Recital

Login Register

In this article Barry Mavin, CEO and Chief Software Architect for Recital provides details on how to use the Recital Universal .NET Data Provider with the Recital Database Server.

Overview

A data provider in the .NET Framework serves as a bridge between an application and a data source. A data provider is used to retrieve data from a data source and to reconcile changes to that data back to the data source.

Each .NET Framework data provider has a DataAdapter object: the .NET Framework Data Provider for OLE DB is the OleDbDataAdapter object, the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server is the SqlDataAdapter object, the .NET Framework Data Provider for ODBC is the OdbcDataAdapter object, and the .NET Framework Data Provider for the Recital Database Server is the RecitalDataAdapter object.

The Recital Universal .NET Data Provider can access any data sources supported by the Recital Database Server. It is not restricted to only access Recital data. It can be used to access server-side ODBC, JDBC and OLE DB data sources also.

Core classes of the Data Provider

The Connection, Command, DataReader, and DataAdapter objects represent the core elements of the .NET Framework data provider model. The Recital Universal .NET Data Provider is plug compatible with the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server. All SQL Server classes are prefixed with "Sql" e.g. SqlDataAdaptor. To use the Recital Universal Data Adaptor, simply change the "Sql" prefix to "Recital" e.g. RecitalDataAdaptor.

The following table describes these objects.

Object Description
RecitalConnection Establishes a connection to a specific data source.
RecitalCommand Executes a command against a data source.
RecitalDataReader Reads a forward-only, read-only stream of data from a data source.
RecitalDataAdapter Populates a DataSet and resolves updates with the data source.

Along with the core classes listed in the preceding table, a .NET Framework data provider also contains the classes listed in the following table.


Object Description
RecitalTransaction Enables you to enlist commands in transactions at the data source.
RecitalCommandBuilder A helper object that will automatically generate command properties of a DataAdapter or will derive parameter information from a stored procedure and populate the Parameters collection of a Command object.
RecitalParameter Defines input, output, and return value parameters for commands and stored procedures.

The Recital Universal .NET Data Provider provides connectivity to the Recital Database Server running on any supported platform (Windows, Linux, Unix, OpenVMS) using the RecitalConnection object. The Recital Universal .NET Data Provider supports a connection string format that is similar to the SQL Server connection string format.

The basic format of a connection string consists of a series of keyword/value pairs separated by semicolons. The equal sign (=) connects each keyword and its value.

The following table lists the valid names for keyword values within the ConnectionString property of the RecitalConnection class.


Name Default Description
Data Source
-or-
Server
-or-
Servername
-or-
Nodename
  The name or network address of the instance of the Recital Database Server which to connect to.
Directory   The target directory on the remote server where data to be accessed resides. This is ignored when a Database is specified.
Encrypt
-or-
Encryption
false When true, DES3 encryption is used for all data sent between the client and server.
Initial Catalog
-or-
Database
  The name of the database on the remote server.
Password
-or- Pwd
  The password used to authenticate access to the remote server.
User ID
-or-
uid
-or-
User
-or-
Username
  The user name used to authenticate access to the remote server.
Connection Pooling
-or-
Pool
false Enable connection pooling to the server. This provides for one connection to be shared.
Logging false Provides for the ability to log all server requests for debugging purposes
Rowid true When Rowid is true (the default) a column will be post-fixed to each SELECT query that is a unique row identifier. This is used to provide optimised UPDATE and DELETE operations. If you use the RecitalSqlGrid, RecitalSqlForm, or RecitalSqlGridForm components then this column is not visible but is used to handle updates to the underlying data source.
Logfile   The name of the logfile for logging
Gateway  

Opens an SQL gateway(Connection) to a foreign SQL data source on the remote server.
Using Gateways, you can transparently access the following local or remote data sources:

  • Recital
  • Oracle
  • ODBC (Server-side ODBC data sources)
  • JDBC (Server-side JDBC data sources)
  • ADO (Use this to connect to SQL Server and other Native Windows OLEDB data sources)
  • MySQL
  • PostgreSQL

