need to be explicitly committed later. The DBI allows an application to "prepare" statements for later execution. A prepared statement is identified by a statement handle held in a Perl variable. We'll call the Perl variable `$sth' in our examples. The typical method call sequence for a `SELECT' statement is: prepare, execute, fetch, fetch, ... execute, fetch, fetch, ... execute, fetch, fetch, ... for example: $sth = $dbh->prepare("SELECT foo, bar FROM table WHERE baz=?"); $sth->execute( $baz ); while ( @row = $sth->fetchrow_array ) { print "@row\n"; } The typical method call sequence for a non-`SELECT' statement is: prepare, execute, execute, execute. for example: $sth = $dbh->prepare("INSERT INTO table(foo,bar,baz) VALUES (?,?,?)"); while(<CSV>) { chop; my ($foo,$bar,$baz) = split /,/; $sth->execute( $foo, $bar, $baz ); } The `do()' method can be used for non repeated non-`SELECT' statement (or with drivers that don't support placeholders): $rows_affected = $dbh->do("UPDATE your_table SET foo = foo + 1"); To commit your changes to the database (when the AutoCommit entry elsewhere in this document is off): $dbh->commit; # or call $dbh->rollback; to undo changes Finally, when you have finished working with the data source, you should the disconnect entry elsewhere in this document from it: $dbh->disconnect;

General Interface Rules & Caveats
The DBI does not have a concept of a "current session". Every session has a handle object (i.e., a `$dbh') returned from the `connect' method. That handle object is used to invoke database related methods. Most data is returned to the Perl script as strings. (Null values are returned as `undef'.) This allows arbitrary precision numeric data to be handled without loss of accuracy. Beware that Perl may not preserve the same accuracy when the string is used as a number. Dates and times are returned as character strings in the current default format of the corresponding database engine. Time zone effects are database/driver dependent. Perl supports binary data in Perl strings, and the DBI will pass binary data to and from the driver without change. It is up to the driver implementors to decide how they wish to handle such binary data. Most databases that understand multiple character sets have a default global charset. Text stored in the database is, or should be, stored in that charset; if not, then that's the fault of either the database or the application that inserted the data. When text is fetched it should be automatically converted to the charset of the client, presumably based on the locale. If a driver needs to set a flag to get that behavior, then it should do so; it should not require the application to do that. Multiple SQL statements may not be combined in a single statement handle (`$sth'), although some databases and drivers do support this (notably Sybase and SQL Server). Non-sequential record reads are not supported in this version of the DBI. In other words, records can only be fetched in the order that the database returned them, and once fetched they are forgotten. Positioned updates and deletes are not directly supported by the DBI. See the description of the `CursorName' attribute for an alternative. Individual driver implementors are free to provide any private functions and/or handle attributes that they feel are useful. Private driver functions can be invoked using the DBI `func()' method. Private driver attributes are accessed just like standard attributes. Many methods have an optional `\%attr' parameter which can be used to pass information to the driver implementing the method. Except where specifically documented, the `\%attr' parameter can only be used to pass driver specific hints. In general, you can ignore `\%attr' parameters or pass it as `undef'.

Naming Conventions and Name Space
The DBI package and all packages below it (`DBI::*') are reserved for use by the DBI. Extensions and related modules use the `DBIx::' namespace (see `http://www.perl.com/CPAN/modules/by-module/DBIx/'). Package names beginning with `DBD::' are reserved for use by DBI database drivers. All environment variables used by the DBI or by individual DBDs begin with "`DBI_'" or "`DBD_'". The letter case used for attribute names is significant and plays an important part in the portability of DBI scripts. The case of the attribute name is used to signify who defined the meaning of that name and its values. Case of name Has a meaning defined by ------------ ------------------------ UPPER_CASE Standards, e.g., X/Open, ISO SQL92 etc (portable) MixedCase DBI API (portable), underscores are not used. lower_case Driver or database engine specific (non-portable) It is of the utmost importance that Driver developers only use lowercase attribute names when defining private attributes. Private attribute names must be prefixed with the driver name or suitable abbreviation (e.g., "`ora_'" for Oracle, "`ing_'" for Ingres, etc). Driver Specific Prefix Registry: ad_ DBD::AnyData ado_ DBD::ADO best_ DBD::BestWins csv_ DBD::CSV db2_ DBD::DB2 f_ DBD::File file_ DBD::TextFile ib_ DBD::InterBase ing_ DBD::Ingres ix_ DBD::Informix msql_ DBD::mSQL mysql_ DBD::mysql odbc_ DBD::ODBC ora_ DBD::Oracle pg_ DBD::Pg proxy_ DBD::Proxy rdb_ DBD::RDB sapdb_ DBD::SAP_DB solid_ DBD::Solid syb_ DBD::Sybase tdat_ DBD::Teradata tuber_ DBD::Tuber uni_ DBD::Unify xbase_ DBD::XBase

SQL - A Query Language
Most DBI drivers require applications to use a dialect of SQL (Structured Query Language) to interact with the database engine. The following links provide useful information and further links about SQL: http://www.altavista.com/query?q=sql+tutorial http://www.jcc.com/sql_stnd.html http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~shadow/sql.html The DBI itself does not mandate or require any particular language to be used; it is language independent. In ODBC terms, the DBI is in "pass-thru" mode, although individual drivers might not be. The only requirement is that queries and other statements must be expressed as a single string of characters passed as the first argument to the the prepare entry elsewhere in this document or the do entry elsewhere in this document methods. For an interesting diversion on the real history of RDBMS and SQL, from the people who made it happen, see: http://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/SRC/technical-notes/SRC-1997-018-html/sqlr95.html Follow the "And the rest" and "Intergalactic dataspeak" links for the SQL history.

Placeholders and Bind Values
Some drivers support placeholders and bind values. Placeholders, also called parameter markers, are used to indicate values in a database statement that will be supplied later, before the prepared statement is executed. For example, an application might use the following to insert a row of data into the SALES table: INSERT INTO sales (product_code, qty, price) VALUES (?, ?, ?) or the following, to select the description for a product: SELECT description FROM products WHERE product_code = ? The `?' characters are the placeholders. The association of actual values with placeholders is known as binding, and the values are referred to as bind values. When using placeholders with the SQL `LIKE' qualifier, you must remember that the placeholder substitutes for the whole string. So you should use "`... LIKE ? ...'" and include any wildcard characters in the value that you bind to the placeholder. Null Values Undefined values, or `undef', can be used to indicate null values. However, care must be taken in the particular case of trying to use null values to qualify a `SELECT' statement. Consider: SELECT description FROM products WHERE product_code = ? Binding an `undef' (NULL) to the placeholder will not select rows which have a NULL `product_code'! Refer to the SQL manual for your database engine or any SQL book for the reasons for this. To explicitly select NULLs you have to say "`WHERE product_code IS NULL'" and to make that general you have to say: ... WHERE (product_code = ? OR (? IS NULL AND product_code IS NULL)) and bind the same value to both placeholders. Performance Without using placeholders, the insert statement shown previously would have to contain the literal values to be inserted and would have to be re-prepared and re-executed for each row. With placeholders, the insert statement only needs to be prepared once. The bind values for each row can be given to the `execute' method each time it's called. By avoiding the need to re-prepare the statement for each row, the application typically runs many times faster. Here's an example: my $sth = $dbh->prepare(q{ INSERT INTO sales (product_code, qty, price) VALUES (?, ?, ?) }) || die $dbh->errstr; while (<>) { chop; my ($product_code, $qty, $price) = split /,/; $sth->execute($product_code, $qty, $price) || die $dbh->errstr; } $dbh->commit || die $dbh->errstr; See the executeand bind_param entries elsewhere in this document for more details. The `q{...}' style quoting used in this example avoids clashing with quotes that may be used in the SQL statement. Use the double-quote like `qq{...}' operator if you want to interpolate variables into the string. See the Quote and Quote-like Operators entry in the perlop manpage for more details. See also the the bind_column entry elsewhere in this document method, which is used to associate Perl variables with the output columns of a `SELECT' statement. In this section, we cover the DBI class methods, utility functions, and the dynamic attributes associated with generic DBI handles.

DBI Constants
The following SQL standard type constants can be imported individually or, by importing the special `:sql_types' tag, all together: SQL_CHAR SQL_NUMERIC SQL_DECIMAL SQL_INTEGER SQL_SMALLINT SQL_FLOAT SQL_REAL SQL_DOUBLE SQL_VARCHAR SQL_DATE SQL_TIME SQL_TIMESTAMP SQL_LONGVARCHAR SQL_BINARY SQL_VARBINARY SQL_LONGVARBINARY SQL_BIGINT SQL_TINYINT SQL_WCHAR SQL_WVARCHAR SQL_WLONGVARCHAR SQL_BIT SQL_ALL_TYPES See the the type_info, type_info_all, and bind_param entries elsewhere in this document methods for possible uses.

