In this article Barry Mavin, CEO and Chief Software Architect for Recital, details how to use the Recital Database Server with Visual FoxPro.
Recital 10 Express Edition Linux x86 Free Download.
Recital 10 introduces the free single-user developer edition called Recital Express that can be used to develop and test multi-user Recital, Recital Server and Recital Web applications. Once the applications are ready for deployment a commercial license must be purchased. Recital Express, Recital Server Express and Recital Web Express can be used unlicensed for non-commercial purposes only.What does this download include:
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Recital 10 A powerful scripting language with an embedded database used for developing desktop database applications on Linux and Unix. Recital has a high degree of compatibility with Microsoft FoxPRO enhanced with many additional enterprise class extensions. |
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Recital 10 Web A server-side scripting language with an embedded database for creating web 2.0 applications. Includes plugins for apache and IIS. Coming soon! Recital Web Framework, a comprehensive OO framework built on YUI for building RIA (Rich Internet Applications) in Recital Web. |
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Recital 10 Server A cross-platform SQL database and application server which includes client drivers for ODBC, JDBC and .NET enabling Recital data to be accessed client/server from Windows, Linux and Mac. |
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Recital 10 Replication A comprehensive replication product that addresses urgent data movement and synchronization needs to help support disaster recovery and business continuity for Recital applications. |
Recital 10 Quick Start:
Graphical Installation
Note: The installation must be run as root. For systems with a hidden root account, please use ’Run as Root’.
- Download the distribution file into a temporary directory
- Check that the distribution file has the execute permission set
- Run the distribution file
- Follow the on screen instructions:
- License agreement
- Select components
- Installation directory and shortcuts
- Linking to /usr/bin
- ODBC Installation type (Recital Server / Recital Client Drivers)
- Java Virtual Machine selection (Recital Server / Recital Client Drivers)
- TomCat Installation type (Recital Server / Recital Client Drivers)
- Apache Firecat Plugin Installation (Recital Web Developer)
- Replication Service Type (Recital Replication Server)
- Install license file
Text Installation
Note: The installation must be run as root. For systems with a hidden root account, please precede commands with ’sudo’.
- Download the distribution file into a temporary directory
- Check that the distribution file has the execute permission set
- Run the distribution file
- Follow the on screen instructions:
- License agreement
- Select components
- Installation directory and shortcuts
- Linking to /usr/bin
- ODBC Installation type (Recital Server / Recital Client Drivers)
- Java Virtual Machine selection (Recital Server / Recital Client Drivers)
- TomCat Installation type (Recital Server / Recital Client Drivers)
- Apache Firecat Plugin Installation (Recital Web Developer)
- Replication Service Type (Recital Replication Server)
- Install license file
This article discusses the features in Recital that allow data to be imported and exported between platforms in Microsoft® ADO XML Format.
Overview
Extensible Markup Language, XML, is widely regarded as a lingua franca for the interchange of data. XML's text-based, platform-independent format and its integration of data and the schema to define and describe that data, make it the ideal import/export medium. Recital software provides the functionality to output the data from Recital - and other supported table formats such as FoxPro and FoxBASE - into XML file format and to import XML data into those tables' formats. Such import/export operations provide the means to exchange data with third-party applications and can also facilitate the transfer of data between Recital installations on binary-incompatible platforms.
The features examined in this article are available in Recital Terminal Developer and in the Recital Mirage and Recital Database Servers on all Recital supported platforms. Both the Recital/4GL and Recital/SQL provide XML import and export capabilities. The XML files discussed are in Microsoft® ADO XML format.
Microsoft® ActiveX® Data Objects XML Format
The ADO XML format is primarily designed for ADO Recordset persistence and ADO XML files created by Recital can be used in this way and loaded directly into ADO Recordsets. The format can, though also be used for more generic data transfer. An ADO XML file is self-contained, consisting of two sections: a schema section followed by a data section. The schema conforms to the W3C XML-Data specification and defines the data structure.
