php-doc-en/reference/sesam/reference.xml

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 <reference id="ref.sesam">
  <title>SESAM database functions</title>
  <titleabbrev>SESAM</titleabbrev>

  <partintro>
   <section id="sesam.intro">
    &reftitle.intro;
    <para>
     SESAM/SQL-Server is a mainframe database system, developed by
     Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Germany. It runs on high-end mainframe
     servers using the operating system BS2000/OSD.
    </para>
    <para>
     In numerous productive BS2000 installations, SESAM/SQL-Server has
     proven 
     <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
       <simpara>
        the ease of use of Java-, Web- and client/server connectivity,
       </simpara>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <simpara>
        the capability to work with an availability of more than
        99.99%,
       </simpara>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <simpara>
        the ability to manage tens and even hundreds of thousands of
        users.
       </simpara>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>
    </para>
    <para>
     There is a <literal>PHP3</literal> SESAM interface available which allows
     database operations via PHP-scripts.
    </para>
    <note>
     <simpara>
      Access to SESAM is only available with the latest CVS-Version of
      <literal>PHP3</literal>. <literal>PHP 4</literal> does not support the
      SESAM database.
     </simpara>
    </note>
   </section>

   &reference.sesam.ini;

   <section id="sesam.config-notes">
    <title>Configuration notes</title>
    <para>
     There is no standalone support for the PHP SESAM interface, it
     works only as an integrated Apache module. In the Apache PHP
     module, this <link linkend="sesam.configuration">SESAM interface is
     configured</link> using Apache directives.
     <table>
      <title>SESAM Configuration directives</title>
      <tgroup cols="2">
       <thead>
        <row>
         <entry>Directive</entry>
         <entry>Meaning</entry>
        </row>
       </thead>
       <tbody>
        <row>
         <entry><literal>php3_sesam_oml</literal></entry>
         <entry>
          Name of BS2000 PLAM library containing the loadable SESAM
          driver modules.  Required for using SESAM functions.
          <para>
          Example:
          <informalexample>
           <programlisting role="apache">
<![CDATA[
php3_sesam_oml $.SYSLNK.SESAM-SQL.030
]]>
           </programlisting>
          </informalexample>
         </para>
       </entry>
    </row>
    <row>
     <entry><literal>php3_sesam_configfile</literal></entry>
     <entry>
      Name of SESAM application configuration file.  Required for
      using SESAM functions.
       <para>
        Example:
        <informalexample>
         <programlisting role="apache">
<![CDATA[
php3_sesam_configfile $SESAM.SESAM.CONF.AW
]]>
         </programlisting>
        </informalexample>
        It will usually contain a configuration like (see SESAM
        reference manual):
        <informalexample>
         <programlisting role="bs2000">
<![CDATA[
CNF=B
NAM=K
NOTYPE
]]>
         </programlisting>
        </informalexample>
       </para>
     </entry>
    </row>
    <row>
     <entry><literal>php3_sesam_messagecatalog</literal></entry>
     <entry>
      Name of SESAM message catalog file.  In most cases, this
      directive is not neccessary. Only if the SESAM message file
      is not installed in the system's BS2000 message file table,
      it can be set with this directive.
       <para>
        Example:
        <informalexample>
         <programlisting role="apache">
<![CDATA[
php3_sesam_messagecatalog $.SYSMES.SESAM-SQL.030
]]>
         </programlisting>
        </informalexample>
       </para>
     </entry>
    </row>
       </tbody>
      </tgroup>
     </table>
    </para>
    <para>
     In addition to the configuration of the PHP/SESAM interface, you
     have to configure the SESAM-Database server itself on your
     mainframe as usual. That means:
     <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
       <simpara>
    starting the SESAM database handler (DBH), and
       </simpara>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <simpara>
    connecting the databases with the SESAM database handler
       </simpara>
      </listitem>
     </itemizedlist>
    </para>
    <para>
     To get a connection between a PHP script and the database
     handler, the <literal>CNF</literal> and <literal>NAM</literal>
     parameters of the selected SESAM configuration file must match
     the id of the started database handler.
    </para>
    <para>
     In case of distributed databases you have to start a
     SESAM/SQL-DCN agent with the distribution table including the
     host and database names.
    </para>
    <para>
     The communication between PHP (running in the POSIX subsystem)
     and the database handler (running outside the POSIX subsystem) is
     realized by a special driver module called SQLSCI and SESAM
     connection modules using common memory.  Because of the common
     memory access, and because PHP is a static part of the web
     server, database accesses are very fast, as they do not require
     remote accesses via ODBC, JDBC or UTM.
    </para>
    <para>
     Only a small stub loader (SESMOD) is linked with PHP, and the
     SESAM connection modules are pulled in from SESAM's OML PLAM
     library.  In the <link
     linkend="sesam.configuration">configuration</link>, you must tell PHP
     the name of this PLAM library, and the file link to use for the
     SESAM configuration file (As of SESAM V3.0, SQLSCI is available
     in the SESAM Tool Library, which is part of the standard
     distribution).
    </para>
    <para>
     Because the SQL command quoting for single quotes uses duplicated
     single quotes (as opposed to a single quote preceded by a
     backslash, used in some other databases), it is advisable to set
     the PHP configuration directives <link
     linkend="ini.magic-quotes-gpc"><literal>php3_magic_quotes_gpc</literal></link>
     and <link
     linkend="ini.magic-quotes-sybase"><literal>php3_magic_quotes_sybase</literal></link>
     to <literal>On</literal> for all PHP scripts using the SESAM
     interface.
    </para>
   </section>
 
