18 OCI Datatype Mapping and Manipulation Functions

This chapter describes the OCI datatype mapping and manipulation functions, which is Oracle's external C Language interface to Oracle predefined types.

Introduction to Datatype Mapping and Manipulation Functions

This chapter describes the OCI datatype mapping and manipulation 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.

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.

Parameters

A description of each of the function's parameters. This includes the parameter's mode. The mode of a parameter has three possible values, as described next:

Table 18-1 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.

Returns

A description of what value is returned by the function if the function returns something other than the standard return codes listed in Table 18-2, "Function Return Values".

Related Functions

A list of related functions.

Datatype Mapping and Manipulation Function Return Values

The OCI datatype mapping and manipulation functions typically return one of the following values:

Table 18-2 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.

Function-specific return information follows the description of each function in this chapter.

Functions Returning Other Values

Some functions return values other than those listed in Table 18-2. When using these function be sure to take into account that they return a value directly from the function call, rather than through an OUT parameter.

Server Round Trips for Datatype Mapping and Manipulation Functions

For a table showing the number of server round trips required for individual OCI datatype mapping and manipulation functions, refer to Appendix C, "OCI Function Server Round Trips".

Examples

For more information about these functions, including some code examples, refer to Chapter 11, "Object-Relational Datatypes in OCI".