Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!shadooby!accuvax.nwu.edu!tank!ncar!unmvax!pprg.unm.edu!hc!lll-winken!uunet!portal!cup.portal.com!DMasterson
From: DMasterson@cup.portal.com (David Scott Masterson)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Ingres OSL-passing parameters from command line
Message-ID: <16748@cup.portal.com>
Date: 6 Apr 89 04:37:11 GMT
References: <470@agrigene.UUCP>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 38

In message <470@agrigene.UUCP>, overby@agrigene.UUCP writes:
>
>Can one pass in parameters/values to an Ingres OSL program at the time of
>program execution? e.g. progamname frame value,...,value.  If so, how?
>
>Scott Overby
>Agigenetics
>Madison, WI
>
By definition -- NO!   !@#%&^*?!

OSL programs are started at frames.  Frames do not have parameters, they
have field names (as in the forms that they display).  OSL procedures
have parameters.  Therefore, the only way that it might be done is to
call a procedure from the command line.

However, I do not believe that the main procedure that Ingres supplies
with ABF is set up for command line arguments beyond the database name
(-ddbname) and the framename.  You could look around in ~ingres/files
for abfmain.[co] (I think) which should be the installed main routine
that is called by the compiled program.  You could try replacing it with
your own routine, but I never saw any documentation on what functionality
the main() routine has to support, so you're on your own.

How about a quick hack?  Define a relation within the database for
passing arguments to your programs.  Then develop a shell/command 
file (you are using Unix or VMS, aren't you ;-) that reads the command
line arguments, calls sql/quel to insert the values into the relation,
then starts up your application with the appropriate frame name.  The
definition of the frame would include an "initialize" section that 
would retrieve the values from the relation and populate the fields
on the form accordingly (or whatever else you wanted to do with them).
Not exactly a barn burner, but should provide the functionality you
are after.  Later, you could convert the shell/command file into an
EQUEL/EQSL file.  Think about it.

David Masterson
DMasterson@cup.portal.com