   <section id="sesam.runtime">
    <title>Runtime considerations</title>
    <para>
     Because of limitations of the BS2000 process model, the driver
     can be loaded only after the Apache server has forked off its
     server child processes. This will slightly slow down the initial
     SESAM request of each child, but subsequent accesses will respond
     at full speed.
    </para>
    <para>
     When explicitly defining a Message Catalog for SESAM, that
     catalog will be loaded each time the driver is loaded (i.e., at
     the initial SESAM request). The BS2000 operating system prints a
     message after successful load of the message catalog, which will
     be sent to Apache's error_log file. BS2000 currently does not
     allow suppression of this message, it will slowly fill up the
     log.
    </para>
    <para>
     Make sure that the SESAM OML PLAM library and SESAM configuration
     file are readable by the user id running the web server.
     Otherwise, the server will be unable to load the driver, and will
     not allow to call any SESAM functions. Also, access to the
     database must be granted to the user id under which the Apache
     server is running. Otherwise, connections to the SESAM database
     handler will fail.
    </para>
   </section>

   <section id="sesam.cursor-types">
    <title>Cursor Types</title>
    <para>
     The result cursors which are allocated for SQL "select type"
     queries can be either "sequential" or "scrollable". Because of
     the larger memory overhead needed by "scrollable" cursors, the
     default is "sequential".
    </para>
    <para>
     When using "scrollable" cursors, the cursor can be freely
     positioned on the result set. For each "scrollable" query, there
     are global default values for the scrolling type (initialized to:
     <literal>SESAM_SEEK_NEXT</literal>) and the scrolling offset
     which can either be set once by
     <function>sesam_seek_row</function> or each time when fetching a
     row using <function>sesam_fetch_row</function>. When fetching a
     row using a "scrollable" cursor, the following post-processing is
     done for the global default values for the scrolling type and
     scrolling offset:
     <table>
      <title>Scrolled Cursor Post-Processing</title>
      <tgroup cols="2">
       <thead>
        <row>
     <entry>Scroll Type</entry>
     <entry>Action</entry>
        </row>
       </thead>
       <tbody>
        <row>
     <entry><literal>SESAM_SEEK_NEXT</literal></entry>
     <entry>none</entry>
        </row>
        <row>
     <entry><literal>SESAM_SEEK_PRIOR</literal></entry>
     <entry>none</entry>
        </row>
        <row>
     <entry><literal>SESAM_SEEK_FIRST</literal></entry>
     <entry>
      set scroll type to <literal>SESAM_SEEK_NEXT</literal>
     </entry>
        </row>
        <row>
     <entry><literal>SESAM_SEEK_LAST</literal></entry>
     <entry>
      set scroll type to <literal>SESAM_SEEK_PRIOR</literal>
     </entry>
        </row>
        <row>
     <entry><literal>SESAM_SEEK_ABSOLUTE</literal></entry>
     <entry>Auto-Increment internal offset value</entry>
        </row>
        <row>
     <entry><literal>SESAM_SEEK_RELATIVE</literal></entry>
     <entry>none. (maintain global default 
      <parameter>
       offset</parameter> value, which allows for, e.g., fetching
       each 10th row backwards)
     </entry>
        </row>
       </tbody>
      </tgroup>
     </table>
    </para>
   </section>