The gateway can be specified in several formats:
servertype@nodename:username/password-database
e.g.
oracle@nodename:username/password-database
mysql@nodename:username/password-database
postgresql@nodename:username/password-database
-or-
odbc:odbc_data_source_name_on_server
oledb:oledb_connection_string_on_server
jdbc:jdbc_driver_path_on_server;jdbc:Recital:args


Populating a DataSet from a DataAdaptor

The ADO.NET DataSet is a memory-resident representation of data that provides a consistent relational programming model independent of the data source. The DataSet represents a complete set of data including tables, constraints, and relationships among the tables. Because the DataSet is independent of the data source, a DataSet can include data local to the application, as well as data from multiple data sources. Interaction with existing data sources is controlled through the DataAdapter.

A DataAdapter is used to retrieve data from a data source and populate tables within a DataSet. The DataAdapter also resolves changes made to the DataSet back to the data source. The DataAdapter uses the Connection object of the .NET Framework data provider to connect to a data source and Command objects to retrieve data from and resolve changes to the data source.

The SelectCommand property of the DataAdapter is a Command object that retrieves data from the data source. The InsertCommand, UpdateCommand, and DeleteCommand properties of the DataAdapter are Command objects that manage updates to the data in the data source according to modifications made to the data in the DataSet.

The Fill method of the DataAdapter is used to populate a DataSet with the results of the SelectCommand of the DataAdapter. Fill takes as its arguments a DataSet to be populated, and a DataTable object, or the name of the DataTable to be filled with the rows returned from the SelectCommand.

The Fill method uses the DataReader object implicitly to return the column names and types used to create the tables in the DataSet, as well as the data to populate the rows of the tables in the DataSet. Tables and columns are only created if they do not already exist; otherwise Fill uses the existing DataSet schema.

Examples in C#:
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// include the references below
using System.Data;
using Recital.Data;

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// The following code example creates an instance of a DataAdapter that 
// uses a Connection to the Recital Database Server Southwind database 
// and populates a DataTable in a DataSet with the list of customers. 
// The SQL statement and Connection arguments passed to the DataAdapter 
// constructor are used to create the SelectCommand property of the DataAdapter.
public DataSet SelectCustomers()
{
	RecitalConnection swindConn = new
		RecitalConnection("Data Source=localhost;Initial Catalog=southwind");
	RecitalCommand selectCMD = new
		RecitalCommand("SELECT CustomerID, CompanyName FROM Customers", swindConn);
	selectCMD.CommandTimeout = 30;
	RecitalDataAdapter custDA = new RecitalDataAdapter();
	custDA.SelectCommand = selectCMD;
	swindConn.Open();
	DataSet custDS = new DataSet();
	custDA.Fill(custDS, "Customers");
	swindConn.Close();
	return custDS;
}

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// The following example uses the RecitalCommand, RecitalDataAdapter and 
// RecitalConnection, to select records from a database, and populate a 
// DataSet with the selected rows. The filled DataSet is then returned. 
// To accomplish this, the method is passed an initialized DataSet, a 
// connection string, and a query string that is a SQL SELECT statement
public DataSet SelectRecitalRows(DataSet dataset, string connection, string query) 
{
	RecitalConnection conn = new RecitalConnection(connection);
	SqlDataAdapter adapter = new RecitalDataAdapter();
	adapter.SelectCommand = new RecitalCommand(query, conn);
	adapter.Fill(dataset);
	return dataset;
}
Published in Blogs
Read more...
Hdparm can be used to view or set many hardware characteristics of IDE or SATA drives including optical drives (and even some SCSI drives).  For example, the read-lookahead feature can be enabled or disabled.  Also of interest is that the on board write caching can be disabled.  This may or may not be of use when trying to optimize the writing of data to the drive especially when the operating system and/or file system itself may also perform write caching.

Some options of hdparm are dangerous and are generally listed as such in the man page.

Hdparm is available from SourceForge and there is even a version for Windows.
Published in Blogs
Read more...

When you start the loadbalancer.org appliance you will see the following:

Default login:
Username: root
Password: loadbalancer

Access to webclient from an external client is:
http://192.168.1.129:9080
http://192.168.1.129:9443

You can access the web administrator using the IP and ports described onscreen.

