21 OCI Any Type and Data Functions

This chapter describes the OCI Any Type and Data functions.

Introduction to Any Type and Data Interfaces

This chapter describes the OCI Any Type and Data functions in detail.

Conventions for OCI Functions

The entries for each function contain the following information:

Purpose

A brief statement of the purpose of the function.

Syntax

The function declaration.

Parameters

A description of each of the function parameters. This includes the parameter's mode. The mode of a parameter has three possible values, as described in Table 21-1.

Table 21-1 Mode of a Parameter

Mode	Description
IN	A parameter that passes data to the OCI
OUT	A parameter that receives data from the OCI on this call
IN/OUT	A parameter that passes data on the call and receives data on the return from this or a subsequent call

Comments

Detailed information about the function (if available). This may include restrictions on the use of the function, or other information that might be useful when using the function in an application. An optional section.

All the functions in this chapter are related to each other.

Function Return Values

The OCI Any Type and Data functions typically return one of the values described in Table 21-2.

Table 21-2 Function Return Values

Return Value	Meaning
`OCI_SUCCESS`	The operation succeeded.
`OCI_ERROR`	The operation failed. The specific error can be retrieved by calling `OCIErrorGet()` on the error handle passed to the function.
`OCI_INVALID_HANDLE`	The OCI handle passed to the function is invalid.