   <section id="sesam.porting-note">
    <title>Porting note</title>
    <para>
     Because in the PHP world it is natural to start indexes at zero
     (rather than 1), some adaptions have been made to the SESAM
     interface: whenever an indexed array is starting with index 1 in
     the native SESAM interface, the PHP interface uses index 0 as a
     starting point. E.g., when retrieving columns with
     <function>sesam_fetch_row</function>, the first column has the
     index 0, and the subsequent columns have indexes up to (but not
     including) the column count ($array["count"]).  When porting
     SESAM applications from other high level languages to PHP, be
     aware of this changed interface. Where appropriate, the
     description of the respective php sesam functions include a note
     that the index is zero based.
    </para>
   </section>

   <section id="sesam.security">
    <title>Security concerns</title>
    <para>
     When allowing access to the SESAM databases, the web server user
     should only have as little privileges as possible. For most
     databases, only read access privilege should be granted.
     Depending on your usage scenario, add more access rights as you
     see fit. Never allow full control to any database for any user
     from the 'net! Restrict access to php scripts which must
     administer the database by using password control and/or SSL
     security.
    </para>
   </section>

   <section id="sesam.migration">
    <title>Migration from other SQL databases</title>
    <para>
     No two SQL dialects are ever 100% compatible. When porting 
     SQL applications from other database interfaces to SESAM,
     some adaption may be required. The following typical
     differences should be noted:
     <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
       <simpara>Vendor specific data types</simpara>
       <simpara>
    Some vendor specific data types may have to be replaced by
    standard SQL data types (e.g., <literal>TEXT</literal> could
    be replaced by <literal>VARCHAR(max. size)</literal>).
       </simpara>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <simpara>Keywords as SQL identifiers</simpara>
       <simpara>
    In SESAM (as in standard SQL), such identifiers must be
    enclosed in double quotes (or renamed).
       </simpara>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <simpara>
    Display length in data types
       </simpara>
       <simpara>
    SESAM data types have a precision, not a display
    length. Instead of <literal>int(4)</literal> (intended use:
    integers up to '9999'), SESAM requires simply
    <literal>int</literal> for an implied size of 31 bits. Also,
    the only datetime data types available in SESAM are:
    <literal>DATE</literal>, <literal>TIME(3)</literal> and
    <literal>TIMESTAMP(3)</literal>.
       </simpara>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <simpara>
    SQL types with vendor-specific <literal>unsigned</literal>,
    <literal>zerofill</literal>, or
    <literal>auto_increment</literal> attributes
       </simpara>
       <simpara>
    <literal>Unsigned</literal> and<literal> zerofill</literal>
    are not supported.  <literal>Auto_increment</literal> is
    automatic (use <literal>"INSERT ...  VALUES(*, ...)"</literal>
    instead of <literal>"... VALUES(0, ...)"</literal> to take
    advantage of SESAM-implied auto-increment.
       </simpara>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <simpara>
    <command>int ... DEFAULT '0000'</command>
       </simpara>
       <simpara>
    Numeric variables must not be initialized with string
    constants. Use <command>DEFAULT 0</command> instead. To
    initialize variables of the datetime SQL data types, the
    initialization string must be prefixed with the respective
    type keyword, as in: <literal> CREATE TABLE exmpl ( xtime
    timestamp(3) DEFAULT TIMESTAMP '1970-01-01 00:00:00.000' NOT
    &null; ); </literal>
       </simpara>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <simpara>
    <command>$count = xxxx_num_rows();</command>
       </simpara>
       <simpara>
    Some databases promise to guess/estimate the number of the
    rows in a query result, even though the returned value is
    grossly incorrect.  SESAM does not know the number of rows in
    a query result before actually fetching them. If you REALLY
    need the count, try <command>SELECT COUNT(...) WHERE
    ...</command>, it will tell you the number of hits.  A second
    query will (hopefully) return the results.
       </simpara>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <simpara>
    <command>DROP TABLE thename;</command>
       </simpara>
       <simpara>
    In SESAM, in the <command>DROP TABLE</command> command, the
    table name must be either followed by the keyword
    <literal>RESTRICT</literal> or
    <literal>CASCADE</literal>. When specifying
    <literal>RESTRICT</literal>, an error is returned if there are
    dependent objects (e.g., VIEWs), while with
    <literal>CASCADE</literal>, dependent objects will be deleted
    along with the specified table.
       </simpara>
      </listitem>
     </itemizedlist>
    </para>
   </section>

