Oracle® Provider for OLE DB

Developer's Guide

11g Release 1 (11.1)

B28431-01

July 2007

Oracle Provider for OLE DB Developer's Guide, 11g Release 1 (11.1)

B28431-01

Copyright © 1999, 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Contributors:  Janis Greenberg, Eric Belden, Riaz Ahmed, Kiminari Akiyama, Neeraj Gupta, Sinclair Hsu, Gopal Kirsur, Sunil Mushran, Rajendra Pingte, Helen Slattery, Valarie Moore, Vikhram Shetty, Sujith Somanathan, Alex Keh, Christian Shay

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Contents

List of Figures

Preface

- Audience

- Documentation Accessibility

- Related Documents

- Conventions

What's New in OraOLEDB?

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 11.1

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 10.2

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 10.1

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 9.2.0.4

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 9.2

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 9.0.1

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 8.1.7

1 Introduction to Oracle Provider for OLE DB

- 1.1 Overview of OLE DB

- 1.1.1 OLE DB Design

- 1.2 Overview of OraOLEDB

- 1.3 System Requirements

- 1.4 OraOLEDB Installation

- 1.5 Component Certifications

2 Features of OraOLEDB

- 2.1 OraOLEDB Provider Specific Features

- 2.1.1 Data Types

- 2.1.1.1 Binary Data Types

- 2.1.1.2 TIMESTAMP Data Types

- 2.1.1.3 INTERVAL Data Types

- 2.1.2 Data Source

- 2.1.2.1 Connecting to an Oracle Database

- 2.1.2.2 OraOLEDB-Specific Connection String Attributes

- 2.1.2.3 Default Attribute Values

- 2.1.2.4 Distributed Transactions

- 2.1.2.5 Enhanced Failover Capability

- 2.1.2.6 Operating System Authentication

- 2.1.2.7 Password Expiration

- 2.1.2.8 VCharNull

- 2.1.2.9 SPPrmDefVal

- 2.1.3 OraOLEDB Sessions

- 2.1.3.1 Transactions

- 2.1.4 Commands

- 2.1.4.1 Stored Procedures

- 2.1.4.2 Preparing Commands

- 2.1.4.3 Command Parameters

- 2.1.4.4 OraOLEDB Custom Properties for Commands

- 2.1.4.5 Stored Procedures and Functions Returning Rowsets

- 2.1.4.6 Multiple Rowsets

- 2.1.4.7 Statement Caching

- 2.1.4.8 Metadata Caching

- 2.1.5 Rowsets

- 2.1.5.1 To Create Rowsets

- 2.1.5.2 Updatability

- 2.1.5.3 Server Data on Insert Property

- 2.1.5.4 To Search for Rows with IRowsetFind::FindNext

- 2.1.5.5 OraOLEDB-Specific Connection String Attributes for Rowsets

- 2.1.5.6 Tips for ADO Programmers

- 2.1.5.7 Schema Rowsets

- 2.1.5.8 Date Formats

- 2.1.5.9 Case of Object Names

- 2.1.6 LOB Support

- 2.1.7 Unicode Support

- 2.1.7.1 Types of Unicode Encoding

- 2.1.7.2 How Oracle Unicode Support Works

- 2.1.7.3 Unicode Support Setup

- 2.1.8 Errors

- 2.1.9 OLEDB.NET Data Provider Compatibility

- 2.1.9.1 Using the OLEDB.NET Attribute in a Connection String

- 2.1.9.2 Using OraOLEDB Custom Properties

- 2.1.9.3 Updating Oracle with DataTable Changes

- 2.2 Using OraOLEDB with Visual Basic

- 2.2.1 Setting Up the Oracle Database

- 2.2.2 Setting Up the Visual Basic Project

A Provider-Specific Information

- A.1 Data Type Mappings in Rowsets and Parameters

- A.2 Properties Supported

- A.2.1 Data Source Properties

- A.2.2 DataSourceInfo Properties

- A.2.3 Initialization and Authorization Properties

- A.2.4 Session Properties

- A.2.5 Rowset Properties

- A.2.5.1 Rowset Property Implications

- A.3 Interfaces Supported

- A.3.1 Data Source

- A.3.2 Session

- A.3.3 Command

- A.3.4 Rowset

- A.3.5 Multiple Results

- A.3.6 Transaction Options

- A.3.7 Custom Error Object

- A.4 MetaData Columns Supported

- A.5 OraOLEDB Tracing

- A.5.1 Registry Setting for Tracing Calls

Glossary

Index

List of Figures

- 1-1 OLE DB Flow

Preface

Based on an open standard, Oracle Provider for OLE DB (OraOLEDB) allows access to Oracle Databases. This documentation describes OraOLEDB's provider-specific features and properties.

This document describes the features of Oracle Database for Windows that apply to the Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems.

This Preface contains these topics:

- Audience

- Documentation Accessibility

- Related Documents

- Conventions

Audience

Oracle Provider for OLE DB Developer's Guide is intended for programmers developing applications to access an Oracle Database using Oracle Provider for OLE DB. This documentation is also valuable to systems analysts, project managers, and others interested in the development of database applications.

To use this document, you must be familiar with OLE DB and have a working knowledge of application programming using Microsoft C/C++, Visual Basic, or ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). Knowledge of Component Object Model (COM) concepts are also useful.

Readers should also be familiar with the use of Structured Query Language (SQL) to access information in relational database systems.

Documentation Accessibility

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

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

Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation

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

Accessibility of Links to External Web Sites in Documentation

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

TTY Access to Oracle Support Services

Oracle provides dedicated Text Telephone (TTY) access to Oracle Support Services within the United States of America 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For TTY support, call 800.446.2398.

Related Documents

For more information, see these Oracle resources:

- Oracle Database Installation Guide for Windows

- Oracle Database Release Notes for Windows

- Oracle Database Platform Guide for Windows

- Oracle Database Concepts

- Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server Developer's Guide

- Oracle Net Services Administrator's Guide

- Oracle Database New Features

- Oracle Database Reference

- Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide

For information about Oracle error messages, see Oracle Database Error Messages. Oracle error message documentation is available only in HTML. If you only have access to the Oracle Documentation CD, you can browse the error messages by range. Once you find the specific range, use your browser's "find in page" feature to locate the specific message. When connected to the Internet, you can search for a specific error message using the error message search feature of the Oracle online documentation.

Many of the examples in this book use the sample schemas of the seed database, which is installed by default when you install Oracle. Refer to Oracle Database Sample Schemas for information on how these schemas were created and how you can use them yourself.

Printed documentation is available for sale in the Oracle Store at

http://oraclestore.oracle.com/

To download free release notes, installation documentation, white papers, or other collateral, please visit the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). You must register online before using OTN; registration is free and can be done at

http://otn.oracle.com/membership/

If you already have a username and password for OTN, then you can go directly to the documentation section of the OTN Web site at

http://otn.oracle.com/documentation/

For additional information, see:

http://www.microsoft.com/data/

Conventions

The following text conventions are used in this document:

Convention

Meaning

boldface

Boldface type indicates graphical user interface elements associated with an action, or terms defined in text or the glossary.

italic

Italic type indicates book titles, emphasis, or placeholder variables for which you supply particular values.

monospace

Monospace type indicates commands within a paragraph, URLs, code in examples, text that appears on the screen, or text that you enter.

What's New in OraOLEDB?

The following sections describe the new features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB (OraOLEDB):

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 11.1

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 10.2

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 10.1

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 9.2.0.4

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 9.2

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 9.0.1

- New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 8.1.7

New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 11.1

Oracle Provider for OLE DB release 11.1 includes the following:.

- Improved Statement and Metadata Caching

This release enhances the existing caching infrastructure to cache OraOLEDB data buffers and metadata information. This enhancement is independent of Database version and is available for all supported Database versions. This feature provides significant performance improvement for the applications that execute the same statement repeatedly.

See Also:

- "Statement Caching"

- "Metadata Caching"

- Enhanced Failover Capability

Oracle Provider for OLE DB introduced new connection string attributes and registry entries to enhance failover capability.

See Also:
"Enhanced Failover Capability"

- Support of ADO Disconnected Recordsets

Oracle Provider for OLE DB introduced a new connection string attribute and registry entry to support ADO disconnected recordsets.

See Also:
DeferUpdChk under "OraOLEDB-Specific Connection String Attributes for Rowsets"

New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 10.2

Support for Statement Caching has been added as a new feature for Oracle Provider for OLE DB for release 10.2.

This feature provides and manages a cache of statements for each session. The developer can control what statements are cached and how many. This improves performance and scalability of the database.

See Also:
Statement Caching

New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 10.1

This section contains these topics:

- Support for Oracle Grids

OraOLEDB is grid-enabled, allowing developers to take advantage of Oracle Database grid support without having to make changes to their application code.

- Support for the following data types introduced with Oracle Database 10g:

- BINARY_DOUBLE

- BINARY_FLOAT

See Also:
"Data Types" for descriptions of the new data types

- Support for Multiple Homes

Oracle Provider for OLE DB can be installed in multiple Oracle homes, starting with release 10.1. However, Oracle Provider for OLE DB being a COM component, only one instance can be active on the computer. This means that the current (latest) installation renders the previous one inactive.

To make multiple homes available, some of the OraOLEDB files now include a version number, and the use of a KEY_HOMENAME is required.

See Also:
Oracle Provider for OLE DB Files

New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 9.2.0.4

OraOLEDB release 9.2.0.4, which was released on Oracle Technology Network (OTN) included the following:

- OraOLEDB-Specific Connection String Attribute UseSessionFormat:

UseSessionFormat specifies whether to use the default NLS session formats or let OraOLEDB override some of these formats for the duration of the session.

See Also:
"OraOLEDB-Specific Connection String Attributes"

- Support for the following data types introduced with Oracle9i:

- TIMESTAMP

- TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE

- TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE

- INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH

- INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND

See Also:
"Data Types" for descriptions of the new data types

New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 9.2

This section contains these topics:

- Support for using OraOLEDB with OLEDB.NET Data Provider

ADO.NET application developers can use OraOLEDB through the OLEDB.NET Data Provider. A connection attribute, OLEDB.NET, can be set at connection time for OraOLEDB to be compatible with OLEDB.NET Data Provider.

See Also:
"OLEDB.NET Data Provider Compatibility"

New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 9.0.1

This section contains these topics:

- Using Oracle9i on Windows 2000

There are some differences between using Oracle9i on Windows 2000 than earlier versions of Windows.

See Also:
Oracle Database Platform Guide for Windows

New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 8.1.7

Oracle8i release 8.1.7 included the following:

- Support for returning multiple rowsets

Consumers can use this feature to access all the REF CURSOR values returned by a stored procedure.

See Also:
"Multiple Rowsets"

- Support for the Unicode character set

Using this feature, consumers can use OraOLEDB to access data in multiple languages on the same client computer. It can be especially useful in creating global Internet applications supporting as many languages as the Unicode standard entails. For example, one can write a single Active Server Page (ASP) application that accesses an Oracle8i database to dynamically generate content in Japanese, Arabic, English, and Thai.

See Also:

- "Unicode Support"

- "Data Type Mappings in Rowsets and Parameters"

1 Introduction to Oracle Provider for OLE DB

This chapter introduces Oracle Provider for OLE DB (OraOLEDB).

This chapter contains these topics:

- Overview of OLE DB

- Overview of OraOLEDB

- System Requirements

- OraOLEDB Installation

- Component Certifications

1.1 Overview of OLE DB

OLE DB is an open standard data access methodology which utilizes a set of Component Object Model (COM) interfaces for accessing and manipulating different types of data. These interfaces are available from various database providers.

1.1.1 OLE DB Design

The design of OLE DB centers around the concept of a consumer and a provider. Figure 1-1 is an illustration of the OLE DB system. The consumer represents the traditional client. The provider places data into a tabular format and returns it to the consumer.

Figure 1-1 OLE DB Flow

OLE DB Data Providers

OLE DB data providers are a set of COM components that transfer data from a data source to a consumer. An OLE DB Provider places that data in a tabular format in response to calls from a consumer. Providers can be simple or complex. A provider may return a table, it may allow the consumer to determine the format of that table, and it may perform operations on the data.

Each provider implements a standard set of COM interfaces to handle requests from the consumer. A provider may implement optional COM interfaces to provide additional functionality.

With the standard interfaces, any OLE DB consumer can access data from any provider. Because of COM components, consumers can access them in any programming language that supports COM, such as C++, Visual Basic, and Java.

OLE DB Data Consumers

The OLE DB data consumer is any application or tool that utilizes OLE DB interfaces of a provider to access a broad range of data.

1.2 Overview of OraOLEDB

Oracle Provider for OLE DB (OraOLEDB) is an OLE DB data provider that offers high performance and efficient access to Oracle data by OLE DB consumers.

In general, this developer's guide assumes that you are using OraOLEDB through OLE DB or ADO.

For sample code, the latest patches, and other technical information on the Oracle Provider for OLE DB, go to

http://otn.oracle.com/tech/windows/ole_db

With the advent of the .NET framework, support has been provided for using the OLEDB.NET Data Provider with OraOLEDB. With the proper connection attribute setting, an OLEDB.NET Data Provider can utilize OraOLEDB to access Oracle Database.