DBI Class Methods
The following methods are provided by the DBI class: $dbh = DBI->connect($data_source, $username, $password) || die $DBI::errstr; $dbh = DBI->connect($data_source, $username, $password, \%attr) || die $DBI::errstr; Establishes a database connection, or session, to the requested `$data_source'. Returns a database handle object if the connection succeeds. Use `$dbh-'>`disconnect' to terminate the connection. If the connect fails (see below), it returns `undef' and sets both `$DBI::err' and `$DBI::errstr'. (It does not set `$!', etc.) You should generally test the return status of `connect' and `print $DBI::errstr' if it has failed. Multiple simultaneous connections to multiple databases through multiple drivers can be made via the DBI. Simply make one `connect' call for each database and keep a copy of each returned database handle. The `$data_source' value should begin with "`dbi:'driver_name`:'". The driver_name specifies the driver that will be used to make the connection. (Letter case is significant.) As a convenience, if the `$data_source' parameter is undefined or empty, the DBI will substitute the value of the environment variable `DBI_DSN'. If just the driver_name part is empty (i.e., the `$data_source' prefix is "`dbi::'"), the environment variable `DBI_DRIVER' is used. If neither variable is set, then `connect' dies. Examples of `$data_source' values are: dbi:DriverName:database_name dbi:DriverName:database_name@hostname:port dbi:DriverName:database=database_name;host=hostname;port=port There is no standard for the text following the driver name. Each driver is free to use whatever syntax it wants. The only requirement the DBI makes is that all the information is supplied in a single string. You must consult the documentation for the drivers you are using for a description of the syntax they require. (Where a driver author needs to define a syntax for the `$data_source', it is recommended that they follow the ODBC style, shown in the last example above.) If the environment variable `DBI_AUTOPROXY' is defined (and the driver in `$data_source' is not "`Proxy'") then the connect request will automatically be changed to: dbi:Proxy:$ENV{DBI_AUTOPROXY};dsn=$data_source and passed to the DBD::Proxy module. `DBI_AUTOPROXY' is typically set as "`hostname=...;port=...'". See the DBD::Proxy documentation for more details. If `$username' or `$password' are undefined (rather than just empty), then the DBI will substitute the values of the `DBI_USER' and `DBI_PASS' environment variables, respectively. The DBI will warn if the environment variables are not defined. However, the everyday use of these environment variables is not recommended for security reasons. The mechanism is primarily intended to simplify testing. `DBI-'>`connect' automatically installs the driver if it has not been installed yet. Driver installation either returns a valid driver handle, or it dies with an error message that includes the string "`install_driver'" and the underlying problem. So `DBI-'>`connect' will die on a driver installation failure and will only return `undef' on a connect failure, in which case `$DBI::errstr' will hold the error message. The `$data_source' argument (with the "`dbi:...:'" prefix removed) and the `$username' and `$password' arguments are then passed to the driver for processing. The DBI does not define any interpretation for the contents of these fields. The driver is free to interpret the `$data_source', `$username', and `$password' fields in any way, and supply whatever defaults are appropriate for the engine being accessed. (Oracle, for example, uses the ORACLE_SID and TWO_TASK environment variables if no `$data_source' is specified.) The `AutoCommit' and `PrintError' attributes for each connection default to "on". (See the AutoCommitand PrintError entries elsewhere in this document for more information.) However, it is strongly recommended that you explicitly define `AutoCommit' rather than rely on the default. Future versions of the DBI may issue a warning if `AutoCommit' is not explicitly defined. The `\%attr' parameter can be used to alter the default settings of `PrintError', `RaiseError', `AutoCommit', and other attributes. For example: $dbh = DBI->connect($data_source, $user, $pass, { PrintError => 0, AutoCommit => 0 }); You can also define connection attribute values within the `$data_source' parameter. For example: dbi:DriverName(PrintError=>0,Taint=>1):... Individual attributes values specified in this way take precedence over any conflicting values specified via the `\%attr' parameter to `connect'. The `dbi_connect_method' attribute can be used to specify which driver method should be called to establish the connection. The only useful values are 'connect', 'connect_cached', or some specialized case like 'Apache::DBI::connect' (which is automatically the default when running within Apache). Where possible, each session (`$dbh') is independent from the transactions in other sessions. This is useful when you need to hold cursors open across transactions--for example, if you use one session for your long lifespan cursors (typically read-only) and another for your short update transactions. For compatibility with old DBI scripts, the driver can be specified by passing its name as the fourth argument to `connect' (instead of `\%attr'): $dbh = DBI->connect($data_source, $user, $pass, $driver); In this "old-style" form of `connect', the `$data_source' should not start with "`dbi:driver_name:'". (If it does, the embedded driver_name will be ignored). Also note that in this older form of `connect', the `$dbh-'>`{AutoCommit}' attribute is undefined, the `$dbh-'>`{PrintError}' attribute is off, and the old `DBI_DBNAME' environment variable is checked if `DBI_DSN' is not defined. Beware that this "old-style" `connect' will be withdrawn in a future version of DBI. $dbh = DBI->connect_cached($data_source, $username, $password) || die $DBI::errstr; $dbh = DBI->connect_cached($data_source, $username, $password, \%attr) || die $DBI::errstr; `connect_cached' is like the connect entry elsewhere in this document, except that the database handle returned is also stored in a hash associated with the given parameters. If another call is made to `connect_cached' with the same parameter values, then the corresponding cached `$dbh' will be returned if it is still valid. The cached database handle is replaced with a new connection if it has been disconnected or if the `ping' method fails. Note that the behavior of this method differs in several respects from the behavior of presistent connections implemented by Apache::DBI. Caching can be useful in some applications, but it can also cause problems and should be used with care. The exact behavior of this method is liable to change, so if you intend to use it in any production applications you should discuss your needs on the dbi-users mailing list. The cache can be accessed (and cleared) via the the CachedKids entry elsewhere in this document attribute. @ary = DBI->available_drivers; @ary = DBI->available_drivers($quiet); Returns a list of all available drivers by searching for `DBD::*' modules through the directories in `@INC'. By default, a warning is given if some drivers are hidden by others of the same name in earlier directories. Passing a true value for `$quiet' will inhibit the warning. @ary = DBI->data_sources($driver); @ary = DBI->data_sources($driver, \%attr); Returns a list of all data sources (databases) available via the named driver. The driver will be loaded if it hasn't been already. If `$driver' is empty or `undef', then the value of the `DBI_DRIVER' environment variable is used. Data sources are returned in a form suitable for passing to the the connect entry elsewhere in this document method (that is, they will include the "`dbi:$driver:'" prefix). Note that many drivers have no way of knowing what data sources might be available for it. These drivers return an empty or incomplete list or may require driver-specific attributes to be supplied. DBI->trace($trace_level) DBI->trace($trace_level, $trace_filename) DBI trace information can be enabled for all handles using the `trace' DBI class method. To enable trace information for a specific handle, use the similar `$h-'>`trace' method described elsewhere. Trace levels are as follows: 0 - Trace disabled. 1 - Trace DBI method calls returning with results or errors. 2 - Trace method entry with parameters and returning with results. 3 - As above, adding some high-level information from the driver and some internal information from the DBI. 4 - As above, adding more detailed information from the driver. Also includes DBI mutex information when using threaded Perl. 5 and above - As above but with more and more obscure information. Trace level 1 is best for a simple overview of what's happening. Trace level 2 is a good choice for general purpose tracing. Levels 3 and above (up to 9) are best reserved for investigating a specific problem, when you need to see "inside" the driver and DBI. The trace output is detailed and typically very useful. Much of the trace output is formatted using the the neat entry elsewhere in this document function, so strings in the trace output may be edited and truncated. Initially trace output is written to `STDERR'. If `$trace_filename' is specified and can be opened in append mode then all trace output (including that from other handles) is redirected to that file. A warning is generated is the file can't be opened. Further calls to `trace' without a `$trace_filename' do not alter where the trace output is sent. If `$trace_filename' is undefined, then trace output is sent to `STDERR' and the previous trace file is closed. The `trace' method returns the previous tracelevel. See also the `$h-'>`trace' and `$h-'>`trace_msg' methods and the the DEBUGGING entry elsewhere in this document section for information about the `DBI_TRACE' environment variable.

DBI Utility Functions
In addition to the methods listed in the previous section, the DBI package also provides these utility functions: $str = DBI::neat($value, $maxlen); Return a string containing a neat (and tidy) representation of the supplied value. Strings will be quoted, although internal quotes will not be escaped. Values known to be numeric will be unquoted. Undefined (NULL) values will be shown as `undef' (without quotes). Unprintable characters will be replaced by dot (.). For result strings longer than `$maxlen' the result string will be truncated to `$maxlen-4' and "`...''" will be appended. If `$maxlen' is 0 or `undef', it defaults to `$DBI::neat_maxlen' which, in turn, defaults to 400. This function is designed to format values for human consumption. It is used internally by the DBI for the trace entry elsewhere in this document output. It should typically not be used for formatting values for database use. (See also the quote entry elsewhere in this document.) $str = DBI::neat_list(\@listref, $maxlen, $field_sep); Calls `DBI::neat' on each element of the list and returns a string containing the results joined with `$field_sep'. `$field_sep' defaults to `", "'. @bool = DBI::looks_like_number(@array); Returns true for each element that looks like a number. Returns false for each element that does not look like a number. Returns `undef' for each element that is undefined or empty.