For the sri lanka porject we are looking for performance and the network diagram indicates we are happy to have the cluster on the same subnet as the rest of the network.

Direct routing is the fasted performance possible, it has the advantage over NAT that the Loadbalancer does not become a bottleneck for incoming and outgoing packets. With DR the loadbalancer simply examines incoming packets and the servers to route the packets directly back to the requesting user.

The web interfaceis the only way to fully configure the loadbalancer vm. The console tool lbwizard will get it initiallised and any further configurations can then be done via the webinterface.

Using lbwizard for the Sri lanka configuration follow these steps.

On the first Loadbalancer:

//Start

Is this unit part for a HA Pair?
YES

Have you already setup the Slave?
NO

Is this a one-armed configuration?
YES

Enter the IP Address for the interface eth0?
Enter IP address you wish to be assigned to the SLAVE loadbalancer.

Enter the netmask for interface eth0?
Enter netmask for the subnet.

Enter the Floating IP adrress?
Enter the IP address that will be IP assosiacted the the HA-pair of loadbalancers.

//Finish

On the 2nd loadbalancer VM, run the lbwizard.

//Start

Is this unit part of an HA-Pair?
YES

Have you already set up the Slave?
YES

What is the slave units UP address?
Enter the IP which you entered when configuring the other loadbalancer VM.

Is this a one-armed configuration?
YES

Enter the IP Address for the interface eth0?
Enter the IP that will be assigned to the MASTER loadbalancer

Enter the netmask for interface eth0?
Enter the subnet netmask.

Enter the Floating IP address?
Enter the IP address that will be IP assosiacted the the HA-pair of loadbalancers.

Enter the address of the default gateway?
Enter the deafult gateway for the subnet.

Enter the IP of the nameserver?
Enter the dns server.

Enter the port for the first Virtual server?
Enter 22 for ssh

Enter the IP address of the first real server?
Enter the real IP of the first appserver

//Finish

Now this is complete we need to go to the web admin interface to configure the 2nd Real Server. As the lbwizard program will only allow you to configure 1 real server.

Now login to the web admin using the default password:

username: loadbalancer
password: loadbalancer

Note: Connect to the IP you have now set for your master loadbalancer

Goto the edit configuration tab

Now click add a real server:

Enter a label
IP address of the server plus the port of the service i.e. 192.168.1.125:22


Edit Configuration -> Virtual Servers

persistancte -> NO

Scheduler-> LC
LC - Least-Connection: assign more jobs to real servers with
fewer active jobs.

Service to check -> custom1

Check port -> 22

Forwarding Method -> DR

Feedback Method -> Agent

Arp Problem when using DR

Every real server must be configured to respond to the VIP address as well as the RIP
address.

You can use iptables (netfilter) on the real server to re-direct incoming packets destined for the virtual
server IP address.

This is a simple case of adding the following command to your start up script (rc.local):

//replace 10.0.0.21 with the Virtual Server IP
iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -p tcp -d 10.0.0.21 -j REDIRECT

chkconfig iptables on

Published in Blogs
Read more...
TIP
The Compatibility Dialog settings are written to the compat.db file in <path>/conf - please ensure that the user setting the compatibility settings has write access to this file and directory.  Once these settings are written, the dialog will not be displayed unless SET COMPATIBLE is issued.

Published in Blogs
Read more...
The SET RELATION Recital Navigational Data Command can be used to link two (or more) tables based on the master index key of the child table.  With a relation active, as you move through the parent table, the record pointer also moves in the child table, automatically selecting the first related record or moving to the end of file if no related record exists.    

open database southwind
// open child table
use order_details order orderid in 0
// open parent table
use orders order orderid in 0
set relation to orderid into order_details
do while not eof()
? orders.orderid, order_details.productid
skip
enddo

The code above will display the productid from the first related record, but you will often want to display information from all the related records in the child or detail table as in an SQL Left Outer Join.

open database southwind
select orders.orderid, order_details.productid;
from orders left outer join order_details;
on orders.orderid = order_details.orderid