See Also:
"OLEDB.NET Data Provider Compatibility" for further information on support for OLEDB.NET Data Provider

1.3 System Requirements

The following items are required on a system to use Oracle Provider for OLE DB:

- Windows Operating System:

- 32-bit: Windows Vista (Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate Editions), Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional Edition.

- 64 bit: Windows Vista x64 (Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate Editions), Windows Server 2003 x64, Windows Server 2003 R2 x64, or Windows XP x64.

- 64-bit: Windows Server 2003 for Itanium-based systems.

- Access to an Oracle Database (Oracle 9.2 or later)

- Oracle Client release 11.1 or later and Oracle Net Services (included with Oracle Provider for OLE DB installation).

- Redistributable files provided with Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.1 or higher are required by the provider. These files are available at the Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/data/

- Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server release 11.1 or higher. This is required for consumers using Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) or COM+.

1.4 OraOLEDB Installation

Oracle Provider for OLE DB is included as part of your Oracle installation. It contains the features and demos that illustrate how to use this product to solve real-world problems.

See Also:
The Oracle Database Installation Guide for Windows for installation instructions

During the installation process, the files listed in Table 1-1 are installed on the system. Some files have ver in their name to indicate the release version.

Table 1-1 Oracle Provider for OLE DB Files

File

Description

Location

OraOLEDBver.dll

Oracle Provider for OLE DB

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\bin

OraOLEDBrfcver.dll

Oracle rowset file cache manager

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\bin

OraOLEDBrmcver.dll

Oracle rowset memory cache manager

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\bin

OraOLEDBrstver.dll

Oracle rowset

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\bin

OraOLEDBgmrver.dll

Oracle ODBC SQL parser

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\bin

OraOLEDBlangver.dll

where lang is the required language

Language-specific resource DLL

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\bin

OraOLEDBpusver.dll

Property descriptions

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\bin

OraOLEDButlver.dll

OraOLEDB utility DLL

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\bin

OraOLEDBver.tlb

OraOLEDB type library

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\bin

OraOLEDB.h

OraOLEDB header file

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\oledb\include

OraOLEDBver.lib

OraOLEDB library file

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\oledb\lib

OraOLEDBlang.msb

where lang is the required language

Language-specific message file

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\oledb\mesg

readme and documentation files

Release notes and online documentation

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\oledb\directory

sample files

Sample code

ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\oledb\samples

1.5 Component Certifications

Oracle provides support information for components on various platforms, lists compatible client and database versions, and identifies patches and workaround information.

Find the latest certification information at:

http://metalink.oracle.com/

You must register online before using OracleMetaLink. After logging into OracleMetaLink, select Product Lifecycle from the left column. From the Products Lifecycle page, click Certifications. Other Product Lifecycle options include Product Availability, Desupport Notices, and Alerts.

2 Features of OraOLEDB

This chapter describes components of Oracle Provider for OLE DB (OraOLEDB) and how to use the components to develop OLE DB consumer applications.

This chapter contains these topics:

- OraOLEDB Provider Specific Features

- Using OraOLEDB with Visual Basic

2.1 OraOLEDB Provider Specific Features

The following sections describe provider-specific features of OraOLEDB:

- Data Types

- Data Source

- OraOLEDB Sessions

- Commands

- Rowsets

- LOB Support

- Unicode Support

- Errors

- OLEDB.NET Data Provider Compatibility

Additional provider-specific information is provided in Appendix A, "Provider-Specific Information".

2.1.1 Data Types

The data types that OraOLEDB supports are listed in Table A-1 with Unicode and NonUnicode mappings.

With 11g Release 1 (11.1), OraOLEDB now supports the following data types. These data types are described in the following sections.

- Data Types introduced in Oracle Database 10g:

- BINARY_FLOAT

- BINARY_DOUBLE

- Data Types introduced in Oracle9i:

- TIMESTAMP

- TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE

- TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE

- INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH

- INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND

See Also:
For details about these and other data types, and time zones, see Oracle Database SQL Language Reference

2.1.1.1 Binary Data Types

BINARY_FLOAT is a single-precision floating point data type (4 bytes), which is mapped to OLE DB DBTYPE_R4.

BINARY_DOUBLE is a double-precision floating point data type (8 bytes), which is mapped to OLE DB DBTYPE_R8.

2.1.1.2 TIMESTAMP Data Types

This section discusses the Timestamp data types and then provides the following:

- Sample data illustrating insertion and retrieval operations using each of the Timestamp data types.

- A Visual Basic code example using the Timestamp data types.

Timestamp data types are mapped to the OLE DB DBTYPE_DBTIMESTAMP. The OLE DB DBTYPE_DBTIMESTAMP data type does not have TIME ZONE information.

The Timestamp data types include:

- TIMESTAMP

- TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE

- TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE

Data Insertion

For data insertion into a TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE or TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE column, the time zone setting of the client is used.

OLE DB Timestamp data type cannot provide the time zone information. For insert operations, the default time zone from the client session is added to the TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE column data.

Data Retrieval

For data retrieval, TIME ZONE is dropped for TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE columns, but TIME ZONE is used for TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE columns.

The OLE DB Timestamp data type cannot store time zone information.

Fractional Second

Fractional second is not supported for TIMESTAMP data types binding with Command objects.

Note that using ALTER SESSION to change time zone information does not change the time zone information in the new and existing Recordsets, which use the client time zone setting from the Regional options of the operating system. The maximum fractional_seconds_precision of TIMESTAMP is 9 and the default precision is 6.

ADO Consumers

For the Timestamp data types, ADO consumers must specify the value of CursorLocation as adUseServer and use Recordset for DML operations.

Examples of Timestamp Insert and Retrieval

The following scenarios assume that the default precision of 6 is used.

TIMESTAMP Column

Insert Data: 4/16/2003 11:19:19 AM (No time zone)

Data in DB: 4/16/2003 11.19.19.000000 AM

Data Retrieval: 4/16/2003 11:19:19 AM

TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE Column

Insert Data: 4/16/2003 11:19:19 AM (Time zone of the Client session is used)

Data in DB: 4/16/2003 11.19.19.000000 AM -07:00

Data Retrieval: 4/16/2003 11:19:19 AM (Time zone is dropped)

See Also:

- "Data Insertion"

- "Data Retrieval"

TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE Column

The following scenario assumes that the time zone of the client session is -04:00, currently on US EDT (Eastern daylight time). For an insert operation, the data in the TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE column does not include time zone displacement, but its TIMESTAMP data is normalized to the database time zone -07:00, which is the same as US PDT (Pacific daylight time).

For a query, data is returned in the time zone of the client session. The time zone displacement is the difference (in hours and minutes) between the local time and the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Insert Data: 4/16/2003 4:30:23 PM (Client time zone is -04:00)

Data in DB: 4/16/2003 01.30.23.000000 PM (Database time zone -07:00)

Data Retrieval: 4/16/2003 4:30:23 PM (Client time zone is -04:00)

Data Retrieval: 4/16/2003 3:30:23 PM (Client time zone is -05:00)

Data Retrieval: 4/16/2003 2:30:23 PM (Client time zone is -06:00)

Data Retrieval: 4/16/2003 1:30:23 PM (Client time zone is -07:00)

2.1.1.2.1 Visual Basic Example

...
Dim DT As Date
DT = Now()
con.ConnectionString = "Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle.1;User ID=user_name;" & _
"Password=pwd;Data Source=Oracle;"
con.Open
'Must use adUseServer
rec.CursorLocation = adUseServer
rec.ActiveConnection = con
rec.Open "select timestamp_column from test_table", con, adOpenDynamic,_
adLockOptimistic
rec.AddNew Array("timestamp_column"), Array(DT)

update data
rec.Update Array("timestamp_column"), Array("07/07/07 07:17:17 AM")
...

2.1.1.3 INTERVAL Data Types

The INTERVAL data types are mapped to OLE DB DBTYPE_STR data type. The INTERVAL data types include:

- INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH

- INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND

For the INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH column, the maximum year_precision is 9 and the default is 2. For INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND column, the maximum day_precision is 9 and the default is 2 and the maximum fractional_seconds_precision is 9, the default is 6.

Note:
If the sign is not specified, then the default is +.

INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH

Usage: (sign) years-months

Examples:

- 2-3

2 years and 3 months

- +2-3

2 years and 3 months

- -2-3

negative 2 years and 3 months

INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND

Usage: (sign) days hours:minutes:seconds.second_fraction

Examples:

- 7 10:20:30.123456

7 days, 10 hours, 20 minutes, and 30.123456 seconds

- +7 10:20:30.123456

7 days, 10 hours, 20 minutes, and 30.123456 seconds

- -7 10:20:30.123456

negative 7 days, 10 hours, 20 minutes, and 30.123456 seconds

Visual Basic Example

...
con.ConnectionString = "Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle.1;User ID=user_name;"& _
"Password=pwd;Data Source=Oracle;"
con.Open
'no restriction on using adUseServer or adUseClient
rec.CursorLocation = adUseServer
rec.ActiveConnection = con
rec.Open "select * from test_table2", con, adOpenDynamic, adLockOptimistic
rec.AddNew Array("year_to_month_column", "day_to_second_column"), _
Array("8-1", "3 20:30:10.12")

'update data
rec.Update Array("year_to_month_column", "day_to_second_column"), _
Array("2-3", "7 10:20:30.123456")
...

2.1.2 Data Source

A data source object in OraOLEDB is responsible for establishing the first connection to the Oracle Database. To establish the initial connection, the consumer must use the CoCreateInstance function to create an instance of the data source object. This function requires important information about the provider: class ID of the provider and executable context. The class ID of OraOLEDB is CLSID_OraOLEDB.

OraOLEDB is an in-process server. When calling CoCreateInstance, use the CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER macro. For example:

// create an instance of OraOLEDB data source object and
// obtain the IDBInitialize interface
hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_OraOLEDB, NULL,
CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER, IID_IDBInitialize,
(void**)&pIDBInitialize);

Note:
OraOLEDB does not support persistent data source objects.

After the successful creation of an instance of a data source object, the consumer application can initialize the data source and create sessions.

OraOLEDB supports connections to Oracle Databases release 8i and higher. To connect to a specific database, the consumer is required to set the following properties of the DBPROPSET_DBINIT property set:

- DBPROP_AUTH_USERNAME with the user ID, such as scott

- DBPROP_AUTH_PASSWORD with the password, such as tiger

- DBPROP_INIT_DATASOURCE with the net service name, such as myOraDb

The consumer could also populate DBPROP_INIT_PROMPT with DBPROMPT_PROMPT which causes the provider to display a logon box for the user to enter the connect information.

Using DBPROMPT_NOPROMPT disables display of the logon box. In this case, incomplete logon information causes the provider to return a logon error. However, if this property is set to DBPROMPT_COMPLETE or DBPROMPT_COMPLETEREQUIRED, the logon box will be displayed only if the logon information is incomplete.

2.1.2.1 Connecting to an Oracle Database

To connect to an Oracle Database using OraOLEDB, the OLE DB connection string must be as follows:

"Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;User ID=user;Password=pwd;Data Source=constr;"

When connecting to a remote database, Data Source must be set to the correct net service name which is the alias in the tnsnames.ora file. For more information, refer to Oracle Net Services Administrator's Guide.

2.1.2.2 OraOLEDB-Specific Connection String Attributes

OraOLEDB offers provider-specific connection string attributes, which are set in the same way as the Provider and User ID are set. The provider-specific connection string attributes are:

- CacheType - specifies the type of cache used to store the rowset data on the client. See "OraOLEDB-Specific Connection String Attributes for Rowsets".

- ChunkSize - specifies the size of LONG or LONG RAW column data stored in the provider's cache. See "OraOLEDB-Specific Connection String Attributes for Rowsets".

- DistribTX - enables or disables distributed transaction enlistment capability. See "Distributed Transactions".

- FetchSize - specifies the size of the fetch array in rows. See "OraOLEDB-Specific Connection String Attributes for Rowsets".

- OLEDB.NET - enables or disables compatibility with OLEDB.NET Data Provider. See "OLEDB.NET Data Provider Compatibility".

- OSAuthent - specifies whether operating system authentication will be used when connecting to an Oracle Database. See "Operating System Authentication".

- PLSQLRSet - enables or disables the return of a rowset from PL/SQL stored procedures. See "OraOLEDB Custom Properties for Commands".

- PwdChgDlg - enables or disables displaying the password change dialog box when the password expires. See "Password Expiration".

- UseSessionFormat - specifies whether to use the default NLS session formats or let OraOLEDB override some of these formats for the duration of the session. Valid values are 0 (FALSE) and 1 (TRUE). The default is FALSE which lets OraOLEDB override some of the default NLS session formats. If the value is TRUE, OraOLEDB uses the default NLS session formats.

Note that this connection attribute does not appear under the \\HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_HOMENAME\OLEDB registry key.

