22.1 Overview of DBFS Content API

You can enable applications to use DBFS using the DBFS Content API (DBMS_DBFS_CONTENT), which is a client-side programmatic API package. You can write applications in SQL, PL/SQL, JDBC, OCI, and other programming environments.

The DBFS Content API is a collection of methods that provide a file system-like abstraction. It is backed by one or more DBFS Store Providers. The Content in the DBFS Content interface refers to a file, including metadata, and it can either map to a SecureFiles LOB (and other columns) in a table or be dynamically created by user-written plug-ins in Java or PL/SQL that run inside the database. The plug-in form is referred to as a provider.

Note:

The DBFS Content API includes the SecureFiles Store Provider, DBMS_DBFS_SFS, a default implementation that enables applications that already use LOBs as columns in their schema, to access the LOB columns as files.

See Also:

DBFS SecureFiles Store

Examples of possible providers include:

• Packaged applications that want to expose data through files.

• Custom applications developers use to leverage the file system interface, such as an application that stores medical images.