In this case, we can use a second nested DO WHILE loop, for example:

open database southwind
use order_details order orderid in 0
use orders order orderid in 0
set relation to orderid into order_details
do while not eof()
// Display first or 0 child record
? orders.orderid, order_details.productid
// Display any additional child records
do while not eof(order_details)
? orders.orderid, order_details.productid
skip in order_details
enddo
skip
enddo

Or we can use the SET SKIP command.  The SET SKIP command can be used with DISPLAY, LIST and REPORT and automatically skips through all the related records in the child table.

open database southwind
use order_details order orderid in 0
use orders order orderid in 0
set relation to orderid into order_details
set skip on
set skip to order_details
list orders.orderid, order_details.productid

LIST and DISPLAY offer a number of keyword options to allow you to configure the display output.  REPORT offers full column based report design.
Published in Blogs
Read more...

RTOS()

Syntax

RTOS( [ <workarea> ] )

Description

The RTOS() function returns all the fields in the current row as a string. The string will begin with the unique row identifier and then the deleted flag, followed by the data in the record. An optional workarea can be specified, otherwise the current workarea will be used

Example

use backup in 0
use accounts in 0
nrecs=reccount()
for i = 1 to nrecs
  if rtos(accounts) != rtos(backup)
     debug("record "+recno()+" don't match")
  endif
next

Published in Blogs
Read more...

We are pleased to announce the release of Recital 10.0.3.

Here is a brief list of features and functionality that you will find in the 10.0.3 release.

  • New Commands:
    - SET TMPNAMPATH ON|OFF
    - REMOVE TABLE
  • New Functions:
    - CURSORGETPROP()
    - CURSORSETPROP()
    - CURVAL()
    - GETFLDSTATE()
    - OLDVAL()
    - TABLEREVERT()
    - TABLEUPDATE()
    - SETFLDSTATE()
  • Enhanced Functions:
    - TMPNAM() - additional parameter to specify the return of basename only
    - MAILATTACH() - parameter changed from array to filename to allow directory and file extension to be specified
  • Enhancements:
    - DO level increased from 32 to 64.
  • Fixes:
    - Delay exiting Recital after SYS(3) or SYS(2015)
    - SET SOFTSEEK issue when search key above first record in index
    - Compilation error with REPLACE command after UDF call
    - FETCH INTO memvars error
    - END TRANSACTION at command prompt error
    - ROLLBACK locking error
    - Linux ODBC Driver undefined symbol error
    - RELEASE variable with same name as variable in calling program issue
    - SQLCODE() issue on non-gateway data access
    - Issuing two SQLEXEC() calls error
    - LASTSEQNO() in workareas > 1 error
    - SET RELATION to detail table in workarea 1 issue
    - LIST STATUS on empty table delay
    - SET AUTOCATALOG alias entries error
    - ADD OBJECT in DEFINE CLASS error
    - DEACTIVATE WINDOW error
    - SORT error
    - Other reported bugs
Published in Blogs
Read more...

Opening SSH to the outside world is a security risk. Here is how to restrict SSH access to certain IP addresses on a machine.

  1. Edit the /etc/hosts.allow file to include these lines, assuming your machine is on the 192.168.2.x nonrouting IP block, and you want to enable an external address of 217.40.111.121 IP block: Remember to add the period on the end of each incomplete IP number. If you have another complete IP address or range, add a space and that range on the end.

    sshd,sshdfwd-X11: 192.168.2. 217.40.111.121
  2. Edit your /etc/hosts.deny file to include this line:

    sshd,sshdfwd-X11:ALL 
  3. These lines refuse SSH connections from anyone not in the IP address blocks listed.

Additionally you can restrict SSH access by username.

  1. Edit the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file and add the following lines

    PermitRootLogin no
    AllowUsers      user1 user2 user3 etc
    PasswordAuthentication yes

Now restart the ssh daemon for these changes to take effect

service sshd restart




Published in Blogs
Read more...
 
Another useful article on IBM developerworks shows how to build PHP extensions using SWIG. You can find the article here.
Published in Blogs
Read more...
Subclipse is an Eclipse Team Provider plug-in providing support for Subversion within the Eclipse IDE. This plugin is required in order to use the recital eclipse workspace.
Published in Blogs
Read more...

Copyright © 2025 Recital Software Inc.

Login

Register

User Registration
or Cancel