- VCharNull - enables or disables the NULL termination of VARCHAR2 OUT parameters from stored procedures.

- SPPrmDefVal - specifies whether to use the default value or a NULL value if the application has not specified a stored procedure parameter value.

- NDataType - specifies whether any of the parameters bound to the command are of N data types, which include NCHAR, NVARCHAR, or NCLOB. See "NDatatype ".

Note that this connection attribute does not appear under the \\HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_HOMENAME\OLEDB registry key.

- SPPrmsLOB - specifies whether one or more parameters bound to the stored procedures are of LOB data type, which include CLOB, BLOB, or NCLOB. See "SPPrmsLOB".

Note that this connection attribute does not appear under the \\HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_HOMENAME\OLEDB registry key.

- StmtCacheSize – specifies the maximum number of statements that can be cached. See "Statement Caching".

- MetaDataCacheSize - specifies the maximum number of SELECT statements for which the metadata can be cached. See "Metadata Caching".

- DeferUpdChk - specifies whether or not to defer the updateability check to support updating read-only disconnected rowsets. See DeferUpdChk under "OraOLEDB-Specific Connection String Attributes for Rowsets".

- DBNotifications - specifies whether or not to subscribe to the high availability events. See "Enhanced Failover Capability".

- DBNotificationPort - specifies the port number, which is opened to listen to the Database notifications. See "Enhanced Failover Capability".

2.1.2.3 Default Attribute Values

The default values for these attributes are located under the \\HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_HOMENAME\OLEDB registry key, where KEY_HOMENAME is the Oracle home.

The registry default values are read by OraOLEDB from the registry when the provider is loaded into memory. If Oracle-specific connection string attributes are not provided at connection time, then the default registry values are used. However, if the attributes are provided, then these new values override the default registry values.

These attributes can be set by setting the DBPROP_INIT_PROVIDERSTRING property, provided in the DBPROPSET_DBINIT property set. For example:

"FetchSize=100;CacheType=Memory;OSAuthent=0;PLSQLRSet=1;StmtCacheSize=10;"

2.1.2.4 Distributed Transactions

The DistribTX attribute specifies whether sessions are enabled to enlist in distributed transactions. Valid values are 0 (disabled) and 1 (enabled). The default is 1 which indicates that sessions are enabled for distributed transaction enlistments.

Applications using Microsoft Transaction Server must have DistribTX set to 1, the default.

2.1.2.5 Enhanced Failover Capability

This feature enhances failover capability.

These connection string attributes support enhanced failover capability.

- DBNotifications

The DBNotifications attribute specifies whether or not to subscribe to high availability events. Valid values are 0 (FALSE) and 1 (TRUE). The default is FALSE, which indicates that OraOLEDB does not subscribe to high availability events. If this attribute is not provided at the connection time, then the default registry value is used.

- DBNotificationPort

The DBNotificationPort attribute specifies the port number, which is used to listen to the database notifications. The valid value is an unsigned integer.

DBNotificationPort is effective only if the DBNotifications attribute is set to TRUE, either through the connection string attribute or by registry entry. The default for the DBNotificationPort attribute is 0, which implies that OraOLEDB opens a valid port randomly. OraOLEDB does not validate the port number, so it is the responsibility of the application to specify a valid port number.

Enabling Failover Capability Through Registry Entry

- DBNotifications

The DBNotifications registry entry specifies whether or not to subscribe to high availability events. Valid values are 0 (FALSE) and 1 (TRUE). The default value is FALSE, OraOLEDB does not subscribe. This registry entry value is used when the DBNotifications connection string attribute is not set. It is located under the \\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_HOMENAME\OLEDB registry key.

2.1.2.6 Operating System Authentication

The OSAuthent attribute specifies whether operating system authentication will be used when connecting to an Oracle Database. Valid values are 0 (disabled) and 1 (enabled). The default is 0, which indicates that operating system authentication is not used.

Operating system authentication is the feature by which Oracle uses the security mechanisms of the operating system to authorize users. For more information on this subject and how to set it up on Windows clients, refer to the information on authenticating database users on Windows in Oracle Database Platform Guide for Windows

After the Windows client has been set up properly for operating system authentication, this feature may be enabled by OraOLEDB clients by setting any of the following:

- DBPROP_AUTH_USERNAME to /

- DBPROP_INIT_PROVIDERSTRING to OSAuthent=1;

- OSAuthent in the registry to 1

2.1.2.7 Password Expiration

Oracle9i provides a Password Expiration feature which allows database administrators to force users to change their passwords regularly. The PwdChgDlg attribute enables or disables the displaying of the password change dialog box, whenever a logon fails due to an expired password. When enabled, the provider displays the dialog box to change the password. When disabled, the logon fails with an error message. The valid values are 0 (disabled) and 1 (enabled). The default is 1 (enabled). For more information on the Password Expiration feature, see Oracle Database Administrator's Guide.

Example: Connecting to an Oracle Database Using ADO

The following examples illustrate how to connect to an Oracle Database using OraOLEDB and ADO.

Note:
If Data Source, User ID, and Password are provided with the Open method, then ADO ignores those ConnectionString attributes.

Connect Using ConnectionString

Dim con As New ADODB.Connection
con.ConnectionString = "Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;Data Source=MyOraDb;" & _
"User ID=scott;Password=tiger;"
con.Open

Connect Without Using ConnectionString

Dim con As New ADODB.Connection
con.Provider = "OraOLEDB.Oracle"
con.Open "MyOraDb", "scott", "tiger"

Connect and Set Provider-specific Attributes

Dim con As New ADODB.Connection
con.Provider = "OraOLEDB.Oracle"
con.ConnectionString = "FetchSize=200;CacheType=Memory;" & _
"OSAuthent=0;PLSQLRSet=1;Data Source=MyOraDb;" & _
"User ID=scott;Password=tiger;"
con.Open

Operating System-Authenticated Connect Setting User ID to /

Dim con As New ADODB.Connection
con.Provider = "OraOLEDB.Oracle"
con.Open "MyOraDb", "/", ""

Operating System-Authenticated Connect Using OSAuthent

Dim con As New ADODB.Connection
con.Provider = "OraOLEDB.Oracle"
con.ConnectionString = "Data Source=MyOraDb;OSAuthent=1;"
con.Open

2.1.2.8 VCharNull

The VCharNull attribute enables or disables the NULL termination of VARCHAR2 OUT parameters from stored procedures. Valid values are 0 (disabled) and 1 (enabled). The default is 1, which indicates that VARCHAR2 OUT parameters are NULL terminated. A value of 0 indicates that VARCHAR2 OUT parameters are padded with spaces.

The default value for this attribute is located under the \\HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_HOMENAME\OLEDB registry key, where HOMENAME is the Oracle home. If this attribute is not provided at the connection time, then the default registry value is used.

Note that with this connection attribute enabled, applications need to pad the stored procedure IN and IN OUT CHAR parameters with spaces explicitly, if the parameter is to be used in a WHERE clause.

2.1.2.9 SPPrmDefVal

The SPPrmDefVal attribute specifies whether to use the default value or a NULL value if the application has not specified a stored procedure parameter value. Valid values are 0 (FALSE) and 1 (TRUE). The default is FALSE, which enables OraOLEDB to pass a NULL value. If the value is TRUE, then OraOLEDB uses the default value.

The default value for this attribute is located under the \\HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_HOMENAME\OLEDB registry key. If this attribute is not provided at connection time, then the default registry value is used.

2.1.3 OraOLEDB Sessions

An OraOLEDB session object represents a single connection to an Oracle Database. The session object exposes the interfaces that allow data access and manipulation.

The first session created on the initialized data source inherits the initial connection established by IDBInitialize::Initialize(). Subsequent sessions that are created establish their own independent connections to the particular Oracle Database specified by the data source properties.

Each session object also defines a transaction space for a data source. All command and rowset objects created from a particular session object are part of the transaction of that session.

After all references to the session object are released, the session object is removed from memory and the connection is dropped.

2.1.3.1 Transactions

OraOLEDB supports local and distributed transactions, which provide explicit commit and abort transactional operations.

OraOLEDB does not support nested transactions. In addition, a local transaction cannot be started if the session is currently enlisted in a distributed transaction. This also applies to distributed transactions if the session is currently enlisted in a local transaction.

2.1.3.1.1 Local Transactions

OraOLEDB supports the ITransactionLocal interface for explicit transactions. By default, OraOLEDB is in an autocommit mode, meaning that each unit of work done on the database is automatically or implicitly committed. With the use of the ITransactionLocal interface, consumers may explicitly start a transaction for a particular session, allowing a unit of work to be explicitly committed or aborted by the consumer.

OraOLEDB supports the Read Committed (Cursor Stability) isolation level. In this level, the changes made by other transactions are not visible until those transactions are committed.

2.1.3.1.2 Distributed Transactions

OraOLEDB consumers must install Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) release 10.2 or higher to be able to participate in Microsoft Transaction Server (or COM+) transactions or to enlist in a distributed transaction coordinated by Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MS DTC). For setup and configuration information on Oracle Services for MTS, see Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server Developer's Guide.

OraOLEDB ignores IsoLevel, IsoFlags, and pOtherOptions parameters when ITransactionJoin::JoinTransaction() is called. These options must be provided when the consumer acquires a transaction object from MS DTC with the ITransactionDispenser::BeginTransaction() method call.

However, if IsoFlags is nonzero, then XACT_E_NOISORETAIN is returned.

2.1.4 Commands

OraOLEDB supports ANSI SQL as supported by Oracle Database and the ODBC SQL syntax.

2.1.4.1 Stored Procedures

When executing an Oracle PL/SQL stored procedure using a command, use Oracle native syntax or the ODBC procedure call escape sequence in the command text:

- Oracle native syntax: BEGIN credit_account(123, 40); END;

- ODBC syntax: {CALL credit_account(123, 40)}

2.1.4.2 Preparing Commands

OraOLEDB validates and fetches the metadata only for SELECT SQL statements.

2.1.4.3 Command Parameters

When using Oracle ANSI SQL, parameters in the command text are preceded by a colon. In ODBC SQL, parameters are indicated by a question mark (?).

OraOLEDB supports input, output, and input and output parameters for PL/SQL stored procedures and stored functions. OraOLEDB supports input parameters for SQL statements.

Note:
OraOLEDB supports only positional binding.

2.1.4.4 OraOLEDB Custom Properties for Commands

OraOLEDB custom properties for commands are grouped under the custom property set ORAPROPSET_COMMANDS. It provides these properties:

Table 2-1 Custom Properties for Commands

For Visual Basic Users

For C++ Users

PLSQLRSet

ORAPROP_PLSQLRSet

NDatatype

ORAPROP_NDatatype

SPPrmsLOB

ORAPROP_SPPrmsLOB

AddToStmtCache

ORAPROP_AddToStmtCache

PLSQLRSet

This property is similar to the PLSQLRSet connection string attribute.

The property specifies whether OraOLEDB must return a rowset from the PL/SQL stored procedure. If the stored procedure, provided by the consumer, returns a rowset, PLSQLRSet must be set to TRUE (enabled). This property should be set to FALSE after the command has been run. By default, the property is set to FALSE (disabled).

Consumers should use the property over the attribute, as the property can be set at the command object rather than at the session. By setting it at the command object, the consumer is able to set the property only for the command object executing stored procedures which are returning rowsets. With the attribute, the consumer needed to set it even if only one of many stored procedures being executed by the ADO application returned a rowset. The use of this property should provide a performance boost to applications making use of the attribute previously.

Example: Setting the Custom Property PLSQLRSet

Dim objRes As NEW ADODB.Recordset
Dim objCon As NEW ADODB.Connection
Dim objCmd As NEW ADODB.Command
....
objCmd.ActiveConnection = objCon
objCmd.CommandType = adCmdText

' Enabling the PLSQLRSet property indicates to the provider
' that the command returns one or more rowsets
objCmd.Properties("PLSQLRSet") = TRUE

' Assume Employees.GetEmpRecords() has a REF CURSOR as
' one of the arguments
objCmd.CommandText = "{ CALL Employees.GetEmpRecords(?,?) }"

' Execute the SQL
set objRes = objCmd.Execute

' It is a good idea to disable the property after execute as the
' same command object may be used for a different SQL statement
objCmd.Properties("PLSQLRSet") = FALSE

NDatatype

This property allows the consumers to specify whether any of the parameters bound to the command are of Oracle's N data types (NCHAR, NVARCHAR or NCLOB). This information is required by OraOLEDB to detect and bind the parameters. This property should not be set for commands executing SELECT statements. However, this property must be set for all other SQL statements, such as INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE.

The use of this property should be limited to SQL statements containing parameters of N data type as setting it incurs a processing overhead of at least one round-trip to the database. By default, this property is set to FALSE.

Note:
OraOLEDB does not support parameters of N data types in the WHERE clause of SQL statements.

Note:
Consumers are required to use the ODBC procedure call escape sequence to call stored procedures or functions having N data type parameters.

