Ingres OpenROAD® 2006 Programming Guide OR-2006-PR-02 This documentation and related computer software program (hereinafter referred to as the "Documentation") is for the end user's informational purposes only and is subject to change or withdrawal by Ingres Corporation ("Ingres") at any time. This Documentation may not be copied, transferred, reproduced, disclosed or duplicated, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Ingres. This Documentation is proprietary information of Ingres and protected by the copyright laws of the United States and international treaties. Notwithstanding the foregoing, licensed users may print a reasonable number of copies of this Documentation for their own internal use, provided that all Ingres copyright notices and legends are affixed to each reproduced copy. 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Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 13 In This Guide ...................................................................................................................... 13 Intended Audience .............................................................................................................. 14 Database-related Examples ............................................................................................. 14 Conventions ....................................................................................................................... 15 Documentation ................................................................................................................... 16 Your Support Options........................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 2: Language Elements 19 OpenROAD Names............................................................................................................... 19 Dynamic Names ............................................................................................................ 20 Name Resolution............................................................................................................ 21 Variables............................................................................................................................ 25 Simple Variables ............................................................................................................ 26 Reference Variables........................................................................................................ 28 Dynamic Array Variables ................................................................................................. 31 Field and Menu Item Variables ......................................................................................... 33 How You Can Initialize Variables ...................................................................................... 34 Data Types......................................................................................................................... 35 Nulls ................................................................................................................................. 35 Expressions ........................................................................................................................ 36 Literals......................................................................................................................... 37 Named Constants .......................................................................................................... 38 System Variables ........................................................................................................... 39 Operators ..................................................................................................................... 40 Variables in Expressions.................................................................................................. 47 Procedures in Expressions ............................................................................................... 47 Methods in Expressions................................................................................................... 48 Nulls in Expressions ....................................................................................................... 49 Expressions in SQL Statements........................................................................................ 50 System-defined Functions..................................................................................................... 50 Scalar Functions ............................................................................................................ 51 Aggregate Functions....................................................................................................... 61 The Ifnull Function ......................................................................................................... 63 Dbmsinfo Function ......................................................................................................... 64 Field Function................................................................................................................ 65 Comments ......................................................................................................................... 65 Contents iii Chapter 3: Writing Scripts and Procedures 67 Scripts............................................................................................................................... 67 Frame Scripts................................................................................................................ 67 Field and Menu Item Scripts ............................................................................................ 71 User Class Scripts .......................................................................................................... 73 Statements in Scripts ..................................................................................................... 74 Procedures ......................................................................................................................... 74 How You Can Create Procedures in OpenROAD................................................................... 75 Global Procedures .......................................................................................................... 76 Local Procedures............................................................................................................ 78 Database Procedures...................................................................................................... 79 3GL Procedures ............................................................................................................. 80 Calling Procedures ............................................................................................................... 83 How You Can Call 4GL Procedures .................................................................................... 84 How You Can Call Database Procedures............................................................................. 85 How You Can Call Procedures in Expressions...................................................................... 86 How Procedure Handles Work (ProcHandle Objects).................................................................. 87 How You Can Create a ProcHandle Object.......................................................................... 87 How You Can Execute a ProcHandle Object ........................................................................ 88 Restrictions to Using the Call Method ................................................................................ 89 Global Procedures Available in the Core Library .................................................................