DBI Dynamic Attributes
Dynamic attributes are always associated with the last handle used (that handle is represented by `$h' in the descriptions below). Where an attribute is equivalent to a method call, then refer to the method call for all related documentation. Warning: these attributes are provided as a convenience but they do have limitations. Specifically, they have a short lifespan: because they are associated with the last handle used, they should only be used immediately after calling the method that "sets" them. If in any doubt, use the corresponding method call. Equivalent to `$h-'>`err'. Equivalent to `$h-'>`errstr'. Equivalent to `$h-'>`state'. Equivalent to `$h-'>`rows'. Please refer to the documentation for the the rows entry elsewhere in this document method. Returns the DBI object handle used for the most recent DBI method call. If the last DBI method call was a DESTROY then $DBI::lasth will return the handle of the parent of the destroyed handle, if there is one. The following methods can be used by all types of DBI handles. $rv = $h->err; Returns the native database engine error code from the last driver method called. The code is typically an integer but you should not assume that. The DBI resets $h->err to undef before most DBI method calls, so the value only has a short lifespan. Also, most drivers share the same error variables across all their handles, so calling a method on one handle will typically reset the error on all the other handles that are children of that driver. If you need to test for individual errors and have your program be portable to different database engines, then you'll need to determine what the corresponding error codes are for all those engines and test for all of them. $str = $h->errstr; Returns the native database engine error message from the last driver method called. This has the same lifespan issues as the the err entry elsewhere in this document method described above. $str = $h->state; Returns an error code in the standard SQLSTATE five character format. Note that the specific success code `00000' is translated to '' (false). If the driver does not support SQLSTATE (and most don't), then state will return `S1000' (General Error) for all errors. The driver is free to return any value via `state', e.g., warning codes, even if it has not declared an error by returning a true value via the the err entry elsewhere in this document method described above. $h->trace($trace_level); $h->trace($trace_level, $trace_filename); DBI trace information can be enabled for a specific handle (and any future children of that handle) by setting the trace level using the `trace' method. Trace level 1 is best for a simple overview of what's happening. Trace level 2 is a good choice for general purpose tracing. Levels 3 and above (up to 9) are best reserved for investigating a specific problem, when you need to see "inside" the driver and DBI. Set `$trace_level' to 0 to disable the trace. The trace output is detailed and typically very useful. Much of the trace output is formatted using the the neat entry elsewhere in this document function, so strings in the trace output may be edited and truncated. Initially, trace output is written to `STDERR'. If `$trace_filename' is specified, then the file is opened in append mode and all trace output (including that from other handles) is redirected to that file. Further calls to trace without a `$trace_filename' do not alter where the trace output is sent. If `$trace_filename' is undefined, then trace output is sent to `STDERR' and the previous trace file is closed. See also the `DBI-'>`trace' method and the DEBUGGING entry elsewhere in this document for information about the `DBI_TRACE' environment variable. $h->trace_msg($message_text); $h->trace_msg($message_text, $min_level); Writes `$message_text' to the trace file if trace is enabled for `$h' or for the DBI as a whole. Can also be called as `DBI-'>`trace_msg($msg)'. See the trace entry elsewhere in this document. If `$min_level' is defined, then the message is output only if the trace level is equal to or greater than that level. `$min_level' defaults to 1. $h->func(@func_arguments, $func_name); The `func' method can be used to call private non-standard and non-portable methods implemented by the driver. Note that the function name is given as the last argument. This method is not directly related to calling stored procedures. Calling stored procedures is currently not defined by the DBI. Some drivers, such as DBD::Oracle, support it in non-portable ways. See driver documentation for more details. These attributes are common to all types of DBI handles. Some attributes are inherited by child handles. That is, the value of an inherited attribute in a newly created statement handle is the same as the value in the parent database handle. Changes to attributes in the new statement handle do not affect the parent database handle and changes to the database handle do not affect existing statement handles, only future ones. Attempting to set or get the value of an unknown attribute is fatal, except for private driver specific attributes (which all have names starting with a lowercase letter). Example: $h->{AttributeName} = ...; # set/write ... = $h->{AttributeName}; # get/read Enables useful warnings for certain bad practices. Enabled by default. Some emulation layers, especially those for Perl 4 interfaces, disable warnings. Since warnings are generated using the Perl `warn' function, they can be intercepted using the Perl `$SIG{__WARN__}' hook. True if the handle object is "active". This is rarely used in applications. The exact meaning of active is somewhat vague at the moment. For a database handle it typically means that the handle is connected to a database (`$dbh-'>`disconnect' sets `Active' off). For a statement handle it typically means that the handle is a `SELECT' that may have more data to fetch. (Fetching all the data or calling `$sth-'>`finish' sets `Active' off.) For a driver handle, `Kids' is the number of currently existing database handles that were created from that driver handle. For a database handle, `Kids' is the number of currently existing statement handles that were created from that database handle. Like `Kids', but only counting those that are `Active' (as above). For a database handle, returns a reference to the cache (hash) of statement handles created by the the prepare_cached entry elsewhere in this document method. For a driver handle, returns a reference to the cache (hash) of database handles created by the the connect_cached entry elsewhere in this document method. Used by emulation layers (such as Oraperl) to enable compatible behavior in the underlying driver (e.g., DBD::Oracle) for this handle. Not normally set by application code. This attribute can be used to disable the database engine related effect of DESTROYing a handle (which would normally close a prepared statement or disconnect from the database etc). For a database handle, this attribute does not disable an explicit call to the disconnect method, only the implicit call from DESTROY. This attribute is specifically designed for use in Unix applications that "fork" child processes. Either the parent or the child process, but not both, should set `InactiveDestroy' on all their shared handles. Note that some databases, including Oracle, don't support passing a database connection across a fork. This attribute can be used to force errors to generate warnings (using `warn') in addition to returning error codes in the normal way. When set "on", any method which results in an error occuring will cause the DBI to effectively do a `warn("$class $method failed: $DBI::errstr")' where `$class' is the driver class and `$method' is the name of the method which failed. E.g., DBD::Oracle::db prepare failed: ... error text here ... By default, `DBI-'>`connect' sets `PrintError' "on". If desired, the warnings can be caught and processed using a `$SIG{__WARN__}' handler or modules like CGI::Carp and CGI::ErrorWrap. This attribute can be used to force errors to raise exceptions rather than simply return error codes in the normal way. It is "off" by default. When set "on", any method which results in an error will cause the DBI to effectively do a `die("$class $method failed: $DBI::errstr")', where `$class' is the driver class and `$method' is the name of the method that failed. E.g., DBD::Oracle::db prepare failed: ... error text here ... If `PrintError' is also on, then the `PrintError' is done before the `RaiseError' unless no `__DIE__' handler has been defined, in which case `PrintError' is skipped since the `die' will print the message. If you want to temporarily turn `RaiseError' off (inside a library function that is likely to fail, for example), the recommended way is like this: { local $h->{RaiseError}; # localize and turn off for this block ... } The original value will automatically and reliably be restored by Perl, regardless of how the block is exited. The same logic applies to other attributes, including `PrintError'. Sadly, this doesn't work for Perl versions up to and including 5.004_04. For backwards compatibility, you could just use `eval { ... }' instead. This attribute can be used to cause the relevant Statement text to be appended to the error messages generated by the `RaiseError' and `PrintError' attributes. Only applies to errors on statement handles plus the prepare() and do() database handle methods. This attribute can be used to control the trimming of trailing space characters from fixed width character (CHAR) fields. No other field types are affected, even where field values have trailing spaces. The default is false (although it is possible that the default may change). Applications that need specific behavior should set the attribute as needed. Emulation interfaces should set the attribute to match the behavior of the interface they are emulating. Drivers are not required to support this attribute, but any driver which does not support it must arrange to return `undef' as the attribute value. This attribute may be used to control the maximum length of long fields ("blob", "memo", etc.) which the driver will read from the database automatically when it fetches each row of data. The `LongReadLen' attribute only relates to fetching and reading long values; it is not involved in inserting or updating them. A value of 0 means not to automatically fetch any long data. (`fetch' should return `undef' for long fields when `LongReadLen' is 0.) The default is typically 0 (zero) bytes but may vary between drivers. Applications fetching long fields should set this value to slightly larger than the longest long field value to be fetched. Some databases return some long types encoded as pairs of hex digits. For these types, `LongReadLen' relates to the underlying data length and not the doubled-up length of the encoded string. Changing the value of `LongReadLen' for a statement handle after it has been `prepare''d will typically have no effect, so it's common to set `LongReadLen' on the `$dbh' before calling `prepare'. Note that the value used here has a direct effect on the memory used by the application, so don't be too generous. See the LongTruncOk entry elsewhere in this document for more information on truncation behavior. This attribute may be used to control the effect of fetching a long field value which has been truncated (typically because it's longer than the value of the `LongReadLen' attribute). By default, `LongTruncOk' is false and so fetching a long value that needs to be truncated will cause the fetch to fail. (Applications should always be sure to check for errors after a fetch loop in case an error, such as a divide by zero or long field truncation, caused the fetch to terminate prematurely.) If a fetch fails due to a long field truncation when `LongTruncOk' is false, many drivers will allow you to continue fetching further rows. See also the LongReadLen entry elsewhere in this document. If this attribute is set to a true value and Perl is running in taint mode (e.g., started with the `-T' option), then all data fetched from the database is tainted, and the arguments to most DBI method calls are checked for being tainted. This may change. The attribute defaults to off, even if Perl is in taint mode. See the perlsec manpage for more about taint mode. If Perl is not running in taint mode, this attribute has no effect. When fetching data that you trust you can turn off the Taint attribute, for that statement handle, for the duration of the fetch loop. Currently only fetched data is tainted. It is possible that the results of other DBI method calls, and the value of fetched attributes, may also be tainted in future versions. That change may well break your applications unless you take great care now. If you use DBI Taint mode, please report your experience and any suggestions for changes. The DBI provides a way to store extra information in a DBI handle as "private" attributes. The DBI will allow you to store and retreive any attribute which has a name starting with "`private_'". It is strongly recommended that you use just one private attribute (e.g., use a hash ref) and give it a long and unambiguous name that includes the module or application name that the attribute relates to (e.g., "`private_YourFullModuleName_thingy'"). This section covers the methods and attributes associated with database handles.