Example: Setting the Custom Property NDatatype

Dim objCon As NEW ADODB.Connection
Dim objCmd As NEW ADODB.Command
Dim prEmpno As NEW ADODB.Parameter
Dim prEname As NEW ADODB.Parameter
...
objCmd.ActiveConnection = objCon
objCmd.CommandType = adCmdText

' Create and append the parameters to the command object
Set prEmpno = objCmd.CreateParameter("prEmpno", adSmallInt, adParamInput, ,8521)
' prEname is bound to a NVARCHAR column in the EMP table
Set prEname = objCmd.CreateParameter("prEname", adBSTR, adParamInput, , "Joe")
objCmd.Parameters.Append prEmpno
objCmd.Parameters.Append prEname

' Enabling the NDatatype property indicates to the provider
' that one or more of the bound parameters is of N datatype
objCmd.Properties("NDatatype") = TRUE

' Assume column ENAME in table EMP is of NVARCHAR type
objCmd.CommandText = "INSERT INTO EMP (EMPNO, ENAME) VALUES (?, ?)"

' Execute the SQL
objCmd.Execute

' It is a good idea to disable the property after execute as the same command ' object may be used for a different SQL statement
objCmd.Properties("NDatatype") = FALSE

SPPrmsLOB

This property allows the consumer to specify whether one or more of the parameters bound to the stored procedures are of Oracle's LOB data type (CLOB, BLOB, or NCLOB). OraOLEDB requires this property to be set to TRUE, to fetch the parameter list of the stored procedure prior to execution. The use of this property limits the processing overhead to stored procedures having one or more LOB data type parameters. This property should be set to FALSE after the command has been executed. By default, the property is set to FALSE.

Note:
Consumers are required to use the ODBC procedure call escape sequence to call stored procedures or functions having LOB data type parameters.

Example: Setting the Custom Property SPPrmsLOB

Dim objCon As NEW ADODB.Connection
Dim objCmd As NEW ADODB.Command
Dim prCLOB As NEW ADODB.Parameter
...
objCmd.ActiveConnection = objCon
objCmd.CommandType = adCmdText

' Create and append the parameters to the command object
Set prCLOB = objCmd.CreateParameter("prCLOB", adLongVarchar, adParamOutput, _                                                               10000)
objCmd.Parameters.Append prCLOB

' Enabling the SPPrmsLOB property indicates to the provider
' that one or more of the bound parameters is of LOB data type
objCmd.Properties("SPPrmsLOB") = TRUE

' Assume the Stored Procedure requires a CLOB parameter
objCmd.CommandText = "{ call storedproc(?) }"

'Execute the SQL
objCmd.Execute

' It is a good idea to disable the property after execute as the
' same command object may be used for a different SQL statement
objCmd.Properties("SPPrmsLOB") = FALSE

AddToStmtCache

This property allows the consumer to cache the executed statements when the property is set to TRUE and statement caching is enabled. If the statement caching is disabled or if this property is set to FALSE, then the executed statement is not cached.

This property is ignored if statement caching is disabled. Statement caching can be enabled by setting the StmtCacheSize connection string attribute to a value greater than zero. This property provides a way to selectively add statements to the cache when statement caching is enabled. By default, the property is set to TRUE.

Example: Setting the Custom Property AddToStmtCache

Dim objCon As NEW ADODB.Connection
Dim objCmd As NEW ADODB.Command
...

' Statement caching is enabled by setting the 'StmtCacheSize'
' connection string attribute to a value greater than zero
objCon.ConnectionString = "StmtCacheSize=10;Data Source=MyOraDb;" & _                        "User ID=scott;Password=tiger;"
objCon.Open
objCmd.ActiveConnection = objCon
objCmd.CommandType = adCmdText
objCmd.CommandText = "SELECT * FROM EMP"

' "SELECT * FROM EMP" statement would be added to the statement cache because
' StmtCacheSize connection string attribute value is greater than 0 and
' AddToStmtCache property value is TRUE by default.
objCmd.Execute

' Do not add "SELECT * FROM DEPT" to the statement cache
objCmd.CommandText = "SELECT * FROM DEPT"
objCmd.Properties("AddToStmtCache") = FALSE

' "SELECT * FROM DEPT" statement would not be added to the statement cache
objCmd.Execute

2.1.4.5 Stored Procedures and Functions Returning Rowsets

Oracle Provider for OLE DB allows consumers to execute a PL/SQL stored procedure with an argument of REF CURSOR type or a stored function returning a REF CURSOR value.

OraOLEDB returns a rowset for the REF CURSOR bind variable. Because there is no predefined data type for REF CURSOR in the OLE DB specification, the consumer must not bind this parameter.

If the PL/SQL stored procedure has one or more arguments of REF CURSOR type, OraOLEDB binds these arguments and returns a rowset for each argument of REF CURSOR type.

If the PL/SQL stored function returns a REF CURSOR or has an argument of REF CURSOR type, OraOLEDB binds these and returns a rowset for each REF CURSOR type.

To use this feature, stored procedures or functions must be called in the ODBC procedure call escape sequence.

The stored procedure or function being called could be either standalone or packaged. However, the REF CURSOR being returned must be explicitly defined in a package in the database.

2.1.4.6 Multiple Rowsets

OraOLEDB supports returning more than one rowset from a stored procedure. Consumers can use this feature to access all the REF CURSORs being returned by a stored procedure.

Example: Stored Procedure Returning Multiple Rowsets

PL/SQL Package

CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE Employees AS
TYPE empcur IS REF CURSOR;

PROCEDURE GetEmpRecords(p_cursor OUT empcur,
q_cursor OUT empcur,
indeptno IN NUMBER,
p_errorcode OUT NUMBER);

FUNCTION GetDept(inempno IN NUMBER,
p_errorcode OUT NUMBER)
RETURN empcur;
END Employees;

CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY Employees AS

PROCEDURE GetEmpRecords(p_cursor OUT empcur,
q_cursor OUT empcur,
indeptno IN NUMBER,
p_errorcode OUT NUMBER) IS
BEGIN
p_errorcode := 0;
OPEN p_cursor FOR
SELECT *
FROM emp
WHERE deptno = indeptno
ORDER BY empno;

OPEN q_cursor FOR
SELECT empno
FROM emp
WHERE deptno = indeptno
ORDER BY empno;

EXCEPTION
WHEN OTHERS THEN
p_errorcode:= SQLCODE;

END GetEmpRecords;

FUNCTION GetDept(inempno IN NUMBER,
p_errorcode OUT NUMBER)
RETURN empcur IS
p_cursor empcur;
BEGIN
p_errorcode := 0;
OPEN p_cursor FOR
SELECT deptno
FROM emp
WHERE empno = inempno;
RETURN (p_cursor);

EXCEPTION
WHEN OTHERS THEN
p_errorcode:= SQLCODE;

END GetDept;

END Employees;

ADO Program

Dim Con   As New ADODB.Connection
Dim Rst1  As New ADODB.Recordset
Dim Rst2  As New ADODB.Recordset
Dim Rst3  As New ADODB.Recordset
Dim Cmd   As New ADODB.Command
Dim Prm1  As New ADODB.Parameter
Dim Prm2  As New ADODB.Parameter

Con.Provider = "OraOLEDB.Oracle"
Con.ConnectionString = "Data Source=MyOraDb;" & _
"User ID=scott;Password=tiger;"
Con.Open
Cmd.ActiveConnection = Con

' Although Employees.GetEmpRecords() takes four parameters, only
' two need to be bound because Ref cursor parameters are automatically
' bound by the provider.

Set Prm1 = Cmd.CreateParameter("Prm1", adSmallInt, adParamInput, , 30)
Cmd.Parameters.Append Prm1
Set Prm2 = Cmd.CreateParameter("Prm2", adSmallInt, adParamOutput)
Cmd.Parameters.Append Prm2

' Enable PLSQLRSet property
Cmd.Properties ("PLSQLRSet") = TRUE

' Stored Procedures returning resultsets must be called using the
' ODBC escape sequence for calling stored procedures.
Cmd.CommandText = "{CALL Employees.GetEmpRecords(?, ?)}"

' Get the first recordset
Set Rst1 = Cmd.Execute

' Disable PLSQLRSet property
Cmd.Properties("PLSQLRSet") = FALSE

' Get the second recordset
Set Rst2 = Rst1.NextRecordset

' Just as in a stored procedure, the REF CURSOR return value must
' not be bound in a stored function.
Prm1.Value = 7839
Prm2.Value = 0

' Enable PLSQLRSet property
Cmd.Properties("PLSQLRSet") = TRUE

' Stored Functions returning resultsets must be called using the
' ODBC escape sequence for calling stored functions.
Cmd.CommandText = "{CALL Employees.GetDept(?, ?)}"

' Get the rowset
Set Rst3 = Cmd.Execute

' Disable PLSQLRSet
Cmd.Properties ("PLSQLRSet") = FALSE

' Clean up
Rst1.Close
Rst2.Close
Rst3.Close

2.1.4.7 Statement Caching

Statement caching eliminates the need to parse each SQL or PL/SQL statement before execution, by caching server cursors created during the initial statement execution. Subsequent executions of the same statement can reuse the parsed information from the cursor, and then execute the statement without reparsing, for better performance.

To see performance gains from statement caching, Oracle recommends caching only those statements that will be repeatedly executed. Furthermore, SQL or PL/SQL statements should use parameters rather than literal values. This will enable you to take full advantage of statement caching. This is because parsed information from parameterized statements can be reused, even if the parameter values change in subsequent executions. However, if the literal values in the statements are different, the parsed information cannot be reused unless the subsequent statements also have the same literal values.

StmtCacheSize Connection String Attribute

This attribute enables or disables OraOLEDB statement caching. By default, this attribute is set to 10 (enabled). If it is set to a value greater than 0, OraOLEDB statement caching is enabled and the value specifies the maximum number of statements that can be cached for a connection.

After a connection has been cached to the specified maximum cache size, the cursor least recently used is freed to make room to cache the newly-created cursor. This value should not be greater than the value of the OPEN_CURSORS parameter set in the init.ora database configuration file.

AddToStmtCache Command Property

This property is relevant only when statement caching is enabled. If statement caching is enabled and this property is set to true (default), then statements are added to the cache when they are executed. If statement caching is disabled or if this property is set to false, then the executed statement is not cached.

Enabling Statement Caching Through the Registry

To enable statement caching by default for all OraOLEDB applications running in a system without changing the application, set the registry key of \\HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_HOMENAME\OLEDB\StmtCacheSize to a value greater than 0. Here, HOMENAME refers to the appropriate Oracle home. This value specifies the number of cursors that are to be cached on the server. By default, it is set to 10.

Connections and Statement Caching

Statement caching is managed separately for each connection. Therefore, for running the same statement on different connections, you need to parse once for each connection and cache a separate cursor for each connection.

2.1.4.8 Metadata Caching

This feature minimizes the retrieval of metadata for SELECT statements by caching the metadata during the initial statement execution. Subsequent executions of the same statement can reuse the cached metadata information for better performance. To see performance gains from metadata caching, Oracle recommends caching only those statements that are executed repeatedly.

Note:
Metadata caching is managed separately for each connection. Therefore, to run the same statement on different connections, the metadata must be cached once for each connection.

2.1.4.8.1 Enabling Metadata Caching Through the Connection String Attribute

The MetaDataCacheSize attribute enables or disables OraOLEDB metadata caching. If it is set to a value greater than 0, OraOLEDB metadata caching is enabled and the value specifies the maximum number of statements for which the metadata can be cached for a connection. By default, this attribute is set to 10.

2.1.4.8.2 Enabling Metadata Caching Through the Registry

To enable metadata caching by default for all OraOLEDB applications running in a system, without changing the application, set the following registry key to a value greater than 0. By default, it is set to 10.

\\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_HOMENAME\OLEDB\MetaDataCacheSize

2.1.5 Rowsets

This section discusses using Rowsets with OraOLEDB.

2.1.5.1 To Create Rowsets

OraOLEDB supports IOpenRowset::OpenRowset and ICommand::Execute for creating rowsets.

To Create Rowsets with IOpenRowset::OpenRowset

When using IOpenRowset::OpenRowset, note the following guidelines:

- The pTableID parameter must contain a DBID structure that specifies a base table or a view.

- The DBID structure's eKind member must be set to DBKIND_GUID_NAME, DBKIND_NAME, or DBKIND_PGUID_NAME.

- The DBID structure's uName member must specify the base table or view name as a Unicode character string. It cannot be NULL.

- The pIndexID parameter of OpenRowset must be NULL.

To Create Rowsets with ICommand::Execute

OraOLEDB supports SQL SELECT statements that return rowsets. OraOLEDB also supports returning rowsets from PL/SQL stored procedures and functions.

By default, ADO creates a nonupdatable rowset from a command object. An updatable rowset can be created by setting the Updatability and IRowsetChange properties on the command object. The Updatability property can be set to the following values:

Table 2-2 Possible Values for Updatability Property

Value

Description

1

update

2

delete

3

update and delete

4

insert

5

insert and update

6

insert and delete

7

insert, delete, and update

The following ADO code sample sets the Updatability property on a command object to allow insert, delete, and update operations on the rowset object.