For additional information on the Microsoft® ActiveX® Data Objects XML Format, please see Appendix 1.
NOTE: The Recital XMLFORMAT setting should always be in its default setting of ADO for ADO XML Format operations.
set xmlformat to ADO
SQL
Recital/SQL offers the ability to export data into XML files using the SELECT and FETCH statements and import from XML using the CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements.
SQL: Exporting
The SELECT...SAVE AS XML statement allows the complete result set from a SELECT statement to be saved as an XML file. This could be a complete table:
open database southwind SELECT * from orders SAVE AS XML orders.xml
or a more complex multi-table query:
open database southwind
SELECT orders.orderid, orders.customerid,;
employees.employeeid, employees.lastname, employees.firstname,;
orders.orderdate, orders.freight, orders.requireddate,;
orders.shippeddate, orders.shipvia, orders.shipname,;
orders.shipaddress, orders.shipcity,;
orders.shipregion, orders.shippostalcode, orders.shipcountry,;
customers.companyname, customers.address, customers.city,;
customers.region, customers.postalcode, customers.country;
FROM orders INNER JOIN customers;
ON customers.customerid = orders.customerid,;
orders INNER JOIN employees;
ON orders.employeeid = employees.employeeid;
SAVE AS XML orderinfo
The resulting XML file can then be further processed within the same or a different Recital environment or transferred to a third party product.
<x-ml xmlns:z="#RowsetSchema" xmlns:rs="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset" xmlns:dt="uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882" xmlns:s="uuid:BDC6E3F0-6DA3-11d1-A2A3- 00AA00C14882"> <s:schema id="RowsetSchema"> <s:elementtype rs:updatable="true" content="eltOnly" name="row"> <s:attributetype rs:basecolumn="orderid" rs:basetable="orders.dbf" rs:write="true" rs:nullable="true" rs:number="1" name="orderid"> <s:datatype rs:fixedlength="true" rs:precision="14" rs:scale="0" dt:maxlength="10" rs:dbtype="numeric" dt:type="number"> </s:datatype></s:attributetype> <s:attributetype rs:basecolumn="customerid" rs:basetable="orders.dbf" rs:write="true" rs:nullable="true" rs:number="2" name="customerid"> <s:datatype rs:fixedlength="true" dt:maxlength="5" rs:dbtype="str" dt:type="string"> </s:datatype></s:attributetype> <s:attributetype rs:basecolumn="employeeid" rs:basetable="orders.dbf" rs:write="true" rs:nullable="false" rs:number="3" name="employeeid"> <s:datatype rs:fixedlength="true" rs:precision="20" rs:scale="0" dt:maxlength="10" rs:dbtype="numeric" dt:type="number"> </s:datatype></s:attributetype> <s:attributetype rs:basecolumn="lastname" rs:basetable="orders.dbf" rs:write="true" rs:nullable="false" rs:number="4" name="lastname"> <s:datatype rs:fixedlength="true" dt:maxlength="20" rs:dbtype="str" dt:type="string"> </s:datatype></s:attributetype> <s:attributetype rs:basecolumn="firstname" rs:basetable="orders.dbf" rs:write="true" rs:nullable="false" rs:number="5" name="firstname"> <s:datatype rs:fixedlength="true" dt:maxlength="10" rs:dbtype="str" dt:type="string"> </s:datatype></s:attributetype> <s:attributetype rs:basecolumn="orderdate" rs:basetable="orders.dbf" rs:write="true" rs:nullable="true" rs:number="6" name="orderdate"> <s:datatype rs:fixedlength="true" dt:maxlength="10" rs:dbtype="Date" dt:type="Date"> </s:datatype></s:attributetype> <s:attributetype name="freight" ...
Click image to display full size
Fig 1: Microsoft® Office Excel 2003: orderinfo.xml.