Database Handle Methods
The following methods are specified for DBI database handles: $rc = $dbh->do($statement) || die $dbh->errstr; $rc = $dbh->do($statement, \%attr) || die $dbh->errstr; $rv = $dbh->do($statement, \%attr, @bind_values) || ... Prepare and execute a single statement. Returns the number of rows affected or `undef' on error. A return value of `-1' means the number of rows is not known or is not available. This method is typically most useful for non-`SELECT' statements that either cannot be prepared in advance (due to a limitation of the driver) or do not need to be executed repeatedly. It should not be used for `SELECT' statements because it does not return a statement handle (so you can't fetch any data). The default `do' method is logically similar to: sub do { my($dbh, $statement, $attr, @bind_values) = @_; my $sth = $dbh->prepare($statement, $attr) or return undef; $sth->execute(@bind_values) or return undef; my $rows = $sth->rows; ($rows == 0) ? "0E0" : $rows; # always return true if no error } For example: my $rows_deleted = $dbh->do(q{ DELETE FROM table WHERE status = ? }, undef, 'DONE') || die $dbh->errstr; Using placeholders and `@bind_values' with the `do' method can be useful because it avoids the need to correctly quote any variables in the `$statement'. But if you'll be executing the statement many times then it's more efficient to `prepare' it once and call `execute' many times instead. The `q{...}' style quoting used in this example avoids clashing with quotes that may be used in the SQL statement. Use the double-quote-like `qq{...}' operator if you want to interpolate variables into the string. See the Quote and Quote-like Operators entry in the perlop manpage for more details. @row_ary = $dbh->selectrow_array($statement); @row_ary = $dbh->selectrow_array($statement, \%attr); @row_ary = $dbh->selectrow_array($statement, \%attr, @bind_values); This utility method combines the prepare, execute, and fetchrow_array entries elsewhere in this document into a single call. If called in a list context, it returns the first row of data from the statement. If called in a scalar context, it returns the first field of the first row. The `$statement' parameter can be a previously prepared statement handle, in which case the `prepare' is skipped. If any method fails, and the RaiseError entry elsewhere in this document is not set, `selectrow_array' will return an empty list. In a scalar context, `selectrow_array' returns the value of the first field. An `undef' is returned if there are no matching rows or an error occurred. Since that `undef' can't be distinguished from an `undef' returned because the first field value was NULL, calling `selectrow_array' in a scalar context should be used with caution. $ary_ref = $dbh->selectall_arrayref($statement); $ary_ref = $dbh->selectall_arrayref($statement, \%attr); $ary_ref = $dbh->selectall_arrayref($statement, \%attr, @bind_values); This utility method combines the prepare, execute, and fetchall_arrayref entries elsewhere in this document into a single call. It returns a reference to an array containing a reference to an array for each row of data fetched. The `$statement' parameter can be a previously prepared statement handle, in which case the `prepare' is skipped. This is recommended if the statement is going to be executed many times. If the RaiseError entry elsewhere in this document is not set and any method except `fetchall_arrayref' fails then `selectall_arrayref' will return `undef'; if `fetchall_arrayref' fails then it will return with whatever data it has been fetched thus far. $ary_ref = $dbh->selectall_hashref($statement); $ary_ref = $dbh->selectall_hashref($statement, \%attr); $ary_ref = $dbh->selectall_hashref($statement, \%attr, @bind_values); This utility method combines the prepare, execute, and fetchrow_hashref entries elsewhere in this document into a single call. It returns a reference to an array containing, for each row of data fetched, a reference to a hash containing field name and value pairs for that row. The `$statement' parameter can be a previously prepared statement handle, in which case the `prepare' is skipped. This is recommended if the statement is going to be executed many times. If any method except `fetchrow_hashref' fails, and the RaiseError entry elsewhere in this document is not set, `selectall_hashref' will return `undef'. If `fetchrow_hashref' fails and the RaiseError entry elsewhere in this document is not set, then it will return with whatever data it has fetched thus far. $ary_ref = $dbh->selectcol_arrayref($statement); $ary_ref = $dbh->selectcol_arrayref($statement, \%attr); $ary_ref = $dbh->selectcol_arrayref($statement, \%attr, @bind_values); This utility method combines the prepareand execute entries elsewhere in this document, and fetching one column from all the rows, into a single call. It returns a reference to an array containing the values of the first column from each row. The `$statement' parameter can be a previously prepared statement handle, in which case the `prepare' is skipped. This is recommended if the statement is going to be executed many times. If any method except `fetch' fails, and the RaiseError entry elsewhere in this document is not set, `selectall_arrayref' will return `undef'. If `fetch' fails and the RaiseError entry elsewhere in this document is not set, then it will return with whatever data it has fetched thus far. $sth = $dbh->prepare($statement) || die $dbh->errstr; $sth = $dbh->prepare($statement, \%attr) || die $dbh->errstr; Prepares a single statement for later execution by the database engine and returns a reference to a statement handle object. The returned statement handle can be used to get attributes of the statement and invoke the the execute entry elsewhere in this document method. See the Statement Handle Methods entry elsewhere in this document. Drivers for engines without the concept of preparing a statement will typically just store the statement in the returned handle and process it when `$sth-'>`execute' is called. Such drivers are unlikely to give much useful information about the statement, such as `$sth-'>`{NUM_OF_FIELDS}', until after `$sth-'>`execute' has been called. Portable applications should take this into account. In general, DBI drivers do not parse the contents of the statement (other than simply counting any the Placeholders entry elsewhere in this document). The statement is passed directly to the database engine, sometimes known as pass-thru mode. This has advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, you can access all the functionality of the engine being used. On the downside, you're limited if you're using a simple engine, and you need to take extra care if writing applications intended to be portable between engines. Portable applications should not assume that a new statement can be prepared and/or executed while still fetching results from a previous statement. Some command-line SQL tools use statement terminators, like a semicolon, to indicate the end of a statement. Such terminators should not normally be used with the DBI. $sth = $dbh->prepare_cached($statement) $sth = $dbh->prepare_cached($statement, \%attr) $sth = $dbh->prepare_cached($statement, \%attr, $allow_active) Like the prepare entry elsewhere in this document except that the statement handle returned will be stored in a hash associated with the `$dbh'. If another call is made to `prepare_cached' with the same `$statement' and `%attr' values, then the corresponding cached `$sth' will be returned without contacting the database server. This caching can be useful in some applications, but it can also cause problems and should be used with care. If the cached `$sth' being returned is active (i.e., is a `SELECT' that may still have data to be fetched) then a warning will be generated and `finish' will be called for you. The warning can be suppressed by setting `$allow_active' to true. The cache can be accessed (and cleared) via the the CachedKids entry elsewhere in this document attribute. Here's an example of one possible use of `prepare_cached': while ( ($field, $value) = each %search_fields ) { push @sql, "$field = ?"; push @values, $value; } $qualifier = ""; $qualifier = "where ".join(" and ", @sql) if @sql; $sth = $dbh->prepare_cached("SELECT * FROM table $qualifier"); $sth->execute(@values); $rc = $dbh->commit || die $dbh->errstr; Commit (make permanent) the most recent series of database changes if the database supports transactions and AutoCommit is off. If `AutoCommit' is on, then calling `commit' will issue a "commit ineffective with AutoCommit" warning. See also the Transactions entry elsewhere in this document in the the FURTHER INFORMATION entry elsewhere in this document section below. $rc = $dbh->rollback || die $dbh->errstr; Rollback (undo) the most recent series of uncommitted database changes if the database supports transactions and AutoCommit is off. If `AutoCommit' is on, then calling `rollback' will issue a "rollback ineffective with AutoCommit" warning. See also the Transactions entry elsewhere in this document in the the FURTHER INFORMATION entry elsewhere in this document section below. $rc = $dbh->disconnect || warn $dbh->errstr; Disconnects the database from the database handle. `disconnect' is typically only used before exiting the program. The handle is of little use after disconnecting. The transaction behavior of the `disconnect' method is, sadly, undefined. Some database systems (such as Oracle and Ingres) will automatically commit any outstanding changes, but others (such as Informix) will rollback any outstanding changes. Applications not using `AutoCommit' should explicitly call `commit' or `rollback' before calling `disconnect'. The database is automatically disconnected by the `DESTROY' method if still connected when there are no longer any references to the handle. The `DESTROY' method for each driver should implicitly call `rollback' to undo any uncommitted changes. This is vital behavior to ensure that incomplete transactions don't get committed simply because Perl calls `DESTROY' on every object before exiting. Also, do not rely on the order of object destruction during "global destruction", as it is undefined. Generally, if you want your changes to be commited or rolled back when you disconnect, then you should explicitly call the commit entry elsewhere in this document or the rollback entry elsewhere in this document before disconnecting. If you disconnect from a database while you still have active statement handles, you will get a warning. The statement handles should either be cleared (destroyed) before disconnecting, or the `finish' method should be called on each one. $rc = $dbh->ping; Attempts to determine, in a reasonably efficient way, if the database server is still running and the connection to it is still working. Individual drivers should implement this function in the most suitable manner for their database engine. The current default implementation always returns true without actually doing anything. Actually, it returns "`0 but true'" which is true but zero. That way you can tell if the return value is genuine or just the default. Drivers should override this method with one that does the right thing for their type of database. Few applications would have direct use for this method. See the specialized Apache::DBI module for one example usage. Warning: This method is experimental and may change. $sth = $dbh->table_info; $sth = $dbh->table_info( \%attr ); Returns an active statement handle that can be used to fetch information about tables and views that exist in the database. The handle has at least the following fields in the order show below. Other fields, after these, may also be present. TABLE_CAT: Table catalog identifier. This field is NULL (`undef') if not applicable to the data source, which is usually the case. This field is empty if not applicable to the table. TABLE_SCHEM: The name of the schema containing the TABLE_NAME value. This field is NULL (`undef') if not applicable to data source, and empty if not applicable to the table. TABLE_NAME: Name of the table (or view, synonym, etc). TABLE_TYPE: One of the following: "TABLE", "VIEW", "SYSTEM TABLE", "GLOBAL TEMPORARY", "LOCAL TEMPORARY", "ALIAS", "SYNONYM" or a type identifier that is specific to the data source. REMARKS: A description of the table. May be NULL (`undef'). Note that `table_info' might not return records for all tables. Applications can use any valid table regardless of whether it's returned by `table_info'. See also the tables entry elsewhere in this document. For more detailed information about the fields and their meanings, you can refer to: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/psdk/dasdk/odch6wqb.htm If that URL ceases to work then use the MSDN search facility at: http://search.microsoft.com/us/dev/ and search for `SQLTables returns' using the exact phrase option. The link you want will probably just be called `SQLTables' and will be part of the Data Access SDK. Warning: This method is experimental and may change. @names = $dbh->tables; @names = $dbh->tables( \%attr ); Returns a list of table and view names, possibly including a schema prefix. This list should include all tables that can be used in a `SELECT' statement without further qualification. Note that `table_info' might not return records for all tables. Applications can use any valid table regardless of whether it's returned by tables. See also the table_info entry elsewhere in this document. Warning: This method is experimental and may change. $type_info_all = $dbh->type_info_all; Returns a reference to an array which holds information about each data type variant supported by the database and driver. The array and its contents should be treated as read-only. The first item is a reference to an 'index' hash of `Name ='> `Index' pairs. The items following that are references to arrays, one per supported data type variant. The leading index hash defines the names and order of the fields within the arrays that follow it. For example: $type_info_all = [ { TYPE_NAME => 0, DATA_TYPE => 1, COLUMN_SIZE => 2, # was PRECISION originally LITERAL_PREFIX => 3, LITERAL_SUFFIX => 4, CREATE_PARAMS => 5, NULLABLE => 6, CASE_SENSITIVE => 7, SEARCHABLE => 8, UNSIGNED_ATTRIBUTE=> 9, FIXED_PREC_SCALE => 10, # was MONEY originally AUTO_UNIQUE_VALUE => 11, # was AUTO_INCREMENT originally LOCAL_TYPE_NAME => 12, MINIMUM_SCALE => 13, MAXIMUM_SCALE => 14, NUM_PREC_RADIX => 15, }, [ 'VARCHAR', SQL_VARCHAR, undef, "'","'", undef,0, 1,1,0,0,0,undef,1,255, undef ], [ 'INTEGER', SQL_INTEGER, undef, "", "", undef,0, 0,1,0,0,0,undef,0, 0, 10 ], ]; Note that more than one row may have the same value in the `DATA_TYPE' field if there are different ways to spell the type name and/or there are variants of the type with different attributes (e.g., with and without `AUTO_UNIQUE_VALUE' set, with and without `UNSIGNED_ATTRIBUTE', etc). The rows are ordered by `DATA_TYPE' first and then by how closely each type maps to the corresponding ODBC SQL data type, closest first. The meaning of the fields is described in the documentation for the the type_info entry elsewhere in this document method. The index values shown above (e.g., `NULLABLE ='> `6') are for illustration only. Drivers may define the fields with a different order. This method is not normally used directly. The the type_info entry elsewhere in this document method provides a more useful interface to the data. Even though an 'index' hash is provided, all the field names in the index hash defined above will always have the index values defined above. This is defined behaviour so that you don't need to rely on the index hash, which is handy because the lettercase of the keys is not defined. It is usually uppercase, as show here, but drivers are free to return names with any lettercase. Drivers are also free to return extra driver-specific columns of information - though it's recommended that they start at column index 50 to leave room for expansion of the DBI/ODBC specification. Warning: This method is experimental and may change. @type_info = $dbh->type_info($data_type); Returns a list of hash references holding information about one or more variants of `$data_type'. The list is ordered by `DATA_TYPE' first and then by how closely each type maps to the corresponding ODBC SQL data type, closest first. If called in a scalar context then only the first (best) element is returned. If `$data_type' is undefined or `SQL_ALL_TYPES', then the list will contain hashes for all data type variants supported by the database and driver. If `$data_type' is an array reference then `type_info' returns the information for the first type in the array that has any matches. The keys of the hash follow the same letter case conventions as the rest of the DBI (see the Naming Conventions and Name Space entry elsewhere in this document). The following items should exist: Data type name for use in CREATE TABLE statements etc. SQL data type number. For numeric types, this is either the total number of digits (if the NUM_PREC_RADIX value is 10) or the total number of bits allowed in the column (if NUM_PREC_RADIX is 2). For string types, this is the maximum size of the string in bytes. For date and interval types, this is the maximum number of characters needed to display the value. Characters used to prefix a literal. A typical prefix is "`''" for characters, or possibly "`0x'" for binary values passed as hexadecimal. NULL (`undef') is returned for data types for which this is not applicable. Characters used to suffix a literal. Typically "`''" for characters. NULL (`undef') is returned for data types where this is not applicable. Parameter names for data type definition. For example, `CREATE_PARAMS' for a `DECIMAL' would be "`precision,scale'" if the DECIMAL type should be declared as `DECIMAL('precision,scale`)' where precision and scale are integer values. For a `VARCHAR' it would be "`max length'". NULL (`undef') is returned for data types for which this is not applicable. Indicates whether the data type accepts a NULL value: `0' or an empty string = no, `1' = yes, `2' = unknown. Indicates whether the data type is case sensitive in collations and comparisons. Indicates how the data type can be used in a WHERE clause, as follows: 0 - Cannot be used in a WHERE clause 1 - Only with a LIKE predicate 2 - All comparison operators except LIKE 3 - Can be used in a WHERE clause with any comparison operator Indicates whether the data type is unsigned. NULL (`undef') is returned for data types for which this is not applicable. Indicates whether the data type always has the same precision and scale (such as a money type). NULL (`undef') is returned for data types for which this is not applicable. Indicates whether a column of this data type is automatically set to a unique value whenever a new row is inserted. NULL (`undef') is returned for data types for which this is not applicable. Localized version of the `TYPE_NAME' for use in dialog with users. NULL (`undef') is returned if a localized name is not available (in which case `TYPE_NAME' should be used). The minimum scale of the data type. If a data type has a fixed scale, then `MAXIMUM_SCALE' holds the same value. NULL (`undef') is returned for data types for which this is not applicable. The maximum scale of the data type. If a data type has a fixed scale, then `MINIMUM_SCALE' holds the same value. NULL (`undef') is returned for data types for which this is not applicable. This column is the same as the `DATA_TYPE' column, except for interval and datetime data types. For interval and datetime data types, the `SQL_DATA_TYPE' field will return `SQL_INTERVAL' or `SQL_DATETIME', and the `SQL_DATETIME_SUB' field below will return the subcode for the specific interval or datetime data type. If this field is NULL, then the driver does not support or report on interval or date subtypes. For interval or datetime data types, where the `SQL_DATA_TYPE' field above is `SQL_INTERVAL' or `SQL_DATETIME', this field will hold the subcode for the specific interval or datetime data type. Otherwise it will be NULL (`undef'). The radix value of the data type. For approximate numeric types, `NUM_PREC_RADIX' contains the value 2 and `COLUMN_SIZE' holds the number of bits. For exact numeric types, `NUM_PREC_RADIX' contains the value 10 and `COLUMN_SIZE' holds the number of decimal digits. NULL (`undef') is returned either for data types for which this is not applicable or if the driver cannot report this information. The interval leading precision for interval types. NULL is returned either for data types for which this is not applicable or if the driver cannot report this information. For example, to find the type name for the fields in a select statement you can do: @names = map { scalar $dbh->type_info($_)->{TYPE_NAME} } @{ $sth->{TYPE} } Since DBI and ODBC drivers vary in how they map their types into the ISO standard types you may need to search for more than one type. Here's an example looking for a usable type to store a date: $my_date_type = $dbh->type_info( [ SQL_DATE, SQL_TIMESTAMP ] ); Similarly, to more reliably find a type to store small integers, you could use a list starting with `SQL_SMALLINT', `SQL_INTEGER', `SQL_DECIMAL', etc. For more detailed information about these fields and their meanings, you can refer to: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/psdk/dasdk/odch6yy7.htm If that URL ceases to work then use the MSDN search facility at http://search.microsoft.com/us/dev/ and search the MSDN Library for `SQLGetTypeInfo returns' using the exact phrase option. The link you want will probably just be called `SQLGetTypeInfo' (there may be more than one). The individual data types are currently described here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/psdk/dasdk/odap8fcj.htm If that URL ceases to work, or to get more general information, use the MSDN search facility as described above and search for `SQL Data Types'. $sql = $dbh->quote($value); $sql = $dbh->quote($value, $data_type); Quote a string literal for use as a literal value in an SQL statement, by escaping any special characters (such as quotation marks) contained within the string and adding the required type of outer quotation marks. $sql = sprintf "SELECT foo FROM bar WHERE baz = %s", $dbh->quote("Don't"); For most database types, quote would return `'Don''t'' (including the outer quotation marks). An undefined `$value' value will be returned as the string `NULL' (without quotation marks) to match how NULLs are represented in SQL. If `$data_type' is supplied, it is used to try to determine the required quoting behavior by using the information returned by the type_info entry elsewhere in this document. As a special case, the standard numeric types are optimized to return `$value' without calling `type_info'. Quote will probably not be able to deal with all possible input (such as binary data or data containing newlines), and is not related in any way with escaping or quoting shell meta-characters. There is no need to quote values being used with the Placeholders and Bind Values entry elsewhere in this document.