Dim Cmd As New ADODB.Command
Dim Rst As New ADODB.Recordset
Dim Con As New ADODB.Connection
...
Cmd.ActiveConnection = Con
Cmd.CommandText = "SELECT * FROM emp"
Cmd.CommandType = adCmdText
cmd.Properties("IRowsetChange") = TRUE
Cmd.Properties("Updatability") = 7
' creates an updatable rowset
Set Rst = cmd.Execute

2.1.5.2 Updatability

OraOLEDB supports both immediate and deferred update mode. However, insert and update operations cannot be deferred when the operation changes a nonscalar column, such as LONG, BLOB, or CLOB. When nonscalar column values are changed in a deferred update mode, the entire row is transmitted to the database as though the operation was in an immediate update mode. In addition, these operations cannot be undone with the Undo method (ADO) or IRowsetUpdate::Undo(). However, if they are in a transaction, they can be rolled back with RollbackTrans method (ADO) or ITransactionLocal::Abort().

Rowsets created using queries with joins are updatable by OraOLEDB only with the Client Cursor Engine enabled. C/C++ OLE DB consumers must enable this service to make these rowsets updatable. ADO consumers must specify the CursorLocation as adUseClient to make these rowsets updatable.

For example:

Dim objCon As New ADODB.Connection
Dim objRst As New ADODB.Recordset

objCon.Provider = "OraOLEDB.Oracle"
objCon.Open "MyOraDb", "scott", "tiger"
objRst.CursorLocation = adUseClient       'ADO Client Cursor
objRst.Open "select ename, dname " & _
"from emp, dept " & _
"where emp.deptno = dept.deptno", _
objCon, adOpenStatic, adLockOptimistic, adCmdText

'Recordset created is updatable. Please note that CursorLocation
'needs to be explicitly set to adUseClient for this join recordset
'to be updatable.

2.1.5.3 Server Data on Insert Property

If DBPROP_SERVERDATAONINSERT (Server Data on Insert) is set to TRUE using OraOLEDB, the consumer can obtain defaults, sequences, and triggered column values from newly inserted and updated rows, if the insert and update operations are made through the rowset.

Having DBPROP_SERVERDATAONINSERT set to TRUE may degrade performance for both insert and update executions using a rowset because OraOLEDB fetches row data from the database for the newly inserted and updated row. However, if DBPROP_SERVERDATAONINSERT is set to its default value of FALSE, only the explicitly provided values for insert and update operations are returned when column values are requested for those rows.

If the base table from which the rowset was created does not contain any defaults, sequences, or triggers, then it is highly recommended that DBPROP_SERVERDATAONINSERT retain its default value of FALSE.

The DBPROP_SERVERDATAONINSERT property does not affect the performance of insert and update operations using the command object.

2.1.5.4 To Search for Rows with IRowsetFind::FindNext

OraOLEDB only supports searches performed on CHAR, DATE, FLOAT, NUMBER, RAW, and VARCHAR2 columns. Otherwise, DB_E_NOTSUPPORTED is returned.

When a search is done with a NULL value, only the DBCOMPAREOPS_EQ and DBCOMPAREOPS_NE compare operations are supported. Otherwise, DB_E_NOTSUPPORTED is returned.

2.1.5.5 OraOLEDB-Specific Connection String Attributes for Rowsets

OraOLEDB-specific connection string attributes which affect the performance of the rowset are:

- CacheType - specifies the type of caching used by the provider to store rowset data. OraOLEDB provides two caching mechanisms:

- Memory - The provider stores all the rowset data in-memory. This caching mechanism provides better performance at the expense of higher memory utilization. The default is Memory.

- File - The provider stores all the rowset data on disk. This caching mechanism limits memory consumption at the expense of performance.

- ChunkSize - This attribute specifies the size, in bytes, of the data in LONG and LONG RAW columns fetched and stored in the provider cache. Providing a high value for this attribute improves performance, but requires more memory to store the data in the rowset. Valid values are 1 to 65535. The default is 100.

- FetchSize - specifies the number of rows the provider will fetch at a time (fetch array). It must be set on the basis of data size and the response time of the network. If the value is set too high, then this could result in more wait time during the execution of the query. If the value is set too low, then this could result in many more round trips to the database. Valid values are 1 to 429,496, and 296. The default is 100.

- DeferUpdChk - The DeferUpdChk attribute specifies whether or not to defer the updateability check. This supports updating ADO read-only disconnected rowsets. Valid values are 0 (FALSE) and 1 (TRUE). The default is FALSE, which implies that OraOLEDB does not defer the check. If this attribute is not provided at the connection time, then the default registry value is used.

The default attribute values are set in the registry. For more information, see "Default Attribute Values". The following ADO code example overrides the default attribute values:

Dim con As ADODB.Connection
Set con = NEW ADODB.Connection
con.ConnectionString = "Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;User ID=scott;" & _
"Password=tiger;Data Source=MyOraDB;" & _
"FetchSize=200;CacheType=File;"
con.Open

2.1.5.6 Tips for ADO Programmers

Setting the ADO Rowset property LockType to adLockPessimistic is not supported by Oracle Provider for OLE DB. If LockType is set to adLockPessimistic, then OraOLEDB behaves similar to when set as adLockOptimistic. This behavior occurs because OraOLEDB does not perform explicit locks on the rows being modified. However, when new data is submitted to the database, the database only performs the update if the rowset data was not already updated by another user, which means that dirty writes are not allowed. LockType values adLockReadOnly, adLockBatchOptimistic, and adLockOptimistic are supported by OraOLEDB.

Setting ADO Rowset property CursorType to adOpenKeyset or adOpenDynamic is not supported by Oracle Provider for OLE DB. OraOLEDB does not support either of the two as Oracle supports Statement Level Read Consistency, which ensures that the data returned by a query contains only committed data as of the time the query was executed. CursorType values adOpenStatic and adOpenForwardOnly are supported by OraOLEDB.

2.1.5.7 Schema Rowsets

The schema rowsets available through Oracle Provider for OLE DB are:

- DBSCHEMA_COLUMNS

- DBSCHEMA_INDEXES

- DBSCHEMA_SCHEMATA

- DBSCHEMA_VIEWS

- DBSCHEMA_TABLES

- DBSCHEMA_PROVIDER_TYPES (forward scroll only)

- DBSCHEMA_FOREIGN_KEYS

- DBSCHEMA_PRIMARY_KEYS

- DBSCHEMA_PROCEDURES

- DBSCHEMA_PROCEDURE_PARAMETERS

2.1.5.8 Date Formats

The date format for the Oracle session cannot be set using the ALTER SESSION SET NLS_DATE_FORMAT command. In Visual Basic, date formats are controlled by the Regional Settings properties in Windows Control Panel. For more information on Visual Basic date formats, refer to your Visual Basic documentation.

For Oracle Provider for OLE DB, if the Connection property UseSessionFormat is FALSE, which is a default value, then NLS_DATE_FORMAT is fixed for the session to 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS' by the provider. If you pass the date to Oracle Database as a string, the date must be in the 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS' format. If UseSessionFormat is TRUE, then NLS_DATE_FORMAT is not fixed by Oracle Provider for OLE DB and the default session NLS_DATE_FORMAT is used. For example:

SELECT * FROM EMP WHERE HIREDATE > '1981-06-15 17:32:12'

To use a different format, you need to use the SQL function, TO_DATE(), to specify the format for dates passed as strings. For example:

SELECT * FROM EMP WHERE HIREDATE > TO_DATE('15-JUN-81', 'DD-MON-YY')

However, for dates passed as parameters, the date format is controlled by ADO, which is controlled by the Regional Settings in Windows Control Panel. In this case, TO_DATE() should not be used. For example:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim objCon As New ADODB.Connection
Dim objCmd As New ADODB.Command
Dim objRst  As New ADODB.Recordset
Dim pDate As New ADODB.Parameter

objCon.Provider = "OraOLEDB.Oracle"
objCon.Open "MyOraDb", "scott", "tiger"
Set pDate = objCmd.CreateParameter("pDate", adDate, adParamInput)
objCmd.Parameters.Append pDate
objCmd.CommandText = _
"SELECT * FROM EMP WHERE HIREDATE > ?"
objCmd.ActiveConnection = objCon
objCmd.CommandType = adCmdText
pDate.Value = "06/15/1981"
Set objRst = objCmd.Execute

...
End Sub

2.1.5.9 Case of Object Names

The names of all objects (tables, columns, views, and so forth) in Oracle Database are case-sensitive. This allows the two objects EMP and emp to exist in the same namespace in the database.

The query, SELECT ename FROM emp, executes correctly even though the table name is EMP (all uppercase) in the database. However, if you want to specify object names in mixed case, you can do so by enclosing the name in double quotes. For example:

SELECT ename FROM "Emp"

will execute successfully if the table name in the database is Emp. Double quotes preserve the case of the object names in Oracle Database.

2.1.6 LOB Support

The ISequentialStream interface is supported for all LONG, LONG RAW, and LOB (BLOB, CLOB, NCLOB, and BFILE) columns. The consumer can use this interface to read and write to all the LOB columns, except BFILE which is read-only. To have read and write access to these columns, the SELECT SQL statement used to create the rowset should not contain a join.

Note:
Although most of the LOB columns in an Oracle Database support up to 4 GB of data storage, ADO limits the maximum column size to 2 GB.

Columns having the BFILE data type are not updatable in the Rowset interface. However, these columns can be updated using the command interface, if the update is limited to modifying the directory and name of the external file pointed to by the BFILE column. For example:

INSERT INTO topomaps (areanum, topomap)
VALUES (158, BFILENAME('mapdir', 'topo158.tps'))

For more information on LOBs, see Oracle Database SecureFiles and Large Objects Developer's Guide.

2.1.7 Unicode Support

OraOLEDB supports the Unicode character set. Using this feature, consumers can use OraOLEDB to access data in multiple languages on the same client computer. It can be especially useful in creating global Internet applications supporting as many languages as the Unicode standard entails. For example, you can write a single Active Server Page (ASP) application that accesses an Oracle9i Database to dynamically generate contents in Japanese, Arabic, English, Thai, and so on.

2.1.7.1 Types of Unicode Encoding

The Oracle Databases store the Unicode data in the UTF8 encoding scheme, which is an ASCII compatible multibyte encoding of Unicode. Microsoft Windows 2000 use the UCS2 encoding, which is a 2-byte fixed-width encoding scheme. OraOLEDB transparently converts the data between the two encoding schemes allowing the consumers to deal with only UCS2.

Note:
The Unicode support is transparent to ADO consumers. OLE DB consumers using C or C++ need to explicitly specify DBTYPE_WSTR in their data type bindings when Unicode data in involved.

2.1.7.2 How Oracle Unicode Support Works

OraOLEDB works in two modes, Unicode mode and nonUnicode mode. When the client character set is not a superset of the server character set or the database character set is a multibyte character set, OraOLEDB automatically enables the Unicode mode. In this mode, OraOLEDB stores the data in its cache in the UCS2 encoding scheme. The user should ensure that the database's character set is UTF8 to prevent any data loss.

If the client character set is a superset of the server's, then the provider operates in the nonUnicode mode. This mode provides slightly better performance as it does not have to deal with larger character buffers required by the UCS2 encoding.

The detection of the client's and the server's character set is performed during logon.

Note:
OraOLEDB no longer requires the client character set to be set to UTF8 to enable the Unicode mode. The provider still supports such setups but no longer requires it.

See "Data Type Mappings in Rowsets and Parameters" for further information.

2.1.7.3 Unicode Support Setup

To prevent any data loss, the database character set should be UTF8. Other than this, there is no other setup required for Unicode support.

2.1.7.3.1 Database Setup

You must ensure that the Oracle Database is configured to store the data in the UTF8 character set. The character set configuration is typically specified during database creation. To check the character set setting of your database, execute the following query in SQL*Plus:

SQL> SELECT parameter, value FROM nls_database_parameters
WHERE parameter = 'NLS_CHARACTERSET';

If the character set of your database is not UTF8, you need to create a new database with the UTF8 character set and import your data into it. See Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information.

See Also:
Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide for general information

2.1.8 Errors

OLE and COM objects report errors through the HRESULT return code of the object member functions. An OLE/COM HRESULT return code is a bit-packed structure. OLE provides macros that dereference structure members. OraOLEDB exposes IErrorLookup to retrieve information about an error.

All objects support extended error information. For this, the consumer must instantiate the OLE DB Extended Error object followed by calling the method GetErrorDescription() to get the error text.

// Instantiate OraOLEDBErrorLookup and obtain a pointer to its
//   IErrorLookup interface
CoCreateInstance(CLSID_OraOLEDBErrorLookup, NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
IID_IErrorLookup, (void **)&pIErrorLookup)
//Call the method GetErrorDescription() to get the full error text
pIErrorLookup->GetErrorDescription()

The OraOLEDB provider returns the entire error stack in one text block.