For data accessed through a Recital Database Gateway, such as Oracle, MySQL or PostgreSQL, the FETCH command can be used to save a cursor results set into an XML file:
// Connect to MySQL Database 'mydata' via Recital Database Gateway
nStatHand=SQLSTRINGCONNECT("mys@mysql1:user1/pass1-mydata",.T.)
if nStatHand < 1
dialog box [Could not connect]
else
DECLARE cursor1 CURSOR FOR;
SELECT account_no, last_name, first_name FROM example
OPEN cursor1
FETCH cursor1 INTO XML exa1.xml
SQLDISCONNECT(nStatHand)
endif
SQL: Importing
The CREATE TABLE statement allows a new table to be created based on the structure defined in an XML file. The data from the XML file can optionally be loaded into this new table if the LOAD keyword is included. For example, a new 'orderinfo' table can be created and populated with data from the orderinfo.xml file created by the SELECT...SAVE AS XML statement shown earlier:
open database southwind
SELECT orders.orderid, orders.customerid,;
employees.employeeid, employees.lastname, employees.firstname,;
orders.orderdate, orders.freight, orders.requireddate,;
orders.shippeddate, orders.shipvia, orders.shipname,;
orders.shipaddress, orders.shipcity,;
orders.shipregion, orders.shippostalcode, orders.shipcountry,;
customers.companyname, customers.address, customers.city,;
customers.region, customers.postalcode, customers.country;
FROM orders INNER JOIN customers;
ON customers.customerid = orders.customerid,;
orders INNER JOIN employees;
ON orders.employeeid = employees.employeeid;
SAVE AS XML orderinfo
CREATE TABLE orderinfo FROM XML orderinfo LOAD
The INSERT statement can be used to load data when the table structure already exists. Taking our earlier orderinfo.xml file again, the data can be loaded using INSERT:
open database southwind;
SELECT orders.orderid, orders.customerid,;
employees.employeeid, employees.lastname, employees.firstname,;
orders.orderdate, orders.freight, orders.requireddate,;
orders.shippeddate, orders.shipvia, orders.shipname,;
orders.shipaddress, orders.shipcity,;;
orders.shipregion, orders.shippostalcode, orders.shipcountry,;
customers.companyname, customers.address, customers.city,;
customers.region, customers.postalcode, customers.country;
FROM orders INNER JOIN customers;
ON customers.customerid = orders.customerid,;
orders INNER JOIN employees;
ON orders.employeeid = employees.employeeid;
SAVE AS XML orderinfo
CREATE TABLE orderinfo FROM XML orderinfo
INSERT INTO orderinfo FROM XML orderinfo
The examples above show the export and import in a single piece of code. To transfer data between binary-incompatible platforms, the export phase using SELECT...SAVE AS XML would be carried out on the source platform, the resulting XML file would be transferred to the target platform, then the import phase using CREATE TABLE...LOAD or CREATE TABLE + INSERT would be run on the target platform.
Recital/4GL
The Recital/4GL offers the ability to export data into XML files using the COPY TO ... TYPE XML command and import from XML using the XMLFIRST() and XMLNEXT() functions.
Recital/4GL: Exporting
The COPY TO command can be used to export data from Recital and other natively supported tables out to a wide range of formats. This includes exporting to an XML file. The '.xml' file extension is added automatically. The COPY TO command can be used to export an entire table:
open database southwind use orders copy to orders type xml
or, using the FIELDS clause and the FOR or WHILE clauses, restrict the field list and export only those records which match a particular condition:
open database southwind use orders copy to orders type xml fields orderid for year(orderdate) = 1996
Only the orderid field from those records which match the condition is exported:
<x-ml xmlns:z="#RowsetSchema" xmlns:rs="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset" xmlns:dt="uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882" xmlns:s="uuid:BDC6E3F0-6DA3-11d1-A2A3- 00AA00C14882"> <s:schema id="RowsetSchema"> <s:elementtype rs:updatable="true" content="eltOnly" name="row"> <s:attributetype rs:basecolumn="ORDERID" rs:basetable="ORDERS" rs:write="true" rs:nullable="true" rs:number="1" name="ORDERID"> <s:datatype rs:fixedlength="true" rs:precision="10" rs:scale="0" dt:maxlength="10" rs:dbtype="numeric" dt:type="number"> </s:datatype></s:attributetype> </s:elementtype> </s:schema> <rs:data> <z:row orderid="10248"> <z:row orderid="10249"> <z:row orderid="10250"> <z:row ...