Database Handle Attributes
This section describes attributes specific to database handles. Changes to these database handle attributes do not affect any other existing or future database handles. Attempting to set or get the value of an unknown attribute is fatal, except for private driver-specific attributes (which all have names starting with a lowercase letter). Example: $h->{AutoCommit} = ...; # set/write ... = $h->{AutoCommit}; # get/read If true, then database changes cannot be rolled-back (undone). If false, then database changes automatically occur within a "transaction", which must either be committed or rolled back using the `commit' or `rollback' methods. Drivers should always default to `AutoCommit' mode (an unfortunate choice largely forced on the DBI by ODBC and JDBC conventions.) Attempting to set `AutoCommit' to an unsupported value is a fatal error. This is an important feature of the DBI. Applications that need full transaction behavior can set `$dbh-'>`{AutoCommit} = 0' (or set `AutoCommit' to 0 via the connect entry elsewhere in this document) without having to check that the value was assigned successfully. For the purposes of this description, we can divide databases into three categories: Databases which don't support transactions at all. Databases in which a transaction is always active. Databases in which a transaction must be explicitly started (C<'BEGIN WORK'>). * Databases which don't support transactions at all For these databases, attempting to turn `AutoCommit' off is a fatal error. `commit' and `rollback' both issue warnings about being ineffective while `AutoCommit' is in effect. * Databases in which a transaction is always active These are typically mainstream commercial relational databases with "ANSI standard" transaction behavior. If `AutoCommit' is off, then changes to the database won't have any lasting effect unless the commit entry elsewhere in this document is called (but see also the disconnect entry elsewhere in this document). If the rollback entry elsewhere in this document is called then any changes since the last commit are undone. If `AutoCommit' is on, then the effect is the same as if the DBI called `commit' automatically after every successful database operation. In other words, calling `commit' or `rollback' explicitly while `AutoCommit' is on would be ineffective because the changes would have already been commited. Changing `AutoCommit' from off to on should issue a the commit entry elsewhere in this document in most drivers. Changing `AutoCommit' from on to off should have no immediate effect. For databases which don't support a specific auto-commit mode, the driver has to commit each statement automatically using an explicit `COMMIT' after it completes successfully (and roll it back using an explicit `ROLLBACK' if it fails). The error information reported to the application will correspond to the statement which was executed, unless it succeeded and the commit or rollback failed. * Databases in which a transaction must be explicitly started For these databases, the intention is to have them act like databases in which a transaction is always active (as described above). To do this, the DBI driver will automatically begin a transaction when `AutoCommit' is turned off (from the default "on" state) and will automatically begin another transaction after a the commit entry elsewhere in this document or the rollback entry elsewhere in this document. In this way, the application does not have to treat these databases as a special case. See the commit, disconnect, and Transactions entries elsewhere in this document for other important notes about transactions. Holds the handle of the parent driver. The only recommended use for this is to find the name of the driver using: $dbh->{Driver}->{Name} Holds the "name" of the database. Usually (and recommended to be) the same as the "`dbi:DriverName:...'" string used to connect to the database, but with the leading "`dbi:DriverName:'" removed. Returns the statement string passed to the most recent the prepare entry elsewhere in this document method called in this database handle, even if that method failed. This is especially useful where `RaiseError' is enabled and the exception handler checks $@ and sees that a 'prepare' method call failed. A hint to the driver indicating the size of the local row cache that the application would like the driver to use for future `SELECT' statements. If a row cache is not implemented, then setting `RowCacheSize' is ignored and getting the value returns `undef'. Some `RowCacheSize' values have special meaning, as follows: 0 - Automatically determine a reasonable cache size for each C<SELECT> 1 - Disable the local row cache >1 - Cache this many rows <0 - Cache as many rows that will fit into this much memory for each C<SELECT>. Note that large cache sizes may require a very large amount of memory (cached rows * maximum size of row). Also, a large cache will cause a longer delay not only for the first fetch, but also whenever the cache needs refilling. See also the the RowsInCache entry elsewhere in this document statement handle attribute. This section lists the methods and attributes associated with DBI statement handles.