For ADO users, the following example applies:

Dim oerr As ADODB.Error
For Each oerr in con.Errors
MsgBox "Error: " & oerr.Description & vbCrLf _
& "Source: " & oerr.Source
Next

2.1.9 OLEDB.NET Data Provider Compatibility

The OLE DB .NET Data Provider can utilize OraOLEDB as the OLE DB Provider for accessing Oracle Database.

To make OraOLEDB compatible with OLE DB .NET Data Provider, set the connection string attribute OLEDB.NET to True.

Setting the OLEDB.NET attribute to False disables .NET compatibility.

Note:
The OLEDB.NET connection string attribute must not be used in ADO applications.

2.1.9.1 Using the OLEDB.NET Attribute in a Connection String

When using OraOLEDB with the OLE DB .NET Data Provider, the OLEDB.NET connection attribute must be set to True as shown in the following examples:

// in VB.NET
Dim con As New OleDbConnection()
con.ConnectionString = "Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;User Id=scott;" & _
"Password=tiger;Data Source=Oracle;OLEDB.NET=True;"
con.Open

// in C#
...
OleDbConnection con = new OleDbConnection();
con.ConnectionString = "Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;User Id=scott;" +
"Password=tiger;Data Source=Oracle;OLEDB.NET=true;"
con.Open();
...

2.1.9.2 Using OraOLEDB Custom Properties

ADO allows OraOLEDB provider-specific properties to be set at the object level. The OraOLEDB-specific properties SPPrmsLOB and NDatatype can be set as connection string attributes as well as at the command-object level. The StmtCacheSize property can be set as a connection string attribute and the AddToStmtCache property can be set at the command object level. The following example shows the setting of properties at the command level:

// in VB
Dim cmd as new ADODB.Command
...
cmd.Properties("SPPrmsLOB") = True
cmd.Properties("NDatatype") = True
cmd.Properties("AddToStmtCache") = True
...

However, the OLEDB.NET Data Provider cannot expose OLE DB provider-specific properties at the object level. Therefore, the SPPrmsLOB and NDatatype properties can only be set as connection string attributes and AddToStmtCache property is not supported when OraOLEDB is used by OLE DB .NET Data Provider:

// in VB.NET
Dim con As New OleDbConnection()
con.ConnectionString = "Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;User Id=scott;" & _
"Password=tiger;Data Source=Oracle;OLEDB.NET=True;" & _
"SPPrmsLOB=False;NDatatype=False;"
con.Open()

Both SPPrmsLOB and NDatatype connection string attributes are set to False by default if they are not specified.

Setting either of these connection string attributes to True incurs additional processing overhead when executing commands with parameters. For this reason, before setting either attribute to True, see "OraOLEDB Custom Properties for Commands".

2.1.9.3 Updating Oracle with DataTable Changes

In order for the OleDbDataAdapter.Update() method to properly update Oracle Database with changes made in DataTable, which must contain a primary key of a database table. If the database table does not contain a primary key, the ROWID must be selected explicitly when populating DataTable, so that the ROWID can be used to uniquely identify a row when updating a row in the database.

Do not select the ROWID from database tables that contains a primary key. If ROWID is selected along with a primary key, ROWID will be the only column marked as the primary key.

See Also:
For further information on using the OLE DB .NET Data Provider

- Microsoft .NET Documentation

- Microsoft .NET Framework Class Library

2.2 Using OraOLEDB with Visual Basic

The following simple example illustrates how to use Oracle Provider for OLE DB with ADO in Visual Basic 6.0 to connect to an Oracle Database and execute PL/SQL stored procedures and functions.

2.2.1 Setting Up the Oracle Database

This example assumes that the Oracle Database has the demonstration table EMP under the user account scott. The scott account is included in the Oracle starter database. If the account does not exist on your database, create the account before running the sample program. If your database does not contain the emp table, then you can use the demobld.sql script to create the demonstration tables.

This example also uses exampledb as the database network alias when connecting to the Oracle Database. You must change this network alias to match your system.

Step 1   Build the Sample Tables:

1. Start SQL*Plus.

2. Connect as username scott with the password tiger.

3. Run the demobld.sql script:

SQL> @ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\sqlplus\demo\demobld.sql;

After the emp table has been created in the scott account, you need to create the PL/SQL package that contains the stored procedure and function that are run in the Visual Basic example.

Step 2   Create the PL/SQL package:

1. Connect as username scott with the password tiger.

2. Create the PL/SQL packages shown in "PL/SQL Package".

Note:
When creating PL/SQL packages the / character is used as a terminator and must be added on a separate line following each CREATE PACKAGE...END block.

2.2.2 Setting Up the Visual Basic Project

After the Oracle Database setup is completed, you can create the Visual Basic 6.0 project.

1. Start Visual Basic 6.0 and create a new project.

2. Make sure that the Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects 2.1 Library and Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects Recordset 2.1 Library are included as Project References.

3. Add two command buttons to the form. One of the buttons will run the code to execute the PL/SQL procedure GetEmpRecords. The other will run the code to execute the PL/SQL function GetDept.

4. Add the following code to the Click subroutine of the button that will run the code to execute the PL/SQL procedure GetEmpRecords.

Dim Oracon As ADODB.Connection
Dim recset As New ADODB.Recordset
Dim cmd As New ADODB.Command
Dim param1 As New ADODB.Parameter
Dim param2 As New ADODB.Parameter
Dim objErr As ADODB.Error
Dim Message, Title, Default, EmpNoValue

Message = "Enter an employee number (5000 - 9000)"
Title = "Choose an Employee"
Default = "7654"

On Error GoTo err_test

EmpNoValue = InputBox(Message, Title, Default)
If EmpNoValue = "" Then Exit Sub
If EmpNoValue < 5000 Or EmpNoValue > 9000 Then EmpNoValue = 7654

Set Oracon = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
Oracon.ConnectionString = "Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;" & _
"Data Source=exampledb;" & _
"User ID=scott;" & _
"Password=tiger;"

Oracon.Open
Set cmd.ActiveConnection = Oracon
Set param1 = cmd.CreateParameter("param1", adSmallInt, adParamInput, ,
EmpNoValue)
cmd.Parameters.Append param1
Set param2 = cmd.CreateParameter("param2", adSmallInt, adParamOutput)
cmd.Parameters.Append param2

' Enable PLSQLRSet property
Cmd.Properties ("PLSQLRSet") = TRUE

cmd.CommandText = "{CALL Employees.GetDept(?, ?)}"
Set recset = cmd.Execute

' Disable PLSQLRSet property
Cmd.Properties ("PLSQLRSet") = FALSE

MsgBox "Number: " & EmpNoValue & "  Dept: " & recset.Fields("deptno").Value

Exit Sub

err_test:
MsgBox Error$
For Each objErr In Oracon.Errors
MsgBox objErr.Description
Next
Oracon.Errors.Clear
Resume Next

5. Add the following code to the Click subroutine of the button that will run the code to execute the PL/SQL function GetDept.

Dim Oracon As ADODB.Connection
Dim recset As New ADODB.Recordset
Dim cmd As New ADODB.Command
Dim param1 As New ADODB.Parameter
Dim param2 As New ADODB.Parameter
Dim objErr As ADODB.Error

Dim Message, Title, Default, DeptValue
Message = "Enter a department number (10, 20, or 30)"
Title = "Choose a Department"
Default = "30"

On Error GoTo err_test
DeptValue = InputBox(Message, Title, Default)
If DeptValue = "" Then Exit Sub
If DeptValue < 10 Or DeptValue > 30 Then DeptValue = 30

Set Oracon = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
Oracon.ConnectionString = "Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;" & _
"Data Source=exampledb;" & _
"User ID=scott;" & _
"Password=tiger;"
Oracon.Open
Set cmd = New ADODB.Command
Set cmd.ActiveConnection = Oracon
Set param1 = cmd.CreateParameter("param1", adSmallInt, adParamInput, ,
DeptValue)
cmd.Parameters.Append param1
Set param2 = cmd.CreateParameter("param2", adSmallInt, adParamOutput)
cmd.Parameters.Append param2

' Enable PLSQLRSet property
Cmd.Properties ("PLSQLRSet") = TRUE

cmd.CommandText = "{CALL Employees.GetEmpRecords(?, ?)}"
Set recset = cmd.Execute

' Disable PLSQLRSet property
Cmd.Properties ("PLSQLRSet") = FALSE

Do While Not recset.EOF
MsgBox "Number: " & recset.Fields("empno").Value & "  Name: " &
recset.Fields("ename").Value & "  Dept: " & recset.Fields("deptno").Value
recset.MoveNext
Loop

Exit Sub

err_test:
MsgBox Error$
For Each objErr In Oracon.Errors
MsgBox objErr.Description
Next
Oracon.Errors.Clear
Resume Next

6. Run the project and check the results. For example, if you choose the Get Employee Records by Dept button, then you would see a dialog box requesting that you enter a department number.

After you have entered a department number and clicked OK, another dialog box displays employee names and numbers from that department.

A Provider-Specific Information

This appendix describes OLE DB information that is specific to Oracle Provider for OLE DB. For generic OLE DB information that includes a detailed listing of all OLE DB properties and interfaces, see the Microsoft OLE DB Programmer's Reference Guide.

This appendix contains these topics:

- Data Type Mappings in Rowsets and Parameters

- Properties Supported

- Interfaces Supported

- MetaData Columns Supported

- OraOLEDB Tracing

A.1 Data Type Mappings in Rowsets and Parameters

This section lists the data type mapping between Oracle data types and OLE DB-defined types. Oracle Provider for OLE DB represents Oracle data types by using certain OLE DB-defined data types in the rowset as well as in parameters. OLE DB-defined types are also mapped to an Oracle data type when creating tables.

Each Oracle data type is mapped to a specific OLE DB data type, as shown in Table A-1. This correspondence is used when data type information is retrieved from an Oracle Database.

Table A-1 Data Type Mappings

Oracle Data Type

OLE DB Data Type - Regular (NonUnicode) Mode

OLE DB Data Type - Unicode Mode

BFILE

DBTYPE_BYTES

DBTYPE_BYTES

BINARY_FLOAT

DBTYPE_R4

DBTYPE_R4

BINARY_DOUBLE

DBTYPE_R8

DBTYPE_R8

BLOB

DBTYPE_BYTES

DBTYPE_BYTES

CHAR

DBTYPE_STR

DBTYPE_WSTR

CLOB

DBTYPE_STR

DBTYPE_WSTR

DATE

DBTYPE_DBTIMESTAMP

DBTYPE_DBTIMESTAMP

FLOAT

DBTYPE_R8

DBTYPE_R8

INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND

DBTYPE_STR

DBTYPE_WSTR

INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH

DBTYPE_STR

DBTYPE_WSTR

LONG

DBTYPE_STR

DBTYPE_WSTR

LONG RAW

BTYPE_BYTES

DBTYPE_BYTES

NCHAR

DBTYPE_STR

DBTYPE_WSTR

NCLOB

DBTYPE_STR

DBTYPE_WSTR

NUMBER

DBTYPE_VARNUMERIC

DBTYPE_VARNUMERIC

NUMBER(p,s)

DBTYPE_NUMERIC

DBTYPE_NUMERIC

NVARCHAR2

DBTYPE_STR

DBTYPE_WSTR

RAW

DBTYPE_BYTES

DBTYPE_BYTES

ROWID

DBTYPE_STR

DBTYPE_STR

TIMESTAMP

DBTYPE_DBTIMESTAMP

DBTYPE_DBTIMESTAMP

TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE

DBTYPE_DBTIMESTAMP

DBTYPE_DBTIMESTAMP

TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE

DBTYPE_DBTIMESTAMP

DBTYPE_DBTIMESTAMP

VARCHAR

DBTYPE_STR

DBTYPE_WSTR

A.2 Properties Supported

This section lists the properties supported by Oracle Provider for OLE DB. The read/write status and initial values are noted.

- Data Source Properties

- DataSourceInfo Properties

- Initialization and Authorization Properties

- Session Properties

- Rowset Properties

A.2.1 Data Source Properties

Table A-2 lists data source properties.

Table A-2 DBPROPSET_DATASOURCE Properties

Property

Status

Initial Value

DBPROP_CURRENTCATALOG

READ-ONLY

NULL

A.2.2 DataSourceInfo Properties

Table A-3 lists DataSourceInfo properties.