Recital/4GL: Importing
Data from an XML file can be extracted one record at a time using the XMLFIRST() and XMLNEXT() functions. XMLFIRST() reads the first record from an XML file and loads information from the file into a series of memory variables and arrays. The record data is loaded into a one-dimensional array which is created automatically. Each element in the array contains the data for its corresponding field in string format. The field names are loaded into another automatically-created array. The XMLNEXT() function works in a similar way to deal with all the subsequent records in the XML file. The XMLCOUNT() function can be used, as in the example below, to determine how many data records the XML file has.
The Recital/4GL includes a vast range of functions for manipulation and conversion of arrays and their individual elements. In the example program below, the XMLFIRST() and XMLNEXT() functions are used to sequentially extract each record from an XML file, whose name is passed to the program as a parameter. Once loaded into an array, the data is converted to the correct Recital data type then appended into a table. The table name is also passed as a parameter.
procedure replaceit
append blank
for i = 1 to numfields
if type(field(i)) = "N"
replace &(field(i)) with val(data[&i])
elseif type(field(i)) = "D"
replace &(field(i)) with stod(data[&i])
elseif type(field(i)) = "T"
replace &(field(i)) with ctot(data[&i])
elseif type(field(i)) = "L"
replace &(field(i)) with iif(data[&i]="T",.T.,.F.)
elseif type(field(i)) = "Y"
replace &(field(i)) with val(data[&i])
else
replace &(field(i)) with data[&i]
endif
next
return
procedure starthere
parameters cTable, cFile
numfields=xmlfirst(cFile,targ,trans,where,fldnames,data)
if numfields < 1
dialog box [No records in XML file]
else
use &cTable
replaceit()
endif
numrecs = xmlcount(cFile)
if numrecs > 1
numleft = numrecs -1
for i = 1 to numleft
xmlnext(trans,where,fldnames,data)
replaceit()
next
endif
return
Alternative Import/Export Methods
Other features exist in Recital to facilitate the import and export of data:
RDDs
The RDDs, Replaceable Database Drivers, are available on Windows, Linux and all supported 32-bit UNIX platforms. They allow for the use and creation of database tables and indexes in FoxPro, dBase and Clipper formats. The file format is the same across all the platforms that support the RDDs, allowing the tables and indexes to be transferred as required. The formats are also supported by a wide range of third-party products as well as their originating database systems. For more information on the RDDs, please see the online documentation on Xbase migration and the SET FILETYPE command.
BUILD/INSTALL
These are Recital/4GL commands for the export (BUILD) and import (INSTALL) of Recital tables and their associated memo, dictionary and multiple index files in ASCII format to allow them to be transferred across binary incompatible platforms. For more information, please see the online documentation on Recital/4GL commands.
COPY Commands
The COPY TO, COPY STRUCTURE, COPY STRUCTURE EXTENDED and CREATE FROM commands can all be used to enable data to be transferred between different formats and different platforms. For more information, please see the online documentation on Recital/4GL commands.