   <section id="sesam.sql-types">
    <title>
     Notes on the use of various SQL types
    </title>
    <para>
     SESAM does not currently support the BLOB type. A future version
     of SESAM will have support for BLOB.
    </para>
    <para>
     At the PHP interface, the following type conversions are
     automatically applied when retrieving SQL fields:
     <table>
      <title>SQL to PHP Type Conversions</title>
      <tgroup cols="2">
       <thead>
        <row>
     <entry>SQL Type</entry>
     <entry>PHP Type</entry>
        </row>
       </thead>
       <tbody>
        <row>
     <entry>SMALLINT, INTEGER</entry>
     <entry><type>integer</type></entry>
        </row>
        <row>
     <entry>NUMERIC, DECIMAL, FLOAT, REAL, DOUBLE</entry>
     <entry><type>float</type></entry>
        </row>
        <row>
     <entry>DATE, TIME, TIMESTAMP</entry>
     <entry><type>string</type></entry>
        </row>
        <row>
     <entry>VARCHAR, CHARACTER</entry>
     <entry><type>string</type></entry>
        </row>
       </tbody>
      </tgroup>
     </table>
     When retrieving a complete row, the result is returned as an
     array. Empty fields are not filled in, so you will have to check
     for the existence of the individual fields yourself (use
     <function>isset</function> or <function>empty</function> to test
     for empty fields).  That allows more user control over the
     appearance of empty fields (than in the case of an empty string
     as the representation of an empty field).
    </para>
   </section>

   <section id="sesam.multiple-fields">
    <title>Support of SESAM's "multiple fields" feature</title>
    <para>
     The special "multiple fields" feature of SESAM allows a column to
     consist of an array of fields. Such a "multiple field" column can
     be created like this:
     <example>
      <title>Creating a "multiple field" column</title>
      <programlisting role="sesam">
<![CDATA[
CREATE TABLE multi_field_test (
    pkey CHAR(20) PRIMARY KEY,
    multi(3) CHAR(12)
)
]]>
      </programlisting>
     </example>
     and can be filled in using:
     <example>
      <title>Filling a "multiple field" column</title>
      <programlisting role="sesam">
<![CDATA[
INSERT INTO multi_field_test (pkey, multi(2..3) )
    VALUES ('Second', <'first_val', 'second_val'>)
]]>
      </programlisting>
     </example>
     Note that (like in this case) leading empty sub-fields are
     ignored, and the filled-in values are collapsed, so that in the
     above example the result will appear as multi(1..2) instead of
     multi(2..3).
    </para>
    <para>
     When retrieving a result row, "multiple columns" are accessed
     like "inlined" additional columns. In the example above, "pkey"
     will have the index 0, and the three "multi(1..3)" columns will
     be accessible as indices 1 through 3.
    </para>
   </section>

   <section id="sesam.seealso">
   &reftitle.seealso;
    <para>
     For specific SESAM details, please refer to <ulink
     url="&url.sesam.en;">the SESAM/SQL-Server documentation
     (english)</ulink> or <ulink url="&url.sesam.de;">the
     SESAM/SQL-Server documentation (german)</ulink>, both available
     online, or use the respective manuals.
   </para>
   </section>

  </partintro>

&reference.sesam.functions;

 </reference>

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