Table A-3 DBPROPSET_DATASOURCEINFO Properties

Property

Status

Initial Value

DBPROP_ACTIVESESSIONS

READ-ONLY

0, Unlimited sessions

DBPROP_ASYNCTXNABORT

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_ASYNCTXNCOMMIT

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_BYREFACCESSORS

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_CATALOGLOCATION

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_CL_END

DBPROP_CATALOGTERM

READ-ONLY

"Database link"

DBPROP_CATALOGUSAGE

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_CU_DML_STATEMENTS

DBPROP_COLUMNDEFINITION

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_CD_NOTNULL

DBPROP_CONCATNULLBEHAVIOR

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_CB_NON_NULL

DBPROP_CONNECTIONSTATUS

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_CS_INITIALIZED

DBPROP_DATASOURCENAME

READ-ONLY

" ", set at run time

DBPROP_DATASOURCEREADONLY

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_DBMSNAME

READ-ONLY

" ", set at run time

DBPROP_DBMSVER

READ-ONLY

set at run time

DBPROP_DSOTHREADMODEL

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_RT_FREETHREAD

DBPROP_GROUPBY

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_GB_CONTAINS_SELECT

DBPROP_HETEROGENEOUSTABLES

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_HT_DIFFERENT_CATALOGS

DBPROP_IDENTIFIERCASE

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_IC_UPPER

DBPROP_MAXINDEXSIZE

READ-ONLY

0, limit unknown - depends on block size

DBPROP_MAXOPENCHAPTERS

READ-ONLY

0, not supported

DBPROP_MAXORSINFILTER

READ-ONLY

0, not supported

DBPROP_MAXROWSIZE

READ-ONLY

0, no limit

DBPROP_MAXROWSIZEINCLUDESBLOB

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_MAXSORTCOLUMNS

READ-ONLY

0, not supported

DBPROP_MAXTABLESINSELECT

READ-ONLY

0, no limit

DBPROP_MULTIPLEPARAMSETS

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_MULTIPLERESULTS

READ-ONLY

DBPROP_MR_SUPPORTED | DBPROPVAL__MR_CONCURRENT

DBPROP_MULTIPLESTORAGEOBJECTS

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_MULTITABLEUPDATE

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_NULLCOLLATION

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_NC_HIGH

DBPROP_OLEOBJECTS

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_OO_BLOB

DBPROP_ORDERBYCOLUMNSINSELECT

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_OUTPUTPARAMETERAVAILABILITY

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_OA_ATEXECUTE

DBPROP_PERSISTENTIDTYPE

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_PT_NAME

DBPROP_PREPAREABORTBEHAVIOR

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_CB_PRESERVE

DBPROP_PREPARECOMMITBEHAVIOR

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_CB_PRESERVE

DBPROP_PROCEDURETERM

READ-ONLY

"PL/SQL Stored Procedure"

DBPROP_PROVIDERFRIENDLYNAME

READ-ONLY

"Oracle Provider for OLE DB"

DBPROP_PROVIDERNAME

READ-ONLY

OraOLEDBver.dll

DBPROP_PROVIDEROLEDBVER

READ-ONLY

"02.01"

DBPROP_PROVIDERVER

READ-ONLY

set to current OraOLEDB version

DBPROP_QUOTEDIDENTIFIERCASE

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_IC_SENSITIVE

DBPROP_ROWSETCONVERSIONSONCOMMAND

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_SCHEMATERM

READ-ONLY

"Owner"

DBPROP_SCHEMAUSAGE

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_SU_DML_STATEMENTS |DBPROPVAL_SU_TABLE_DEFINITION |DBPROPVAL_SU_INDEX_DEFINITION |DBPROPVAL_SU_PRIVILEGE_DEFINITION

DBPROP_SERVERNAME

READ-ONLY

" ", set at run time

DBPROP_SORTONINDEX

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_SQLSUPPORT

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_SQL_ODBC_MINIMUM |DBPROPVAL_SQL_ANSI92_ENTRY |DBPROPVAL_SQL_ESCAPECLAUSES

DBPROP_STRUCTUREDSTORAGE

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_SS_ISEQUENTIAL_STREAM

DBPROP_SUBQUERIES

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_SQ_CORRELATEDSUBQUERIES

DBPROP_SUPPORTEDTXNDDL

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_TC_DDL_COMMIT

DBPROP_SUPPORTEDTXNISOLEVELS

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_TI_CURSORSTABILITY |DBPROPVAL_TI_READCOMMITTED

DBPROP_SUPPORTEDTXNISORETAIN

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_TR_DONTCARE

DBPROP_TABLETERM

READ-ONLY

"Table"

DBPROP_USERNAME

READ-ONLY

" ", set at run time

A.2.3 Initialization and Authorization Properties

Table A-4 lists initialization and authorization properties.

Table A-4 DBPROPSET_DBINIT Properties

Property

Status

Initial Value

DBPROP_AUTH_PERSIST_SENSITIVE_AUTHINFO

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_AUTH_USERID

READ/WRITE

User ID

DBPROP_INIT_DATASOURCE

READ/WRITE

Connect string

DBPROP_INIT_HWND

READ/WRITE

Window handle for prompt

DBPROP_INIT_LCID

READ/WRITE

LCID of system

DBPROP_INIT_OLEDBSERVICES

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_OS_ENABLEALL

DBPROP_INIT_PROMPT

READ/WRITE

DBPROMPT_NOPROMPT

A.2.4 Session Properties

Table A-5 lists session properties.

Table A-5 DBPROPSET_SESSION Properties

Property

Status

Initial Value

DBPROP_SESS_AUTOCOMMITISOLEVELS

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_TI_CURSORSTABILITY |DBPROPVAL_TI_READCOMMITTED

A.2.5 Rowset Properties

Table A-6 lists rowset properties.

Table A-6 DBPROPSET_ROWSET Properties

Property

Status

Initial Value

DBPROP_ABORTPRESERVE

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_ACCESSORORDER

READ-ONLY

DBPROP_AO_RANDOM

DBPROP_APPENDONLY

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_BLOCKINGSTORAGEOBJECTS

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_BOOKMARKINFO

READ-ONLY

0

DBPROP_BOOKMARKS

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_BOOKMARKSKIPPED

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_BOOKMARKTYPE

READ-ONLY

DBPROP_BMK_NUMERIC

DBPROP_CACHEDEFERRED

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_CANFETCHBACKWARDS

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_CANHOLDROWS

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_CANSCROLLBACKWARDS

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_CHANGEINSERTEDROWS

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_CLIENTCURSOR

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_COLUMNRESTRICT

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_COMMANDTIMEOUT

READ/WRITE

0, currently not operational

DBPROP_COMMITPRESERVE

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_DEFERRED

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_DELAYSTORAGEOBJECTS

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE, no delayed update

DBPROP_FINDCOMPAREOPS

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_CO_EQUALITY | DBPROPVAL_CO_STRING |DBPROPVAL_CO_CASESENSITIVE | DBPROPVAL_CO_CASEINSENSITIVE | DBPROPVAL_CO_CONTAINS |DBPROPVAL_CO_BEGINSWITH

DBPROP_HIDDENCOLUMNS

READ-ONLY

0

DBPROP_IACCESSOR

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_ICOLUMNSINFO

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_ICOLUMNSROWSET

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_ICONNECTIONPOINTCONTAINER

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_ICONVERTTYPE

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_IMMOBILEROWS

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_IMULTIPLERESULTS

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_IROWSET

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_IROWSETCHANGE

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_IROWSETFIND

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_IROWSETIDENTITY

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_IROWSETINFO

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_IROWSETLOCATE

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_IROWSETREFRESH

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_IROWSETSCROLL

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_IROWSETUPDATE

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_ISEQUENTIALSTREAM

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_ISUPPORTERRORINFO

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_LITERALBOOKMARKS

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_LITERALIDENTITY

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_LOCKMODE

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_LM_NONE

DBPROP_MAXOPENROWS

READ/WRITE

0, No limit

DBPROP_MAXPENDINGROWS

READ-ONLY

0, No limit

DBPROP_MAXROWS

READ/WRITE

0

DBPROP_MAXROWSIZE

READ-ONLY

0

DBPROP_MAXROWSIZEINCLUDESBLOB

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_NOTIFICATIONGRANULARITY

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_NT_MULTIPLEROWS

DBPROP_NOTIFICATIONPHASES

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_NP_OKTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_ABOUTTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_SYNCHAFTER | DBPROPVAL_NP_FAILEDTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_DIDEVENT

DBPROP_NOTIFYCOLUMNSET

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_NP_OKTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_ABOUTTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_SYNCHAFTER | DBPROPVAL_NP_FAILEDTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_DIDEVENT

DBPROP_NOTIFYROWDELETE

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_NP_OKTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_ABOUTTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_SYNCHAFTER | DBPROPVAL_NP_FAILEDTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_DIDEVENT

DBPROP_NOTIFYROWFIRSTCHANGE

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_NP_OKTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_ABOUTTODO

DBPROP_NOTIFYROWINSERT

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_NP_OKTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_ABOUTTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_SYNCHAFTER | DBPROPVAL_NP_FAILEDTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_DIDEVENT

DBPROP_NOTIFYROWRESYNCH

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_NP_OKTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_ABOUTTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_SYNCHAFTER

DBPROP_NOTIFYROWSETRELEASE

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_NP_OKTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_ABOUTTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_SYNCHAFTER

DBPROP_NOTIFYROWSETFETCHPOSITIONCHANGE

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_NP_OKTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_ABOUTTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_SYNCHAFTER

DBPROP_NOTIFYROWUNDOCHANGE

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_NP_OKTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_ABOUTTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_SYNCHAFTER | DBPROPVAL_NP_FAILEDTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_DIDEVENT

DBPROP_NOTIFYROWUNDODELETE

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_NP_OKTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_ABOUTTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_SYNCHAFTER | DBPROPVAL_NP_FAILEDTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_DIDEVENT

DBPROP_NOTIFYROWUNDOINSERT

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_NP_OKTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_ABOUTTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_SYNCHAFTER | DBPROPVAL_NP_FAILEDTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_DIDEVENT

DBPROP_NOTIFYROWUNDOUPDATE

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_NP_OKTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_ABOUTTODO |DBPROPVAL_NP_SYNCHAFTER | DBPROPVAL_NP_FAILEDTODO | DBPROPVAL_NP_DIDEVENT

DBPROP_ORDEREDBOOKMARKS

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_OTHERINSERT

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_OTHERUPDATEDELETE

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_OWNINSERT

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_OWNUPDATEDELETE

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_QUICKRESTART

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_REENTRANTEVENTS

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_REMOVEDELETED

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_REPORTMULTIPLECHANGES

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_RETURNPENDINGINSERTS

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_ROWRESTRICT

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_ROWTHREADMODEL

READ-ONLY

DBPROPVAL_RT_FREETHREAD

DBPROP_SERVERCURSOR

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_SERVERDATAONINSERT

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_STRONGIDENTITY

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_TRANSACTEDOBJECT

READ-ONLY

VARIANT_TRUE

DBPROP_UNIQUEROWS

READ/WRITE

VARIANT_FALSE

DBPROP_UPDATABILITY

READ/WRITE

DBPROPVAL_UP_CHANGE | DBPROPVAL_UP_DELETE | DBPROPVAL_UP_INSET

A.2.5.1 Rowset Property Implications

Oracle Provider for OLE DB sets other necessary properties if a particular property is set to VARIANT_TRUE.

- If DBPROP_IROWSETLOCATE is set to VARIANT_TRUE, then the following properties are also set to VARIANT_TRUE:

- DBPROP_IROWSETIDENTITY

- DBPROP_CANHOLDROWS

- DBPROP_BOOKMARKS

- DBPROP_CANFETCHBACKWARDS

- DBPROP_CANSCROLLBACKWARDS

- If DBPROP_IROWSETSCROLL is set to VARIANT_TRUE, then the following properties are also set to VARIANT_TRUE:

- DBPROP_IROWSETIDENTITY

- DBPROP_IROWSETLOCATE

- DBPROP_CANHOLDROWS

- DBPROP_BOOKMARKS

- DBPROP_CANFETCHBACKWARDS

- DBPROP_CANSCROLLBACKWARDS

- If DBPROP_IROWSETUPDATE is set to VARIANT_TRUE, then the DBPROP_IROWSETCHANGE property is also set to VARIANT_TRUE.

A.3 Interfaces Supported

This section identifies the OLE DB interfaces that are supported by Oracle Provider for OLE DB.

- Data Source

- Session

- Command

- Rowset

- Multiple Results

- Transaction Options

- Custom Error Object

A.3.1 Data Source

CoType TDataSource {
interface IDBCreateSession;
interface IDBInitialize;
interface IDBProperties;
interface IPersist;
interface IDBInfo;
interface ISupportErrorInfo;
}

A.3.2 Session

CoType TSession {
interface IGetDataSource;
interface IOpenRowset;
interface ISessionProperties;
interface IDBCreateCommand;
interface IDBSchemaRowset;
interface ISupportErrorInfo;
interface ITransactionJoin;
interface ITransactionLocal;
interface ITransaction;
}

A.3.3 Command

CoType TCommand {
interface IAccessor;
interface IColumnsInfo;
interface ICommand;
interface ICommandProperties;
interface ICommandText;
interface IConvertType;
interface IColumnsRowset;
interface ICommandPrepare;
interface ICommandWithParameters;
interface ISupportErrorInfo;
}

A.3.4 Rowset

CoType TRowset {
interface IAccessor;
interface IColumnsInfo;
interface IConvertType;
interface IRowset;
interface IRowsetInfo;
interface IColumnsRowset;
interface IConnectionPointContainer;
interface IRowsetChange;
interface IRowsetFind;
interface IRowsetIdentity;
interface IRowsetLocate;
interface IRowsetRefresh;
interface IRowsetScroll;
interface IRowsetUpdate;
interface ISupportErrorInfo;
}

A.3.5 Multiple Results

CoType TMultipleResults {
interface IMultipleResults;
interface ISupportErrorInfo;
}

A.3.6 Transaction Options

CoType TTransactionOptions {
interface ITransactionOptions;
interface ISupportErrorInfo;
}

A.3.7 Custom Error Object

CoType TCustomErrorObject {
interface IErrorLookup;
}

A.4 MetaData Columns Supported

DBTYPE_BASECOLUMNNAME, DBTYPE_BASETABLENAME, and DBTYPE_BASESCHEMANAME metadata columns are not populated for read-only recordsets. OraOLEDB creates a read-only recordset for server cursor for SQL queries with DISTINCT or UNIQUE keywords. OraOLEDB also creates a read-only recordset for server cursor for JOIN queries.