Appendix 1: Microsoft® ActiveX® Data Objects XML Format
For detailed information on the Microsoft® ActiveX® Data Objects XML Format, please consult the following Microsoft documentation:
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Link |
Ext3 commits writes to disk within approximately 5 seconds - Ext4 can take from 40-150 seconds. In addition, if a system is using Ext3 and crashes before the commit takes place you will still have the previous contents of a file where under Ext4 the file will be empty. Theodore Tso feels that this is a failure at the application level and that the file system is behaving as designed and as specified by the POSIX spec (which apparently does not specify what is supposed to happen when a system is not shut down cleanly). His solution to the issue is to suggest proper use of fsync() and lists various scenarios/examples in post 54 of the bug report (linked above). In addition he wrote a patch that recognize the rename() situation mentioned in his post 54 yet retains the normal Ext4 behaviors and performance in the majority of cases. Also a more "proper" solution has been provided which allows the behavior of Ext3 to be retained under Ext4 by mounting it with alloc_on_commit.
A somewhat related topic is the use of on-board caching by hard drives. This behavior can be modified on most drives by using hdparm.
VMware products, such as ESX, Workstation, Server, and Fusion, come with a built-in VNC server to access guests.
This allows you to connect to the guest without having a VNC server installed in the guest - useful if a server doesn't exist for the guest or if you need access some time when a server would not work (say during the boot process). It's also good in conjunction with Headless Mode.
The VNC server is set up on a per-VM basis, and is disabled by default. To enable it, add the following lines to the .vmx:
RemoteDisplay.vnc.enabled = "TRUE" RemoteDisplay.vnc.port = "5901"
You can set a password with RemoteDisplay.vnc.key; details for how to calculate the obfuscated value given a plaintext password are in Compute hashed password for use with RemoteDisplay.vnc.key.
If you want more than one VM set up in this manner, make sure they have unique port numbers. To connect, use a VNC client pointing at host-ip-address:port. If you connect from a different computer, you may have to open a hole in the OS X firewall. If you use Leopard's Screen Sharing.app on the same computer as Fusion, don't use port 5900 since Screen Sharing refuses to connect to that.
Recital is a dynamic programming language with an integrated high performance database particularly well suited for the development and deployment of high transaction throughput applications. Recital 10 further enhances Recital with extensive features and functionality to facilitate its use in fault tolerant high availability systems. Much of the development of Recital 10 was concentrated on performance optimizations and cluster aware functionality to provide an application platform that can be scaled as needed without any application changes.
Key features of Recital 10 include:
- Cluster aware database engine that works transparently with drbd, heartbeat, glusterfs and samba
- High degree of fault tolerance with self healing indexes
- Massive performance improvements
- Extensive internals overall and modernization with superior object-oriented capabilities
- Chronological data versioning with database timelines
- SmartQuery caching
- Database Administration Tools
- Code and Data Profiling
- Better integration with unix/linux command shell
- Incorporates a range of new built-in functions compatible with those in the PHP core libraries
- Built-in support for outputting data in HTML, XML, and JSON format
- Seamless SQL command integration into the Recital scripting language
- Much improved Microsoft FoxPRO language compatibility
- Numerous extensions and improvements (see below for details)
- Very large file support (2^63)
This article looks at the range of client access mechanisms for Windows that can be used with the Recital C-ISAM Bridge and details bridge configuration and usage.
Overview
Just because the format of data is regarded as 'legacy' does not make that data in any way obsolete. Modern client interfaces can not only extend the life of long-term data, but also provide different ways to analyse and gain advantage from that data.
Recital Corporation provides a range of solutions to interface to Informix compliant C-ISAM data on Linux or UNIX from Windows clients.
.NET
Click image to display full size
Fig 1: Recital Mirage .NET application accessing the C-ISAM Demo table.
Recital offers two alternative ways to access C-ISAM data using Microsoft .NET:
The Recital .NET Data Provider is a managed Data Provider written in C# that provides full compatibility with the Microsoft SQLserver and OLE DB data providers that ship with the .NET framework. It is fully integrated with the Visual Studio .NET IDE supporting data binding and automatic code generation using the form designer. The Recital .NET Data Provider works in conjunction with the Recital Database Server for Linux or UNIX to access C-ISAM data.
