I'm currently working on modifying a Firebird v. 1.5 database.
The database structure will be modified running queries from a delphi application using interbase components, the problem I'm facing is that I need to run a lot of queries, some of which include creating generators and updating the generator value, the problem is that I need to achieve this in as few queries as possible, but it seems(at least to me) that this is not really possible, what I'm trying to do is the following:
/* this command creates a generator to be used for table TABLENAME */
CREATE GENERATOR GEN_TABLENAME;
So I've created a generator, now I need to set it's value at the current max id from table TABLENAME, like so:
/* one would expect that the following command would work, well it doesn't */
SET GENERATOR GEN_TABLENAME TO (SELECT MAX(ID) FROM TABLENAME);
Now, is there any workaround for this, or am I forced to:
create the generator
get the max id
update the generator value
and repeat process for every table?
I also expected that
SELECT
SELECT MAX(ID) AS ID_TABLENAME_1 FROM TABLENAME_1,
...
SELECT MAX(ID) AS ID_TABLENAME_N FROM TABLENAME_N
would be a workaround to get the max id's from every table in one command, but it doesn't.
Statement
SET GENERATOR GEN_TABLENAME TO (SELECT MAX(ID) FROM TABLENAME);
mixes DDL (SET GENERATOR) and DML (SELECT), AFAIK this is not generally supported and Firebird doesn't support it for sure.
If you can upgrade to the latest version of Firebird then you could use EXECUTE BLOCK and / or EXECUTE STATEMENT to do it all "in one statement" and server side, but with Firebird 1.5 you have to settle for the long way (one statement to get the current max, then another one update the generator).
With the following trick you can set the generator value to the maximum ID value of a table with one SQL statement in Firebird:
SELECT GEN_ID( GEN_TABLENAME,
(SELECT MAX(ID) FROM TABLENAME) - GEN_ID(GEN_TABLENAME, 0)) FROM RDB$DATABASE;
That works, because GEN_ID( <GeneratorName>, <increment>) gets the generator value and increments it by <increment>. This should work in Firebird 1.5 as well as in newer versions.
You could create a stored procedure and call it from Delphi:
create procedure update_generators
as
declare variable max_id integer;
declare variable table_name char(31);
declare variable generator_name char(31);
begin
/* assuming generator naming convention GEN_XXX -> table name XXX */
for select
trim(g.rdb$generator_name),
substring(trim(g.rdb$generator_name) from 5)
from rdb$generators g
where (coalesce(g.rdb$system_flag, 0) = 0)
into
:generator_name,
:table_name
do
begin
/* assuming that the field name is always ID */
execute statement 'select max(id) from ' || :table_name into :max_id;
execute statement 'set generator ' || :generator_name || ' to ' || :max_id;
end
end^
It looks like execute statement is supported by Firebird 1.5 already.
In Firebird 2.0 and later, you could also wrap the code in a execute block and avoid creating a stored procedure.
Related
How do I declare a variable for use in a PostgreSQL 8.3 query?
In MS SQL Server I can do this:
DECLARE #myvar INT
SET #myvar = 5
SELECT *
FROM somewhere
WHERE something = #myvar
How do I do the same in PostgreSQL? According to the documentation variables are declared simply as "name type;", but this gives me a syntax error:
myvar INTEGER;
Could someone give me an example of the correct syntax?
I accomplished the same goal by using a WITH clause, it's nowhere near as elegant but can do the same thing. Though for this example it's really overkill. I also don't particularly recommend this.
WITH myconstants (var1, var2) as (
values (5, 'foo')
)
SELECT *
FROM somewhere, myconstants
WHERE something = var1
OR something_else = var2;
There is no such feature in PostgreSQL. You can do it only in pl/PgSQL (or other pl/*), but not in plain SQL.
An exception is WITH () query which can work as a variable, or even tuple of variables. It allows you to return a table of temporary values.
WITH master_user AS (
SELECT
login,
registration_date
FROM users
WHERE ...
)
SELECT *
FROM users
WHERE master_login = (SELECT login
FROM master_user)
AND (SELECT registration_date
FROM master_user) > ...;
You could also try this in PLPGSQL:
DO $$
DECLARE myvar integer;
BEGIN
SELECT 5 INTO myvar;
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS tmp_table;
CREATE TABLE tmp_table AS
SELECT * FROM yourtable WHERE id = myvar;
END $$;
SELECT * FROM tmp_table;
The above requires Postgres 9.0 or later.
Dynamic Config Settings
you can "abuse" dynamic config settings for this:
-- choose some prefix that is unlikely to be used by postgres
set session my.vars.id = '1';
select *
from person
where id = current_setting('my.vars.id')::int;
Config settings are always varchar values, so you need to cast them to the correct data type when using them. This works with any SQL client whereas \set only works in psql
The above requires Postgres 9.2 or later.
For previous versions, the variable had to be declared in postgresql.conf prior to being used, so it limited its usability somewhat. Actually not the variable completely, but the config "class" which is essentially the prefix. But once the prefix was defined, any variable could be used without changing postgresql.conf
It depends on your client.
However, if you're using the psql client, then you can use the following:
my_db=> \set myvar 5
my_db=> SELECT :myvar + 1 AS my_var_plus_1;
my_var_plus_1
---------------
6
If you are using text variables you need to quote.
\set myvar 'sometextvalue'
select * from sometable where name = :'myvar';
This solution is based on the one proposed by fei0x but it has the advantages that there is no need to join the value list of constants in the query and constants can be easily listed at the start of the query. It also works in recursive queries.
Basically, every constant is a single-value table declared in a WITH clause which can then be called anywhere in the remaining part of the query.