The following metadata columns are supported by the column rowset of OraOLEDB:

- DBCOLUMN_IDNAME

- DBCOLUMN_PROPID

- DBCOLUMN_NAME

- DBCOLUMN_NUMBER

- DBCOLUMN_TYPE

- DBCOLUMN_TYPEINFO

- DBCOLUMN_COLUMNSIZE

- DBCOLUMN_PRECISION

- DBCOLUMN_SCALE

- DBCOLUMN_FLAGS

- DBCOLUMN_BASECATALOGNAME

- DBCOLUMN_BASECOLUMNNAME

- DBCOLUMN_BASESCHEMANAME

- DBCOLUMN_BASETABLENAME

- DBCOLUMN_COMPUTEMODE

- DBCOLUMN_ISAUTOINCREMENT

- DBCOLUMN_ISCASESENSITIVE

- DBCOLUMN_ISSEARCHABLE

- DBCOLUMN_OCTETLENGTH

- DBCOLUMN_KEYCOLUMN

A.5 OraOLEDB Tracing

OraOLEDB provides the ability to trace the interface calls for debugging purposes. This feature has been provided to assist Oracle Support Services in debugging customer issues.

The provider can be configured to record the following information:

- For OLE DB Interface method entry and exit:

- Parameter values supplied (entry)

- Return value; HRESULT (exit)

- Thread ID (entry and exit)

- For Distributed transaction enlistment and delistment:

- Session object information

- Transaction ID

Note:
To record global transaction enlistment and delistment information, the TraceLevel value must be set to session object. See "TraceLevel" .

A.5.1 Registry Setting for Tracing Calls

To trace the interface calls, you must configure the following registry values for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_HOMENAME\OLEDB\:

- TraceFileName

Valid Value: Any valid path and file name

TraceFileName specifies the file name that is to be used for logging trace information. If TraceOption is set to 0, the name is used as is. However, if TraceOption is 1, then the thread ID is appended to the file name provided. See "TraceOption" for more information.

- TraceCategory

Valid Values:

- 0 = None

- 1 = OLEDB Interface method entry

- 2 = OLEDB Interface method exit

- 4 = Distributed Transaction Enlistment and Delistment

TraceCategory specifies the information that is to be traced. Combinations of different tracing categories can be made by adding the valid values. For example, set TraceCategory to 3 to trace all OLE DB interface method entries and exits.

- TraceLevel

Valid Values:

- 0 = None

- 1 = Data Source object

- 2 = Session object

- 4 = Command object

- 8 = Rowset object

- 16 = Error object

- 64 = Multiple Results Object

TraceLevel specifies the OLE DB objects to be traced. Because tracing all the entry and exit calls for all the OLE DB objects can be excessive, TraceLevel is provided to limit tracing to a single or multiple OLE DB objects. To obtain tracing on multiple objects, add the valid values. For example, if TraceLevel is set to 12 and TraceCategory is set to 3, the trace file will only contain method entry and exit for Command and Rowset objects.

The TraceLevel value must be set to session object (2) to trace global transaction enlistment and delistment information.

- TraceOption

Valid Values:

- 0 = Single trace file

- 1 = Multiple trace files

TraceOption specifies whether to log trace information in single or multiple files for each Thread ID. If a single trace file is specified, the file name specified in TraceFileName is used. If multiple trace file is requested, a Thread ID is appended to the file name provided to create a trace file for each thread.

Glossary

Component Object Model (COM)

A binary standard that enables objects to interact with other objects, regardless of the programming language that each object was written in.

consumer

A consumer is any application or tool that calls to a data source or the interfaces of provider to access data. See provider.

Oracle Net Services

The Oracle client/server communication software that offers transparent operation to Oracle tools or databases over any type of network protocol and operating system.

PL/SQL

Procedural language extension to SQL provided by Oracle .

provider

A provider is an interface or set of components that provides data to a consumer. As the term is used with Oracle Provider for OLE DB, a data provider is a set of COM components that transfer data from a data source to a consumer, by placing the data in a tabular format when called for. See consumer.

stored procedure

A stored procedure is a PL/SQL block that are stored in an Oracle Database and can be called by name from an application.

Index
A  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  K  L  M  N  O  P  R  S  T  U  V

A

ADO, 2.1.2.7, 2.1.4.6

ADO.NET, 2.1.9

attributes

connection string, 2.1.2.2

C

C#

connection string, 2.1.9.1

example, 2.1.9.1

CacheType

connection string attribute for rowsets, 2.1.2.2, 2.1.5.5

caching, 2.1.4.8 case of object names, 2.1.5.9 ChunkSize

connection string attribute for rowsets, 2.1.2.2, 2.1.5.5

class ID

CLSID_OraOLEDB, 2.1.2

CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER macro, 2.1.2 CoCreateInstance

creating an instance of the data source object, 2.1.2

columns

metadata, A.4

commands, 2.1.4

parameters, 2.1.4.3

preparing, 2.1.4.2

connecting

Oracle databases supported, 2.1.2

to a specific database, 2.1.2

to an Oracle database, 2.1.2.1

to an Oracle database using ADO, 2.1.2.7

connection string attributes, 2.1.2.2

defaults, 2.1.2.3

registry, 2.1.2.3

rowsets, 2.1.5.5

consumers

OLE DB, 1.1.1

creating

an instance of the data source object, 2.1.2

rowsets, 2.1.5.1

Cursor Stability, 2.1.3.1.1 CursorType

tips for ADO programmers, 2.1.5.6

custom error objects

interfaces supported, A.3.7

D

data source

creating an instance of, 2.1.2

distributed transactions, 2.1.2.4

objects, 2.1.2

properties, A.2.1

data source info

properties, A.2.2

DataTable, 2.1.9.3 datatypes

mappings between Oracle datatypes and OLE DB types, A.1

mappings in rowsets and parameters, A.1

OLE DB, A.1

Oracle, A.1, A.1

date formats

NLS_DATE_FORMAT, 2.1.5.8

settings, 2.1.5.8

DBNotificationPort, 2.1.2.2, 2.1.2.5 DBNotifications, 2.1.2.2, 2.1.2.5 DBPROP_AUTH_PASSWORD property

setting, 2.1.2

DBPROP_AUTH_USERNAME property

enabling operating system authentication, 2.1.2.6

setting, 2.1.2

DBPROP_INIT_DATASOURCE property

setting, 2.1.2

DBPROP_INIT_PROMPT property

setting, 2.1.2

DBPROP_INIT_PROVIDERSTRING property

enabling operating system authentication, 2.1.2.6

setting, 2.1.2.3

DBPROP_IROWSETUPDATE property

setting of other properties, A.2.5.1

DBPROP_SERVERDATAONINSERT property, 2.1.5.3 DBPROPSET_DBINIT property set

setting properties, 2.1.2, 2.1.2.3

debugging, A.5 DeferUpdChk, 2.1.2.2, 2.1.5.5

connection string attribute to indicate whether to defer updateability, 2.1.5.5

demobld.sql, 2.2.1, 2.2.1 design

OLE DB, 1.1.1

DistribTX

connection string attribute for commands, 2.1.2.2

Distributed Transactions, 2.1.2.4 distributed transactions, 2.1.3.1.2

E

Enhanced Failover Capability, 2.1.2.5

enlistment, 2.1.2.4

distributed transactions, 2.1.2.4

errors

HRESULT, 2.1.8

OLE and COM, 2.1.8

examples, 2.1.9.1, 2.1.9.1

connecting to an Oracle database using ADO, 2.1.2.7

stored procedure returning multiple rowsets, 2.1.4.6

using OraOLEDB with Visual Basic, 2.2

F

features

new, Preface

Oracle Provider for OLE DB, 2.1

FetchSize

connection string attribute for rowsets, 2.1.2.2, 2.1.5.5

files

installed on system for Oracle Provider for OLE DB, 1.4

Oracle Provider for OLE DB, 1.4

G

global transactions, 2.1.3.1.2

grid-computing, Preface

grids, Preface, Preface

H

HRESULT

error return code, 2.1.8

I

initialization and authorization

properties, A.2.3

installation, 1.4

files for Oracle Provider for OLE DB, 1.4

interface call traces, A.5 interfaces

custom error objects, A.3.7

rowsets, A.3.4

sessions, A.3.2

supported by Oracle Provider for OLE DB, A.3

transaction options, A.3.6

K

KEY_HOMENAME, 2.1.2.3

L

LOB support, 2.1.6

ISequentialStream interface, 2.1.6

LockType

tips for ADO programmers, 2.1.5.6

M

MDAC, 1.3

metadata, 2.1.4.8

metadata caching, 2.1.4.8

metadata columns

supported by Oracle Provider for OLE DB, A.4

MetaDataCacheSize, 2.1.2.2 Microsoft Data Access Components, 1.3 Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator, 2.1.3.1.2 Microsoft Transaction Server, 2.1.3.1.2 MOH, Preface MTS, see Microsoft Transaction Server Multiple Oracle Home, Preface

N

NDataType, 2.1.2.2

NDatatype, 2.1.4.4

.NET, 2.1.9

New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 10.1, Preface, Preface

New Features in Oracle Provider for OLE DB for Release 11.1, Preface

O

object names

case, 2.1.5.9

OLE DB

consumers, 1.1.1

datatypes, A.1

design, 1.1.1

Microsoft web site, 1.3

providers, 1.1.1

OLE DB .NET Data Provider, 2.1.2.2

Compatibility, 2.1.9

compatibility, 2.1.9

OleDbDataAdapter.Update(), 2.1.9.3 OLEDB.NET, 2.1.2.2, 2.1.9 operating system authentication, 2.1.2.6

DBPROP_INIT_PROVIDERSTRING, 2.1.2.6, 2.1.2.6

Oracle

datatypes, A.1, A.1

Oracle Provider for OLE DB

class ID, 2.1.2

features, 2.1

provider-specific information, A

system requirements, 1.3

Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server, 1.3, 2.1.3.1.2 OraOLEDB sessions, 2.1.3 OSAuthent

connection string attribute for data source, 2.1.2.2

enabling operating system authentication, 2.1.2.6

P

password expiration

connection string attribute, 2.1.2.7

PwdChgDlg, 2.1.2.7

performance, 2.1.4.8 PLSQLRSet, 2.1.4.4

connection string attribute for commands, 2.1.2.2

properties

data source, A.2.1

data source info, A.2.2

initialization and authorization, A.2.3

rowset, A.2.5

rowset implications, A.2.5.1

sessions, A.2.4

supported by Oracle Provider for OLE DB, A.2

providers

OLE DB, 1.1.1

PwdChgDlg

connection string attribute for commands, 2.1.2.2

connection string attribute for data source, 2.1.2.7

R

registry

default attribute values, 2.1.2.3

returning rowsets

stored procedures and functions, 2.1.4.5

ROWID, 2.1.9.3 rowsets, 2.1.5

creating, 2.1.5.1

creating with ICommand, 2.1.5.1

creating with IOpenRowset, 2.1.5.1

date formats, 2.1.5.8

interfaces supported, A.3.4

properties, A.2.5

property implications, A.2.5.1

returning with procedures and functions, 2.1.4.5

schema, 2.1.5.7

searching with IRowsetFind, 2.1.5.4

updatability, 2.1.5.2

S

schema rowsets, 2.1.5.7

Server Data on Insert property, 2.1.5.3

sessions

interfaces supported, A.3.2

objects, 2.1.3

properties, A.2.4

SPPrmDefVal, 2.1.2.2 SPPrmsLOB, 2.1.2.2, 2.1.4.4 StmtCacheSize, 2.1.2.2 stored procedures and functions

executing, 2.1.4.1

returning rowsets, 2.1.4.5

system requirements

Oracle Provider for OLE DB, 1.3

T

tips

for ADO programmers, 2.1.5.6

TraceCategory, A.5.1 TraceFileName, A.5.1 TraceLevel, A.5.1 tracing, A.5 transaction options

interfaces supported, A.3.6

transactions

distributed, 2.1.3.1.2

global, 2.1.3.1.2

isolation levels, 2.1.3.1.1

local, 2.1.3.1.1

types supported, 2.1.3.1

U

UCS-2 character set, 2.1.7

Unicode, 2.1.7

UseSessionFormat

connection string attribute for commands, 2.1.2.2

V

VB.NET

connection string, 2.1.9.1

examples, 2.1.9.1

VCharNull, 2.1.2.2

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