Statement Handle Methods
The DBI defines the following methods for use on DBI statement handles: $rc = $sth->bind_param($p_num, $bind_value) || die $sth->errstr; $rv = $sth->bind_param($p_num, $bind_value, \%attr) || ... $rv = $sth->bind_param($p_num, $bind_value, $bind_type) || ... The `bind_param' method can be used to bind a value with a placeholder embedded in the prepared statement. Placeholders are indicated with question mark character (`?'). For example: $dbh->{RaiseError} = 1; # save having to check each method call $sth = $dbh->prepare("SELECT name, age FROM people WHERE name LIKE ?"); $sth->bind_param(1, "John%"); # placeholders are numbered from 1 $sth->execute; DBI::dump_results($sth); Note that the `?' is not enclosed in quotation marks, even when the placeholder represents a string. Some drivers also allow placeholders like `:'name and `:'n (e.g., `:1', `:2', and so on) in addition to `?', but their use is not portable. Undefined bind values or `undef' can be used to indicate null values. Some drivers do not support placeholders. With most drivers, placeholders can't be used for any element of a statement that would prevent the database server from validating the statement and creating a query execution plan for it. For example: "SELECT name, age FROM ?" # wrong (will probably fail) "SELECT name, ? FROM people" # wrong (but may not 'fail') Also, placeholders can only represent single scalar values. For example, the following statement won't work as expected for more than one value: "SELECT name, age FROM people WHERE name IN (?)" # wrong Data Types for Placeholders The `\%attr' parameter can be used to hint at the data type the placeholder should have. Typically, the driver is only interested in knowing if the placeholder should be bound as a number or a string. $sth->bind_param(1, $value, { TYPE => SQL_INTEGER }); As a short-cut for this common case, the data type can be passed directly, in place of the `\%attr' hash reference. This example is equivalent to the one above: $sth->bind_param(1, $value, SQL_INTEGER); The `TYPE' value indicates the standard (non-driver-specific) type for this parameter. To specify the driver-specific type, the driver may support a driver-specific attribute, such as `{ ora_type ='>` 97 }'. The data type for a placeholder cannot be changed after the first `bind_param' call. However, it can be left unspecified, in which case it defaults to the previous value. Perl only has string and number scalar data types. All database types that aren't numbers are bound as strings and must be in a format the database will understand. As an alternative to specifying the data type in the `bind_param' call, you can let the driver pass the value as the default type (`VARCHAR'). You can then use an SQL function to convert the type within the statement. For example: INSERT INTO price(code, price) VALUES (?, CONVERT(MONEY,?)) The `CONVERT' function used here is just an example. The actual function and syntax will vary between different databases and is non-portable. See also the Placeholders and Bind Values entry elsewhere in this document for more information. $rc = $sth->bind_param_inout($p_num, \$bind_value, $max_len) || die $sth->errstr; $rv = $sth->bind_param_inout($p_num, \$bind_value, $max_len, \%attr) || ... $rv = $sth->bind_param_inout($p_num, \$bind_value, $max_len, $bind_type) || ... This method acts like the bind_param entry elsewhere in this document, but also enables values to be updated by the statement. The statement is typically a call to a stored procedure. The `$bind_value' must be passed as a reference to the actual value to be used. Note that unlike the bind_param entry elsewhere in this document, the `$bind_value' variable is not read when `bind_param_inout' is called. Instead, the value in the variable is read at the time the execute entry elsewhere in this document is called. The additional `$max_len' parameter specifies the minimum amount of memory to allocate to `$bind_value' for the new value. If the value returned from the database is too big to fit, then the execution should fail. If unsure what value to use, pick a generous length, i.e., a length larger than the longest value that would ever be returned. The only cost of using a larger value than needed is wasted memory. It is expected that few drivers will support this method. The only driver currently known to do so is DBD::Oracle (DBD::ODBC may support it in a future release). Therefore it should not be used for database independent applications. Undefined values or `undef' are used to indicate null values. See also the Placeholders and Bind Values entry elsewhere in this document for more information. $rv = $sth->execute || die $sth->errstr; $rv = $sth->execute(@bind_values) || die $sth->errstr; Perform whatever processing is necessary to execute the prepared statement. An `undef' is returned if an error occurs. A successful `execute' always returns true regardless of the number of rows affected, even if it's zero (see below). It is always important to check the return status of `execute' (and most other DBI methods) for errors. For a non-`SELECT' statement, `execute' returns the number of rows affected, if known. If no rows were affected, then `execute' returns "`0E0'", which Perl will treat as 0 but will regard as true. Note that it is not an error for no rows to be affected by a statement. If the number of rows affected is not known, then `execute' returns -1. For `SELECT' statements, execute simply "starts" the query within the database engine. Use one of the fetch methods to retreive the data after calling `execute'. The `execute' method does not return the number of rows that will be returned by the query (because most databases can't tell in advance), it simply returns a true value. If any arguments are given, then `execute' will effectively call the bind_param entry elsewhere in this document for each value before executing the statement. Values bound in this way are usually treated as `SQL_VARCHAR' types unless the driver can determine the correct type (which is rare), or unless `bind_param' (or `bind_param_inout') has already been used to specify the type. $ary_ref = $sth->fetchrow_arrayref; $ary_ref = $sth->fetch; # alias Fetches the next row of data and returns a reference to an array holding the field values. Null fields are returned as `undef' values in the array. This is the fastest way to fetch data, particularly if used with `$sth-'>`bind_columns'. If there are no more rows or if an error occurs, then `fetchrow_arrayref' returns an `undef'. You should check `$sth-'>`err' afterwards (or use the `RaiseError' attribute) to discover if the `undef' returned was due to an error. Note that the same array reference is returned for each fetch, so don't store the reference and then use it after a later fetch. Also, the elements of the array are also reused for each row, so take care if you want to take a reference to an element. See also the bind_columns entry elsewhere in this document. @ary = $sth->fetchrow_array; An alternative to `fetchrow_arrayref'. Fetches the next row of data and returns it as a list containing the field values. Null fields are returned as `undef' values in the list. If there are no more rows or if an error occurs, then `fetchrow_array' returns an empty list. You should check `$sth-'>`err' afterwards (or use the `RaiseError' attribute) to discover if the empty list returned was due to an error. In a scalar context, `fetchrow_array' returns the value of the first field. An `undef' is returned if there are no more rows or if an error occurred. Since that `undef' can't be distinguished from an `undef' returned because the first field value was NULL, you should exercise some caution if you use `fetchrow_array' in a scalar context. $hash_ref = $sth->fetchrow_hashref; $hash_ref = $sth->fetchrow_hashref($name); An alternative to `fetchrow_arrayref'. Fetches the next row of data and returns it as a reference to a hash containing field name and field value pairs. Null fields are returned as `undef' values in the hash. If there are no more rows or if an error occurs, then `fetchrow_hashref' returns an `undef'. You should check `$sth-'>`err' afterwards (or use the `RaiseError' attribute) to discover if the `undef' returned was due to an error. The optional `$name' parameter specifies the name of the statement handle attribute. For historical reasons it defaults to "`NAME'", however using either "`NAME_lc'" or "`NAME_uc'" is recomended for portability. The keys of the hash are the same names returned by `$sth-'>`{$name}'. If more than one field has the same name, there will only be one entry in the returned hash for those fields. Because of the extra work `fetchrow_hashref' and Perl have to perform, it is not as efficient as `fetchrow_arrayref' or `fetchrow_array'. Currently, a new hash reference is returned for each row. This will change in the future to return the same hash ref each time, so don't rely on the current behaviour. $tbl_ary_ref = $sth->fetchall_arrayref; $tbl_ary_ref = $sth->fetchall_arrayref( $slice_array_ref ); $tbl_ary_ref = $sth->fetchall_arrayref( $slice_hash_ref ); The `fetchall_arrayref' method can be used to fetch all the data to be returned from a prepared and executed statement handle. It returns a reference to an array that contains one reference per row. If there are no rows to return, `fetchall_arrayref' returns a reference to an empty array. If an error occurs, `fetchall_arrayref' returns the data fetched thus far, which may be none. You should check `$sth-'>`err' afterwards (or use the `RaiseError' attribute) to discover if the data is complete or was truncated due to an error. When passed an array reference, `fetchall_arrayref' uses the fetchrow_arrayref entry elsewhere in this document to fetch each row as an array ref. If the parameter array is not empty then it is used as a slice to select individual columns by index number. With no parameters, `fetchall_arrayref' acts as if passed an empty array ref. When passed a hash reference, `fetchall_arrayref' uses the fetchrow_hashref entry elsewhere in this document to fetch each row as a hash reference. If the parameter hash is empty then fetchrow_hashref is simply called in a tight loop and the keys in the hashes have whatever name lettercase is returned by default from fetchrow_hashref. If the parameter hash is not empty, then it is used as a slice to select individual columns by name. The names should be lower case regardless of the letter case in `$sth-'>`{NAME}'. The values of the hash should be set to 1. For example, to fetch just the first column of every row: $tbl_ary_ref = $sth->fetchall_arrayref([0]); To fetch the second to last and last column of every row: $tbl_ary_ref = $sth->fetchall_arrayref([-2,-1]); To fetch all fields of every row as a hash ref: $tbl_ary_ref = $sth->fetchall_arrayref({}); To fetch only the fields called "foo" and "bar" of every row as a hash ref: $tbl_ary_ref = $sth->fetchall_arrayref({ foo=>1, bar=>1 }); The first two examples return a reference to an array of array refs. The last returns a reference to an array of hash refs. $tbl_ary_ref = $sth->fetchall_hashref; The `fetchall_hashref' method can be used to fetch all the data to be returned from a prepared and executed statement handle. It returns a reference to an array that contains one hash of field name and value pairs per row. If there are no rows to return, `fetchall_hashref' returns a reference to an empty array. If an error occurs, `fetchall_hashref' returns the data fetched thus far, which may be none. You should check `$sth-'>`err' afterwards (or use the `RaiseError' attribute) to discover if the data is complete or was truncated due to an error. $rc = $sth->finish; Indicates that no more data will be fetched from this statement handle before it is either executed again or destroyed. The `finish' method is rarely needed, but can sometimes be helpful in very specific situations to allow the server to free up resources (such as sort buffers). When all the data has been fetched from a `SELECT' statement, the driver should automatically call `finish' for you. So you should not normally need to call it explicitly. Consider a query like: SELECT foo FROM table WHERE bar=? ORDER BY foo where you want to select just the first (smallest) "foo" value from a very large table. When executed, the database server will have to use temporary buffer space to store the sorted rows. If, after executing the handle and selecting one row, the handle won't be re-executed for some time and won't be destroyed, the `finish' method can be used to tell the server that the buffer space can be freed. Calling `finish' resets the the Active entry elsewhere in this document attribute for the statement. It may also make some statement handle attributes (such as `NAME' and `TYPE') unavailable if they have not already been accessed (and thus cached). The `finish' method does not affect the transaction status of the database connection. It has nothing to do with transactions. It's mostly an internal "housekeeping" method that is rarely needed. There's no need to call `finish' if you're about to destroy or re-execute the statement handle. See also the disconnect entry elsewhere in this document and the the Active entry elsewhere in this document attribute. The `finish' method should have been called `cancel_select'. $rv = $sth->rows; Returns the number of rows affected by the last row affecting command, or -1 if the number of rows is not known or not available. Generally, you can only rely on a row count after a non-`SELECT' `execute' (for some specific operations like `UPDATE' and `DELETE'), or after fetching all the rows of a `SELECT' statement. For `SELECT' statements, it is generally not possible to know how many rows will be returned except by fetching them all. Some drivers will return the number of rows the application has fetched so far, but others may return -1 until all rows have been fetched. So use of the `rows' method or `$DBI::rows' with `SELECT' statements is not recommended. One alternative method to get a row count for a `SELECT' is to execute a "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ..." SQL statement with the same "..." as your query and then fetch the row count from that. $rc = $sth->bind_col($column_number, \$var_to_bind); Binds an output column (field) of a `SELECT' statement to a Perl variable. See `bind_columns' below for an example. Note that column numbers count up from 1. Whenever a row is fetched from the database, the corresponding Perl variable is automatically updated. There is no need to fetch and assign the values manually. The binding is performed at a very low level using Perl aliasing so there is no extra copying taking place. This makes using bound variables very efficient. For maximum portability between drivers, `bind_col' should be called after `execute'. This restriction may be removed in a later version of the DBI. You do not need to bind output columns in order to fetch data, but it can be useful for some applications which need either maximum performance or greater clarity of code. The the bind_param entry elsewhere in this document method performs a similar but opposite function for input variables. $rc = $sth->bind_columns(@list_of_refs_to_vars_to_bind); Calls the bind_col entry elsewhere in this document for each column of the `SELECT' statement. The `bind_columns' method will die if the number of references does not match the number of fields. For maximum portability between drivers, `bind_columns' should be called after `execute'. For example: $dbh->{RaiseError} = 1; # do this, or check every call for errors $sth = $dbh->prepare(q{ SELECT region, sales FROM sales_by_region }); $sth->execute; my ($region, $sales); # Bind Perl variables to columns: $rv = $sth->bind_columns(\$region, \$sales); # you can also use Perl's \(...) syntax (see perlref docs): # $sth->bind_columns(\($region, $sales)); # Column binding is the most efficient way to fetch data while ($sth->fetch) { print "$region: $sales\n"; } For compatibility with old scripts, the first parameter will be ignored if it is `undef' or a hash reference. Here's a more fancy example that binds columns to the values inside a hash: $sth->execute; my %row; $sth->bind_columns( \( @row{ @{$sth->{NAME_lc} } } )); while ($sth->fetch) { print "$row{region}: $row{sales}\n"; } $rows = $sth->dump_results($maxlen, $lsep, $fsep, $fh); Fetches all the rows from `$sth', calls `DBI::neat_list' for each row, and prints the results to `$fh' (defaults to `STDOUT') separated by `$lsep' (default `"\n"'). `$fsep' defaults to `", "' and `$maxlen' defaults to 35. This method is designed as a handy utility for prototyping and testing queries. Since it uses the neat_list entry elsewhere in this document to format and edit the string for reading by humans, it is not recomended for data transfer applications.

