Programming the Perl DBI

Programming the Perl DBI
Database programming with Perl

By Alligator Descartes, Tim Bunce
February 2000
1-56592-699-4, Order Number: 6994
362 pages, $34.95 US, $51.95 CA, £24.95 UK


Table of Contents


Preface

1. Introduction
     From Mainframes to Workstations
     Perl
     DBI in the Real World
     A Historical Interlude and Standing Stones

2. Basic Non-DBI Databases
     Storage Managers and Layers
     Query Languages and Data Functions
     Standing Stones and the Sample Database
     Flat-File Databases
     Putting Complex Data into Flat Files
     Concurrent Database Access and Locking
     DBM Files and the Berkeley Database Manager
     The MLDBM Module
     Summary

3. SQL and Relational Databases
     The Relational Database Methodology
     Datatypes and NULL Values
     Querying Data
     Modifying Data Within Tables
     Creating and Destroying Tables

4. Programming with the DBI
     DBI Architecture
     Handles
     Data Source Names
     Connection and Disconnection
     Error Handling
     Utility Methods and Functions

5. Interacting with the Database
     Issuing Simple Queries
     Executing Non-SELECT Statements
     Binding Parameters to Statements
     Binding Output Columns
     do( ) Versus prepare( )
     Atomic and Batch Fetching

6. Advanced DBI
     Handle Attributes and Metadata
     Handling LONG/LOB Data
     Transactions, Locking, and Isolation

7. ODBC and the DBI
     ODBC-Embraced and Extended
     DBI-Thrashed and Mutated
     The Nuts and Bolts of ODBC
     ODBC from Perl
     The Marriage of DBI and ODBC
     Questions and Choices
     Moving Between Win32::ODBC and the DBI
     And What About ADO?

8. DBI Shell and Database Proxying
     dbish-The DBI Shell
     Database Proxying

A. DBI Specification

B. Driver and Database Characteristics

C. ASLaN Sacred Site Charter

Index