Recital Mirage .NET is a complete solution for migrating, developing and deploying 4GL database applications. Recital Mirage .NET works in conjunction with the Recital Mirage .NET Application Server for Linux or UNIX to access C-ISAM data.
JDBC
Click image to display full size
Fig 2: Java™ Swing JTable accessing the C-ISAM Demo table via the Recital JDBC Driver.
The Recital JDBC Driver is an all Java Type 4 JDBC 3.0 Driver, allowing you to access C-ISAM data from Java applets and applications. The Recital JDBC Driver works in conjunction with the Recital Database Server for Linux or UNIX to access C-ISAM data.
ODBC
Click image to display full size
Fig 3: Microsoft® Office Excel 2003 Pivot Chart and Pivot Table accessing the C-ISAM Demo table via the Recital ODBC Driver.
The Recital ODBC Driver is an ODBC 3.0 Driver, allowing you to access C-ISAM data from your preferred ODBC based Windows applications. You can develop your own applications in languages such as C++ or Visual Basic, manipulate the data in a spreadsheet package or word processor document and design charts, graphs and reports. The Recital ODBC Driver works in conjunction with the Recital Database Server for Linux or UNIX to access C-ISAM data.
Configuring the Recital C-ISAM Bridge
Data access is achieved through a C-ISAM Bridge. This requires the creation of an empty Recital table that has the same structure as the C-ISAM file and of a RecitalC-ISAM Bridge file.
On Linux and UNIX, Recital Terminal Developer and the Recital Database Server come complete with an example C-ISAM data file, C-ISAM index and Recital C-ISAM bridge that can be used for testing and as a template for configuring your own C-ISAM bridges. The Recital Database Server also includes a bridge creation ini file.
Step 1:
Create a Recital table with the same structure as the C-ISAM file. The fields/columns in the structure file must exactly match the data type and length of those in the C-ISAM file. The Recital table will have one byte more in total record length due to the Recital record deletion marker.
To create the table, use the SQL CREATE TABLE command or the Recital Terminal Developer CREATE worksurface. The SQL CREATE TABLE command can be called directly:
SQLExecDirect:
In: hstmt = 0x00761BE8,
szSqlStr = "CREATE TABLE cisamdemo.str (DD Char(4)
DESCRIPTION "Dd...", cbSqlStr = -3
Return: SQL_SUCCESS=0
or be included in a 4GL program:
// createtab.prg
CREATE TABLE cisamdemo.str;
(DD Char(4) DESCRIPTION "Dd",;
CONFIRM Char(6) DESCRIPTION "Confirm",;
PROCDATE Char(6) DESCRIPTION "Procdate",;
CONTROL Char(5) DESCRIPTION "Control",;
DOLLARS Decimal(13,2) DESCRIPTION "Dollars",;
DEALER Char(5) DESCRIPTION "Dealer",;
TERRITORY Char(2) DESCRIPTION "Territory",;
WOREP Char(12) DESCRIPTION "Worep",;
CURRTRAN Char(3) DESCRIPTION "Currtran",;
TRADDATE Char(6) DESCRIPTION "Traddate",;
CITY Char(10) DESCRIPTION "City",;
ACCOUNT Char(11) DESCRIPTION "Account",;
PRETRAN Char(2) DESCRIPTION "Pretran",;
AFSREP Char(14) DESCRIPTION "Afsrep",;
REPKEY Char(9) DESCRIPTION "Repkey",;
BRANCH Char(3) DESCRIPTION "Branch",;
WODEALER Char(5) DESCRIPTION "Wodealer",;
BANKCODE Char(2) DESCRIPTION "Bankcode",;
COMMRATE Decimal(6,4) DESCRIPTION "Commrate",;
NEWREP Char(1) DESCRIPTION "Newrep",;
SETTLE Char(1) DESCRIPTION "Settle",;
POSTDATE Char(6) DESCRIPTION "Postdate")
if file("cisamdemo.str")
return .T.
else
return .F.