Statement Handle Attributes
This section describes attributes specific to statement handles. Most of these attributes are read-only. Changes to these statement handle attributes do not affect any other existing or future statement handles. Attempting to set or get the value of an unknown attribute is fatal, except for private driver specific attributes (which all have names starting with a lowercase letter). Example: ... = $h->{NUM_OF_FIELDS}; # get/read Note that some drivers cannot provide valid values for some or all of these attributes until after `$sth-'>`execute' has been called. See also the finish entry elsewhere in this document to learn more about the effect it may have on some attributes. Number of fields (columns) the prepared statement will return. Non-`SELECT' statements will have `NUM_OF_FIELDS == 0'. The number of parameters (placeholders) in the prepared statement. See SUBSTITUTION VARIABLES below for more details. Returns a reference to an array of field names for each column. The names may contain spaces but should not be truncated or have any trailing space. Note that the names have the letter case (upper, lower or mixed) as returned by the driver being used. Portable applications should use the NAME_lc entry elsewhere in this document or the NAME_uc entry elsewhere in this document. print "First column name: $sth->{NAME}->[0]\n"; Like the NAME entry elsewhere in this document but always returns lowercase names. Like the NAME entry elsewhere in this document but always returns uppercase names. Returns a reference to an array of integer values for each column. The value indicates the data type of the corresponding column. The values correspond to the international standards (ANSI X3.135 and ISO/IEC 9075) which, in general terms, means ODBC. Driver-specific types that don't exactly match standard types should generally return the same values as an ODBC driver supplied by the makers of the database. That might include private type numbers in ranges the vendor has officially registered with the ISO working group: ftp://jerry.ece.umassd.edu/isowg3/dbl/SQL_Registry Where there's no vendor-supplied ODBC driver to be compatible with, the DBI driver can use type numbers in the range that is now officially reserved for use by the DBI: -9999 to -9000. All possible values for `TYPE' should have at least one entry in the output of the `type_info_all' method (see the type_info_all entry elsewhere in this document). Returns a reference to an array of integer values for each column. For non-numeric columns, the value generally refers to either the maximum length or the defined length of the column. For numeric columns, the value refers to the maximum number of significant digits used by the data type (without considering a sign character or decimal point). Note that for floating point types (REAL, FLOAT, DOUBLE), the "display size" can be up to 7 characters greater than the precision. (for the sign + decimal point + the letter E + a sign + 2 or 3 digits). Returns a reference to an array of integer values for each column. NULL (`undef') values indicate columns where scale is not applicable. Returns a reference to an array indicating the possibility of each column returning a null. Possible values are `0' (or an empty string) = no, `1' = yes, `2' = unknown. print "First column may return NULL\n" if $sth->{NULLABLE}->[0]; Returns the name of the cursor associated with the statement handle, if available. If not available or if the database driver does not support the `"where current of ..."' SQL syntax, then it returns `undef'. Returns the statement string passed to the the prepare entry elsewhere in this document method. If the driver supports a local row cache for `SELECT' statements, then this attribute holds the number of un-fetched rows in the cache. If the driver doesn't, then it returns `undef'. Note that some drivers pre-fetch rows on execute, whereas others wait till the first fetch. See also the the RowCacheSize entry elsewhere in this document database handle attribute.

Transactions
Transactions are a fundamental part of any robust database system. They protect against errors and database corruption by ensuring that sets of related changes to the database take place in atomic (indivisible, all-or-nothing) units. This section applies to databases that support transactions and where `AutoCommit' is off. See the AutoCommit entry elsewhere in this document for details of using `AutoCommit' with various types of databases. The recommended way to implement robust transactions in Perl applications is to use `RaiseError' and `eval { ... }' (which is very fast, unlike `eval "..."'). For example: $dbh->{AutoCommit} = 0; # enable transactions, if possible $dbh->{RaiseError} = 1; eval { foo(...) # do lots of work here bar(...) # including inserts baz(...) # and updates $dbh->commit; # commit the changes if we get this far }; if ($@) { warn "Transaction aborted because $@"; $dbh->rollback; # undo the incomplete changes # add other application on-error-clean-up code here } If the `RaiseError' attribute is not set, then DBI calls would need to be manually checked for errors, typically like this: $h->method(@args) || die $h->errstr; With `RaiseError' set, the DBI will automatically `die' if any DBI method call on that handle (or a child handle) fails, so you don't have to test the return value of each method call. See the RaiseError entry elsewhere in this document for more details. A major advantage of the `eval' approach is that the transaction will be properly rolled back if any code (not just DBI calls) in the inner application dies for any reason. The major advantage of using the `$h-'>`{RaiseError}' attribute is that all DBI calls will be checked automatically. Both techniques are strongly recommended. After calling `commit' or `rollback' many drivers will not let you fetch from a previously active `SELECT' statement handle that's a child of the same database handle. A typical way round this is to connect the the database twice and use one connection for `SELECT' statements.

Handling BLOB / LONG / Memo Fields
Many databases support "blob" (binary large objects), "long", or similar datatypes for holding very long strings or large amounts of binary data in a single field. Some databases support variable length long values over 2,000,000,000 bytes in length. Since values of that size can't usually be held in memory, and because databases can't usually know in advance the length of the longest long that will be returned from a `SELECT' statement (unlike other data types), some special handling is required. In this situation, the value of the `$h-'>`{LongReadLen}' attribute is used to determine how much buffer space to allocate when fetching such fields. The `$h-'>`{LongTruncOk}' attribute is used to determine how to behave if a fetched value can't fit into the buffer. When trying to insert long or binary values, placeholders should be used since there are often limits on the maximum size of an `INSERT' statement and the the quote entry elsewhere in this document method generally can't cope with binary data. See the Placeholders and Bind Values entry elsewhere in this document.

Simple Examples
Here's a complete example program to select and fetch some data: my $dbh = DBI->connect("dbi:DriverName:db_name", $user, $password) || die "Can't connect to $data_source: $DBI::errstr"; my $sth = $dbh->prepare( q{ SELECT name, phone FROM mytelbook }) || die "Can't prepare statement: $DBI::errstr"; my $rc = $sth->execute || die "Can't execute statement: $DBI::errstr"; print "Query will return $sth->{NUM_OF_FIELDS} fields.\n\n"; print "Field names: @{ $sth->{NAME} }\n"; while (($name, $phone) = $sth->fetchrow_array) { print "$name: $phone\n"; } # check for problems which may have terminated the fetch early die $sth->errstr if $sth->err; $dbh->disconnect; Here's a complete example program to insert some data from a file. (This example uses `RaiseError' to avoid needing to check each call). my $dbh = DBI->connect("dbi:DriverName:db_name", $user, $password, { RaiseError => 1, AutoCommit => 0 }); my $sth = $dbh->prepare( q{ INSERT INTO table (name, phone) VALUES (?, ?) }); open FH, "<phone.csv" or die "Unable to open phone.csv: $!"; while (<FH>) { chop; my ($name, $phone) = split /,/; $sth->execute($name, $phone); } close FH; $dbh->commit; $dbh->disconnect; Here's how to convert fetched NULLs (undefined values) into empty strings: while($row = $sth->fetchrow_arrayref) { # this is a fast and simple way to deal with nulls: foreach (@$row) { $_ = '' unless defined } print "@$row\n"; } The `q{...}' style quoting used in these examples avoids clashing with quotes that may be used in the SQL statement. Use the double-quote like `qq{...}' operator if you want to interpolate variables into the string. See the Quote and Quote-like Operators entry in the perlop manpage for more details.

Threads and Thread Safety
Perl versions 5.004_50 and later include optional experimental support for multiple threads on many platforms. If the DBI is built using a Perl that has threads enabled then it will use a per-driver mutex to ensure that only one thread is with a driver at any one time. Please note that support for threads in Perl is still experimental and is known to have some significant problems. It's use is not recommended.

