postgres/src/interfaces/odbc

Readme for psqlodbc.dll                         4/15/98
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Latest binary and source updates available at http://www.insightdist.com/psqlodbc


I.  Building the Driver from the source code

This section describes how to build the PostgreSQL ODBC Driver (psqlodbc.dll).
Microsoft Visual C++ version 4.0 or higher is required.  There is no manually 
constructed Makefile.  The visual C++ environment automatically generates one
during the build process. Thus, the project binary files (".ncb", ".mdp", ".aps") 
nor the makefile are really distributed as part of the source code release
(although they are probably in there anyway).

1.  Create a new project workspace with the type DLL.  For the name, type in the
    name "psqlodbc".

2.  The above step creates the directory "psqlodbc" under the 
    "\<Visual C++ top level directory>\projects" path to hold the source files.
    (example, \msdev\projects\psqlodbc).  Now, either unzip the source code release
    into this directory or just copy all the files into this directory.

3.  Insert all of the source files (*.c, *.h, *.rc, *.def) into the Visual project
    using the "Insert files into project" command.  You may have to do 2 inserts --
    the first to get the 'c' and header files, and the second to get the def file.
    Don't forget the .def file since it is an important part of the release.
    You can even insert ".txt" files into the projects -- they will do nothing.
	
4.  Add the "wsock32.lib" library to the end of the list of libraries for linking
    using the Build settings menu.
	
5.  Select the type of build on the toolbar (i.e., Release or Debug).  This is
    one of the useful features of the visual c++ environment in that you can
    browse the entire project if you build the "Debug" release.  For release
    purposes however, select "Release" build.

6.  Build the dll by selecting Build from the build menu.

7.  When complete, the "psqlodbc.dll" file is under the "Release" subdirectory.
    (i.e., "\msdev\projects\psqlodbc\release\psqlodbc.dll")



II.  Using Large Objects for handling LongVarBinary (OLE Objects in Access)

Large objects are mapped to LONGVARBINARY in the driver to allow storing things like
OLE objects in Microsoft Access.  Multiple SQLPutData and SQLGetData calls are usually
used to send and retrieve these objects.  The driver creates a new large object and simply
inserts its 'identifier' into the respective table.  However, since Postgres uses an 'Oid'
to identify a Large Object, it is necessary to create a new Postgres type to be able
to discriminate between an ordinary Oid and a Large Object Oid.  Until this new type
becomes an official part of Postgres, it must be added into the desired database and
looked up for each connection.  The type used in the driver is simply called "lo" and
here is the command used to create it:

create type lo (internallength=4,externallength=10,input=int4in,output=int4out,
                default='',passedbyvalue);

Once this is done, simply use the new 'lo' type to define columns in that database.  Note
that this must be done for each database you want to use large objects in with the driver.
When the driver sees an 'lo' type, it will handle it as LONGVARBINARY.

Another important note is that this new type is lacking in functionality.  It will not
cleanup after itself on updates and deletes, thus leaving orphans around and using up
extra disk space.  And currently, Postgres does not support the vacuuming of large
objects.  Hopefully in the future, a real large object data type will be available.

But for now, it sure is fun to stick a Word document, Visio document, or avi of a dancing
baby into a database column, even if you will fill up your server's hard disk after a while!



III.  Using Row Versioning feature and creating the missing equals operator

In order to use row versioning, you must overload the int4eq function for use
with the xid type.  Also, you need to create an operator to compare xid to int4.
You must do this for each database you want to use this feature on.
Here are the details:

create function int4eq(xid,int4)
  returns bool
  as ''
  language 'internal';

create operator = (
        leftarg=xid,
        rightarg=int4,
        procedure=int4eq,
        commutator='=',
        negator='<>',
        restrict=eqsel,
        join=eqjoinsel
        );