endif
// end of createtab.prg
Server-side 4GL programs can be called by all clients, e.g. from a Java class with a JDBC connection:
//---------------------------------
//-- create_str.java --
//---------------------------------
import java.sql.*;
import java.io.*;
import Recital.sql.*;
public class create_str {
public static void main(String argv[]) {
try {
new RecitalDriver();
String url = "jdbc:Recital:" +
"SERVERNAME=cisamserver;" +
"DIRECTORY=/usr/recital/data/southwind;" +
"USERNAME=user;" +
"PASSWORD=password";
Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(url, "user", "pass");
Statement stmt = con.createStatement();
CallableStatement sp = con.prepareCall("{call createtab}");
boolean res = sp.execute();
String outParam = sp.getString(1);
System.out.println("Returned "+outParam);
sp.close();
con.close();
} catch (Exception e) {
System.out.flush();
System.err.flush();
DriverManager.println("Driver exception: " + e.getMessage());
e.printStackTrace();
}
try {
System.out.println("Press any key to continue...");
System.in.read();
} catch(IOException ie) {
;
}
}
}
The table should be given a ‘.str’ file extension (rather than the default ‘.dbf’) to signify that this is a structure file only.
Please see the end of this article for information on matching Informix and Recital data types

Fig 4: Recital CREATE/MODIFY STRUCTURE worksurface for character mode table creation.
Step 2: Creating the Bridge File
If you have Recital installed on the server platform, the Bridge File can be created using the CREATE BRIDGE worksurface. The corresponding command to modify the bridge file is MODIFY BRIDGE <bridge file>. This is the cisamdemo.dbf bridge file in the CREATE/MODIFY BRIDGE WORKSURFACE:
> modify bridge cisamdemo.dbf

Fig 5: Recital CREATE BRIDGE/MODIFY BRIDGE worksurface for bridge creation.
For Recital Database Server clients, the Bridge File can be created using the Recital/SQL CREATE BRIDGE command:
Recital/SQL CREATE BRIDGE:
CREATE BRIDGE cisamdemo.dbf; TYPE "CISAM"; EXTERNAL "cisamdemo.dat"; METADATA "cisamdemo.str"; ALIAS "cisamdemo"
or:
CREATE BRIDGE cisamdemo.dbf; AS "type=CISAM;external=cisamdemo.dat;metadata=cisamdemo.str;alias=cisamdemo"
The examples above assume that the C-ISAM file, the bridge file and the Recital structure file are all in the current working directory. Full path information can be specified for the <externalname> and the <databasename>. For added flexibility, environment variables can be used to determine the path at the time the bridge is opened. Environment variables can be included for either or both the <externalname> and the <databasename>. A colon should be specified between the environment variable and the file name.
e.g.
CREATE BRIDGE cisamdemo.dbf; TYPE "CISAM"; EXTERNAL "DB_DATADIR:cisamdemo"; METADATA "DB_MIRAGE_PATH:cisamdemo.str"; ALIAS "cisamdemo"
Recital CREATE BRIDGE/MODIFY BRIDGE worksurface:

Fig 6: Recital CREATE BRIDGE/MODIFY BRIDGE worksurface - using environment variables.
Using the Bridge
The Bridge can now be used. To access the C-ISAM file, use the ‘alias’ specified in the Bridge definition.
SQL:
SELECT * FROM cisamdemo
Recital/4GL:
use cisamdemo
Indexes
The cisamdemo.dat file included in the Recital distributions for Linux and UNIX has three associated index keys in the cisamdemo.idx file:
Select area: 1 Database in use: cisamdemo Alias: cisamdemo Number of records: 4 Current record: 2 File Type: CISAM (C-ISAM) Master Index: [cisamdemo.idx key #1] Key: DD+CONFIRM+PROCDATE+CONTROL Type: Character Len: 21 (Unique) Index: [cisamdemo.idx key #2]
Key: DD+SUBSTR(CONFIRM,2,5)+TRADDATE+STR(DOLLARS,13,2) +CURRTRAN+ACCOUNT Type: Character Len: 42 Index: [cisamdemo.idx key #3] Key: DEALER+BRANCH+AFSREP+SUBSTR(PROCDATE,5,2) +SUBSTR(CONTROL,2,4) Type: Character Len: 28
The Recital C-ISAM bridge makes full use of the C-ISAM indexes. SQL SELECT statements with WHERE clauses are optimized based on any of the existing indexes when possible. The following ODBC SELECT call makes use of key #3 rather than sequentially searching through the data file.