Signal Handling and Canceling Operations
The first thing to say is that signal handling in Perl is currently not safe. There is always a small risk of Perl crashing and/or core dumping when, or after, handling a signal. (The risk was reduced with 5.004_04 but is still present.) The two most common uses of signals in relation to the DBI are for canceling operations when the user types Ctrl-C (interrupt), and for implementing a timeout using `alarm()' and `$SIG{ALRM}'. To assist in implementing these operations, the DBI provides a `cancel' method for statement handles. The `cancel' method should abort the current operation and is designed to be called from a signal handler. However, it must be stressed that: a) few drivers implement this at the moment (the DBI provides a default method that just returns `undef'); and b) even if implemented, there is still a possibility that the statement handle, and possibly the parent database handle, will not be usable afterwards. If `cancel' returns true, then it has successfully invoked the database engine's own cancel function. If it returns false, then `cancel' failed. If it returns `undef', then the database engine does not have cancel implemented. In addition to the the trace entry elsewhere in this document method, you can enable the same trace information by setting the `DBI_TRACE' environment variable before starting Perl. On Unix-like systems using a Bourne-like shell, you can do this easily on the command line: DBI_TRACE=2 perl your_test_script.pl If `DBI_TRACE' is set to a non-numeric value, then it is assumed to be a file name and the trace level will be set to 2 with all trace output appended to that file. If the name begins with a number followed by an equal sign (`='), then the number and the equal sign are stripped off from the name, and the number is used to set the trace level. For example: DBI_TRACE=1=dbitrace.log perl your_test_script.pl See also the the trace entry elsewhere in this document method. It can sometimes be handy to compare trace files from two different runs of the same script. However using a tool like `diff' doesn't work well because the trace file is full of object addresses that may differ each run. Here's a handy little command to strip those out: perl -pe 's/\b0x[\da-f]{6,}/0xNNNN/gi; s/\b[\da-f]{6,}/<long number>/gi'

Fatal Errors
The `$dbh' handle you're using to call `prepare' is probably undefined because the preceding `connect' failed. You should always check the return status of DBI methods, or use the the RaiseError entry elsewhere in this document attribute. The `$sth' handle you're using to call `execute' is probably undefined because the preceeding `prepare' failed. You should always check the return status of DBI methods, or use the the RaiseError entry elsewhere in this document attribute. The DBD driver module was built with a different version of DBI than the one currently being used. You should rebuild the DBD module under the current version of DBI. (Some rare platforms require "static linking". On those platforms, there may be an old DBI or DBD driver version actually embedded in the Perl executable being used.) The DBD driver implementation is incomplete. Consult the author. You attempted to set or get an unknown attribute of a handle. Make sure you have spelled the attribute name correctly; case is significant (e.g., "Autocommit" is not the same as "AutoCommit").

Warnings
A `$dbh' handle went out of scope or the program ended before the handle was disconnected from the database. You should always explicitly call `disconnect' when you are finished using a database handle. If using transactions then you should also explicitly call `commit' or `rollback' before `disconnect'. Most probably due to a DBI bug. Possibly a DBD driver bug. Please report it. Most probably due to a DBI bug. Possibly a DBD driver bug. Please report it. Most probably a DBD driver bug. Please report it. Most probably due to a DBI bug. Possibly a DBD driver bug. Please report it.

Driver and Database Documentation
Refer to the documentation for the DBD driver that you are using. Refer to the SQL Language Reference Manual for the database engine that you are using.

Books and Journals
Programming the Perl DBI, by Alligator Descartes and Tim Bunce. Programming Perl 2nd Ed. by Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen & Randal Schwartz. Learning Perl by Randal Schwartz. Dr Dobb's Journal, November 1996. The Perl Journal, April 1997.

Manual Pages
perl(1), perlmod(1), perlbook(1)

Mailing List
The dbi-users mailing list is the primary means of communication among users of the DBI and its related modules. For details send email to: dbi-users-help@perl.org There are typically between 700 and 900 messages per month. You have to subscribe in order to be able to post. However you can opt for a 'post-only' subscription. Mailing list archives are held at: http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/dbi/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dbi-users http://www.bitmechanic.com/mail-archives/dbi-users/ http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=perl-dbi&r=1&w=2 http://www.mail-archive.com/dbi-users%40perl.org/ http://www.mail-archive.com/dbi-users%40perl.org/

Assorted Related WWW Links
The DBI "Home Page": http://dbi.perl.org/ Other DBI related links: http://tegan.deltanet.com/~phlip/DBUIdoc.html http://dc.pm.org/perl_db.html http://wdvl.com/Authoring/DB/Intro/toc.html http://www.hotwired.com/webmonkey/backend/tutorials/tutorial1.html http://bumppo.net/lists/macperl/1999/06/msg00197.html Other database related links: http://www.jcc.com/sql_stnd.html http://cuiwww.unige.ch/OSG/info/FreeDB/FreeDB.home.html Commercial and Data Warehouse Links http://www.dwinfocenter.org http://www.datawarehouse.com http://www.datamining.org http://www.olapcouncil.org http://www.idwa.org http://www.knowledgecenters.org/dwcenter.asp Recommended Perl Programming Links http://language.perl.com/style/

FAQ
Please also read the DBI FAQ which is installed as a DBI::FAQ module. You can use perldoc to read it by executing the `perldoc DBI::FAQ' command. DBI by Tim Bunce. This pod text by Tim Bunce, J. Douglas Dunlop, Jonathan Leffler and others. Perl by Larry Wall and the `perl5-porters'. The DBI module is Copyright (c) 1994-2000 Tim Bunce. England. All rights reserved. You may distribute under the terms of either the GNU General Public License or the Artistic License, as specified in the Perl README file. I would like to acknowledge the valuable contributions of the many people I have worked with on the DBI project, especially in the early years (1992-1994). In no particular order: Kevin Stock, Buzz Moschetti, Kurt Andersen, Ted Lemon, William Hails, Garth Kennedy, Michael Peppler, Neil S. Briscoe, Jeff Urlwin, David J. Hughes, Jeff Stander, Forrest D Whitcher, Larry Wall, Jeff Fried, Roy Johnson, Paul Hudson, Georg Rehfeld, Steve Sizemore, Ron Pool, Jon Meek, Tom Christiansen, Steve Baumgarten, Randal Schwartz, and a whole lot more. Then, of course, there are the poor souls who have struggled through untold and undocumented obstacles to actually implement DBI drivers. Among their ranks are Jochen Wiedmann, Alligator Descartes, Jonathan Leffler, Jeff Urlwin, Michael Peppler, Henrik Tougaard, Edwin Pratomo, Davide Migliavacca, Jan Pazdziora, Peter Haworth, Edmund Mergl, Steve Williams, Thomas Lowery, and Phlip Plumlee. Without them, the DBI would not be the practical reality it is today. I'm also especially grateful to Alligator Descartes for starting work on the "Programming the Perl DBI" book and letting me jump on board. A German translation of this manual (possibly slightly out of date) is available, thanks to O'Reilly, at: http://www.oreilly.de/catalog/perldbiger/ Some other translations: http://cronopio.net/perl/ - Spanish http://member.nifty.ne.jp/hippo2000/dbimemo.htm - Japanese The DBI is free software. IT COMES WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. Commercial support for Perl and the DBI, DBD::Oracle and Oraperl modules can be arranged via The Perl Clinic. For more details visit: http://www.perlclinic.com References to DBI related training resources. No recommendation implied. http://www.treepax.co.uk/ http://www.keller.com/dbweb/ See the DBI FAQ for a more comprehensive list of FAQs. Use the `perldoc DBI::FAQ' command to read it.

How fast is the DBI?
To measure the speed of the DBI and DBD::Oracle code, I modified DBD::Oracle so you can set an attribute that will cause the same row to be fetched from the row cache over and over again (without involving Oracle code but exercising *all* the DBI and DBD::Oracle code in the code path for a fetch). The results (on my lightly loaded old Sparc 10) fetching 50000 rows using: 1 while $csr->fetch; were: one field: 5300 fetches per cpu second (approx) ten fields: 4000 fetches per cpu second (approx) Obviously results will vary between platforms (newer faster platforms can reach around 50000 fetches per second), but it does give a feel for the maximum performance: fast. By way of comparison, using the code: 1 while @row = $csr->fetchrow_array; (`fetchrow_array' is roughly the same as `ora_fetch') gives: one field: 3100 fetches per cpu second (approx) ten fields: 1000 fetches per cpu second (approx) Notice the slowdown and the more dramatic impact of extra fields. (The fields were all one char long. The impact would be even bigger for longer strings.) Changing that slightly to represent actually doing something in Perl with the fetched data: while(@row = $csr->fetchrow_array) { $hash{++$i} = [ @row ]; } gives: ten fields: 500 fetches per cpu second (approx) That simple addition has *halved* the performance. I therefore conclude that DBI and DBD::Oracle overheads are small compared with Perl language overheads (and probably database overheads). So, if you think the DBI or your driver is slow, try replacing your fetch loop with just: 1 while $csr->fetch; and time that. If that helps then point the finger at your own code. If that doesn't help much then point the finger at the database, the platform, the network etc. But think carefully before pointing it at the DBI or your driver. (Having said all that, if anyone can show me how to make the DBI or drivers even more efficient, I'm all ears.)

Why doesn't my CGI script work right?
Read the information in the references below. Please do not post CGI related questions to the dbi-users mailing list (or to me). http://www.perl.com/cgi-bin/pace/pub/doc/FAQs/cgi/perl-cgi-faq.html http://www3.pair.com/webthing/docs/cgi/faqs/cgifaq.shtml http://www-genome.wi.mit.edu/WWW/faqs/www-security-faq.html http://www.boutell.com/faq/ http://www.perl.com/perl/faq/ General problems and good ideas: Use the CGI::ErrorWrap module. Remember that many env vars won't be set for CGI scripts.

How can I maintain a WWW connection to a database?
For information on the Apache httpd server and the `mod_perl' module see http://perl.apache.org/

What about ODBC?
A DBD::ODBC module is available.

Does the DBI have a year 2000 problem?
No. The DBI has no knowledge or understanding of dates at all. Individual drivers (DBD::*) may have some date handling code but are unlikely to have year 2000 related problems within their code. However, your application code which uses the DBI and DBD drivers may have year 2000 related problems if it has not been designed and written well. See also the "Does Perl have a year 2000 problem?" section of the Perl FAQ: http://www.perl.com/CPAN/doc/FAQs/FAQ/PerlFAQ.html To be used with the Apache daemon together with an embedded Perl interpreter like `mod_perl'. Establishes a database connection which remains open for the lifetime of the HTTP daemon. This way the CGI connect and disconnect for every database access becomes superfluous. The server is written in Perl. The client classes that talk to it are of course in Java. Thus, a Java applet or application will be able to comunicate via the JDBC API with any database that has a DBI driver installed. The URL used is in the form `jdbc:dbi://host.domain.etc:999/Driver/DBName'. It seems to be very similar to some commercial products, such as jdbcKona. As of DBI 1.02, a complete implementation of a DBD::Proxy driver and the DBI::ProxyServer are part of the DBI distribution. Hugo van der Sanden <hv@crypt.compulink.co.uk> Stephen Zander <stephen.zander@mckesson.com> Based on the O'Reilly lex/yacc book examples and `byacc'. See also the SQL::Statement module, a very simple SQL parser and engine, base of the DBD::CSV driver.