Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!vsi!friedl
From: friedl@vsi.UUCP (Stephen J. Friedl)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: ESQL/C preprocessor bugs/suggestions (To: Informix Software)
Message-ID: <607@vsi.UUCP>
Date: 26 Apr 88 06:03:41 GMT
References: <1333@mcgp1.UUCP>
Organization: V-Systems, Inc. -- Santa Ana, CA
Lines: 37
Keywords: ESQL/C, INFORMIX(R)-SQL
Summary: ESQL preprocessor

In article <1333@mcgp1.UUCP>, fst@mcgp1.UUCP (Skip Tavakkolian) writes:
> 1) The first bug has to do with the esqlc preprocessor changing the
> host variables to all lower case. For example:
> 
>         $char FooBar[512];
> 
>         $select foo_bar from boobaz into $FooBar ;
>         if (FooBar[0] == 'x')	do_somthing();  /* c compiler complains about
>                                                    FooBar not being defined */
> 
> The esqlc preprocessor changes the ``FooBar'' to ``foobar''. Also another
> point in the above example is that, you can't use somthing like BUFSIZ instead
> of hard coded ``512'' for the size of the array for the same reason (i.e
> ``bufsiz'' is not ``BUFSIZ'').

The preprocessor appears to take neither `BUFSIZ' nor `bufsiz';
array dimensions must be numeric.  This is presumably because
esqlc doesn't process #include and #define directives, so it has
no way of knowing the length without a simple digit string.  This
is a bummer because it requires magic all throughout the code :-(.

As an aside, it's helpful to declare string host variables as:

                $string foobar[512];
rather than
                $char   foobar[512];

The former asks SQL to strip trailing blanks from the fetched
column and insure that a NUL appears at the end.  This is really
handy; we almost never need to use $char host variables.

Does anybody at Informix Corp. read this newsgroup and accept
suggestions and bug reports via email?

-- 
Steve Friedl       V-Systems, Inc.                     3B2 Wizard
friedl@vsi.com   {backbones}!vsi.com!friedl    attmail!vsi!friedl