SQLExecDirect:
In: hstmt = 0x00761BE8,
szSqlStr = "select * from cisamdemo
where dealer+branch+afsrep=' 00161 595-7912",
cbSqlStr = -3
Return: SQL_SUCCESS=0
Get Data All:
"DD", "CONFIRM", "PROCDATE", "CONTROL", "DOLLARS", "DEALER",
"TERRITORY", "WOREP", "CURRTRAN", "TRADDATE", "CITY", "ACCOUNT",
"PRETRAN", "AFSREP", "REPKEY", "BRANCH", "WODEALER", "BANKCODE",
"COMMRATE", "NEWREP", "SETTLE", "POSTDATE"
"0159", " 15522", "930312", "13356", 4992.60, "00161", "19",
"", "210", "930305", "", "70000100009", "", "595-7912",
"930315791", "", "", "59", 0.0000, "1", "", "930315"
1 row fetched from 22 columns.
Using the Recital/4GL, the primary index is set as the master index when the bridge is first opened. Any secondary indexes can be selected using the SET ORDER TO <expN> command. The Recital/4GL SEEK or FIND commands and SEEK() function can be used to search in the current master index.
> SET ORDER TO 3 Master index: [cisamdemo.idx key #3] > SEEK “00161 595-7912”
Appendix 1: Data Types
|
Informix |
Recital |
|
Byte |
Numeric |
|
Char |
Character |
|
Character |
Character |
|
Date |
Date |
|
Datetime |
Character |
|
Decimal |
Numeric |
|
Double Precision |
Float |
|
Float |
Real |
|
16 Bit Integer |
Short |
|
Integer |
Numeric |
|
Interval |
Character |
|
32 Bit Long |
Integer |
|
Money |
Numeric |
|
Numeric |
Numeric |
|
Real |
Numeric |
|
Smallfloat |
Numeric |
|
Smallint |
Numeric |
|
Text |
Unsupported |
|
Varchar |
Character |
Appendix 2: C-ISAM RDD Error Messages
The following errors relate to the use of the Recital CISAM Replaceable Database Driver (RDD). They can be received as an ‘errno <expN>’ on Recital error messages:
|
ERRNO() |
Error Description |
|
100 |
Duplicate record |
|
101 |
File not open |
|
102 |
Invalid argument |
|
103 |
Invalid key description |
|
104 |
Out of file descriptors |
|
105 |
Invalid ISAM file format |
|
106 |
Exclusive lock required |
|
107 |
Record claimed by another user |
|
108 |
Key already exists |
|
109 |
Primary key may not be used |
|
110 |
Beginning or end of file reached |
|
111 |
No match was found |
|
112 |
There is no “current” established |
|
113 |
Entire file locked by another user |
|
114 |
File name too long |
|
115 |
Cannot create lock file |
|
116 |
Memory allocation request failed |
|
117 |
Bad custom collating |
|
118 |
Duplicate primary key allowed |
|
119 |
Invalid transaction identifier |
|
120 |
Exclusively locked in a transaction |
|
121 |
Internal error in journaling |
|
122 |
Object not locked |
Recital is a rich and versatile product with many ways to do the same thing. Developers usually write code in the way that they are accustomed to without paying much attention to how this will perform in a multi-user environment with large amounts of users and transactions. The best way to optimize Recital applications is to use the built-in tuning capabilities introduced in Recital 10.
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