Preface

The Oracle C++ Call Interface (OCCI) is an application programming interface (API) that allows applications written in C++ to interact with one or more Oracle database servers. OCCI gives your programs the ability to perform the full range of database operations that are possible with an Oracle database server, including SQL statement processing and object manipulation.

This preface contains these topics:

Audience

The Oracle C++ Call Interface Programmer's Guide is intended for programmers, system analysts, project managers, and other Oracle users who perform, or are interested in learning about, the following tasks:

Design and develop database applications in the Oracle environment.
Convert existing database applications to run in the Oracle environment.
Manage the development of database applications.

To use this document, you need a basic understanding of object-oriented programming concepts, familiarity with the use of Structured Query Language (SQL), and a working knowledge of application development using C++.

Organization

This document contains:

PART I: OCCI Programming

Part 1 (Chapter 1 through Chapter 7) provides information about how to program with OCCI to build scalable application solutions that provide access to relational and object data in an Oracle database.

Chapter 1, "Introduction to OCCI"

This chapter introduces you to OCCI and describes special terms and typographical conventions that are used in describing OCCI.

Chapter 2, "Relational Programming"

This chapter gives you the basic concepts needed to develop an OCCI program. It discusses the essential steps each OCCI program must include, and how to retrieve and understand error messages

Chapter 3, "Object Programming"

This chapter provides an introduction to the concepts involved when using OCCI to access objects in an Oracle database server. The chapter includes a discussion of basic object concepts and object navigational access, and the basic structure of object-relational applications.

Chapter 4, "Datatypes"

This chapter discusses Oracle internal and external datatypes, and necessary data conversions.

Chapter 5, "Introduction to LOBs"

This chapter provides an intrduction to LOBs and the related classes and methods.

Chapter 6, "Metadata"

This chapter discusses how to use the MetaData() method to obtain information about schema objects and their associated elements.

Chapter 7, "How to Use the Object Type Translator Utility"

This chapter discusses the use of the Object Type Translator (OTT) to convert database object definitions to C++ representations for use in OCCI applications.

PART II: The Application Programmer's Interface Reference

Part 2 (Chapter 8) describes OCCI classes and methods.

Chapter 8, "OCCI Classes and Methods"

This chapter describes the OCCI classes and methods for C++.

PART III: Appendix

Part 3 (Appendix A) presents the OCCI demonstration programs.

Appendix A, "OCCI Demonstration Programs"

This appendix identifies the OCCI demonstration programs and provides the code for each.

Conventions

This section describes the conventions used in the text and code examples of this documentation set. It describes:

Conventions in Text

We use various conventions in text to help you more quickly identify special terms. The following table describes those conventions and provides examples of their use.

Convention	Meaning	Example
Bold	Bold typeface indicates terms that are defined in the text or terms that appear in a glossary, or both.	When you specify this clause, you create an index-organized table.
Italics	Italic typeface indicates book titles or emphasis.	Oracle9i Database Concepts Ensure that the recovery catalog and target database do not reside on the same disk.
`UPPERCASE monospace (fixed-width font)`	Uppercase monospace typeface indicates elements supplied by the system. Such elements include parameters, privileges, datatypes, RMAN keywords, SQL keywords, SQL*Plus or utility commands, packages and methods, as well as system-supplied column names, database objects and structures, usernames, and roles.	You can specify this clause only for a `NUMBER` column. You can back up the database by using the `BACKUP` command. Query the `TABLE_NAME` column in the `USER_TABLES` data dictionary view. Use the `DBMS_STATS`.`GENERATE_STATS` procedure.
`lowercase monospace (fixed-width font)`	Lowercase monospace typeface indicates executables, filenames, directory names, and sample user-supplied elements. Such elements include computer and database names, net service names, and connect identifiers, as well as user-supplied database objects and structures, column names, packages and classes, usernames and roles, program units, and parameter values. Note: Some programmatic elements use a mixture of UPPERCASE and lowercase. Enter these elements as shown.	Enter `sqlplus` to open SQL*Plus. The password is specified in the `orapwd` file. Back up the datafiles and control files in the `/disk1/oracle/dbs` directory. The `department_id`, `department_name`, and `location_id` columns are in the `hr.departments` table. Set the `QUERY_REWRITE_ENABLED` initialization parameter to `true.` Connect as `oe` user. The `JRepUtil` class implements these methods.
`lowercase monospace (fixed-width font) italic`	Lowercase monospace italic font represents placeholders or variables.	You can specify the `parallel_clause`. Run `U``old_release``.SQL` where `old_release` refers to the release you installed prior to upgrading.

Conventions in Code Examples

Code examples illustrate SQL, PL/SQL, SQL*Plus, or other command-line statements. They are displayed in a monospace (fixed-width) font and separated from normal text as shown in this example:

SELECT username FROM dba_users WHERE username = 'MIGRATE';

The following table describes typographic conventions used in code examples and provides examples of their use.

Convention	Meaning	Example
[ ]	Brackets enclose one or more optional items. Do not enter the brackets.	`DECIMAL (``digits` `[ ,` `precision` `])`
{ }	Braces enclose two or more items, one of which is required. Do not enter the braces.	`{ENABLE \| DISABLE}`
\|	A vertical bar represents a choice of two or more options within brackets or braces. Enter one of the options. Do not enter the vertical bar.	`{ENABLE \| DISABLE}` `[COMPRESS \| NOCOMPRESS]`
`...`	Horizontal ellipsis points indicate either: That we have omitted parts of the code that are not directly related to the example That you can repeat a portion of the code	`CREATE TABLE ... AS` `subquery``;` `SELECT` `col1``,` `col2``, ... ,` `coln` `FROM employees;`
. . .	Vertical ellipsis points indicate that we have omitted several lines of code not directly related to the example.
Other notation	You must enter symbols other than brackets, braces, vertical bars, and ellipsis points as shown.	`acctbal NUMBER(11,2);` `acct CONSTANT NUMBER(4) := 3;`
`Italics`	Italicized text indicates placeholders or variables for which you must supply particular values.	`CONNECT SYSTEM/``system_password` `DB_NAME =` `database_name`
`UPPERCASE`	Uppercase typeface indicates elements supplied by the system. We show these terms in uppercase in order to distinguish them from terms you define. Unless terms appear in brackets, enter them in the order and with the spelling shown. However, because these terms are not case sensitive, you can enter them in lowercase.	`SELECT last_name, employee_id FROM employees;` `SELECT * FROM USER_TABLES;` `DROP TABLE hr.employees;`
`lowercase`	Lowercase typeface indicates programmatic elements that you supply. For example, lowercase indicates names of tables, columns, or files. Note: Some programmatic elements use a mixture of UPPERCASE and lowercase. Enter these elements as shown.	`SELECT last_name, employee_id FROM employees;` `sqlplus hr/hr` CREATE USER mjones IDENTIFIED BY ty3MU9;

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Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation

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