Basic example with two constants:
WITH
constant_1_str AS (VALUES ('Hello World')),
constant_2_int AS (VALUES (100))
SELECT *
FROM some_table
WHERE table_column = (table constant_1_str)
LIMIT (table constant_2_int)
Alternatively you can use SELECT * FROM constant_name instead of TABLE constant_name which might not be valid for other query languages different to postgresql.
Using a Temp Table outside of pl/PgSQL
Outside of using pl/pgsql or other pl/* language as suggested, this is the only other possibility I could think of.
begin;
select 5::int as var into temp table myvar;
select *
from somewhere s, myvar v
where s.something = v.var;
commit;
I want to propose an improvement to #DarioBarrionuevo's answer, to make it simpler leveraging temporary tables.
DO $$
DECLARE myvar integer = 5;
BEGIN
CREATE TEMP TABLE tmp_table ON COMMIT DROP AS
-- put here your query with variables:
SELECT *
FROM yourtable
WHERE id = myvar;
END $$;
SELECT * FROM tmp_table;
True, there is no vivid and unambiguous way to declare a single-value variable, what you can do is
with myVar as (select "any value really")
then, to get access to the value stored in this construction, you do
(select * from myVar)
for example
with var as (select 123)
... where id = (select * from var)
You may resort to tool special features. Like for DBeaver own proprietary syntax:
#set name = 'me'
SELECT :name;
SELECT ${name};
DELETE FROM book b
WHERE b.author_id IN (SELECT a.id FROM author AS a WHERE a.name = :name);
As you will have gathered from the other answers, PostgreSQL doesn’t have this mechanism in straight SQL, though you can now use an anonymous block. However, you can do something similar with a Common Table Expression (CTE):
WITH vars AS (
SELECT 5 AS myvar
)
SELECT *
FROM somewhere,vars
WHERE something = vars.myvar;
You can, of course, have as many variables as you like, and they can also be derived. For example:
WITH vars AS (
SELECT
'1980-01-01'::date AS start,
'1999-12-31'::date AS end,
(SELECT avg(height) FROM customers) AS avg_height
)
SELECT *
FROM customers,vars
WHERE (dob BETWEEN vars.start AND vars.end) AND height<vars.avg_height;
The process is:
Generate a one-row cte using SELECT without a table (in Oracle you will need to include FROM DUAL).
CROSS JOIN the cte with the other table. Although there is a CROSS JOIN syntax, the older comma syntax is slightly more readable.
Note that I have cast the dates to avoid possible issues in the SELECT clause. I used PostgreSQL’s shorter syntax, but you could have used the more formal CAST('1980-01-01' AS date) for cross-dialect compatibility.
Normally, you want to avoid cross joins, but since you’re only cross joining a single row, this has the effect of simply widening the table with the variable data.
In many cases, you don’t need to include the vars. prefix if the names don’t clash with the names in the other table. I include it here to make the point clear.
Also, you can go on to add more CTEs.
This also works in all current versions of MSSQL and MySQL, which do support variables, as well as SQLite which doesn’t, and Oracle which sort of does and sort of doesn’t.
Here is an example using PREPARE statements. You still can't use ?, but you can use $n notation:
PREPARE foo(integer) AS
SELECT *
FROM somewhere
WHERE something = $1;
EXECUTE foo(5);
DEALLOCATE foo;
In DBeaver you can use parameters in queries just like you can from code, so this will work:
SELECT *
FROM somewhere
WHERE something = :myvar
When you run the query DBeaver will ask you for the value for :myvar and run the query.
Here is a code segment using plain variable in postges terminal. I have used it a few times. But need to figure a better way. Here I am working with string variable. Working with integer variable, you don't need the triple quote. Triple quote becomes single quote at query time; otherwise you got syntax error. There might be a way to eliminate the need of triple quote when working with string variables. Please update if you find a way to improve.
\set strainname '''B.1.1.7'''
select *
from covid19strain
where name = :strainname ;
In psql, you can use these 'variables' as macros. Note that they get "evaluated" every time they are used, rather than at the time that they are "set".
Simple example:
\set my_random '(SELECT random())'
select :my_random; -- gives 0.23330629315990592
select :my_random; -- gives 0.67458399344433542
this gives two different answers each time.
However, you can still use these as a valuable shorthand to avoid repeating lots of subselects.
\set the_id '(SELECT id FROM table_1 WHERE name = ''xxx'' LIMIT 1)'
and then use it in your queries later as
:the_id
e.g.
INSERT INTO table2 (table1_id,x,y,z) VALUES (:the_id, 1,2,3)
Note you have to double-quote the strings in the variables, because the whole thing is then string-interpolated (i.e. macro-expanded) into your query.
I have one select statement in proc which is query the integer value from one table and then i increment that integer value by one , i have one update statement which is updating the increment value in table .
I want make this atomic while calling the procedure for getting the updated integer value in each request.
please help to make this atomic .
i was trying to use only update command with inline assignment variable like
Update table SET col=col+1, #variable = col+1 where ?
but it is working in sybase db but not wrking in db2 .
Consider using the following syntax:
select columnName from final table ( update yourTable set columnName = ColumnName + 1 where ... )
This removes the need for two separate statements, better for concurrency.
For best results ensure that the WHERE clause is fully indexed, so you should examine the access plan to confirm this.
Choose the correct isolation level (at connection level, or statement level) to match the other statements (if any) in the transaction with the business requirements.
How do I declare a variable for use in a PostgreSQL 8.3 query?
In MS SQL Server I can do this:
DECLARE #myvar INT
SET #myvar = 5
SELECT *
FROM somewhere
WHERE something = #myvar
How do I do the same in PostgreSQL? According to the documentation variables are declared simply as "name type;", but this gives me a syntax error:
myvar INTEGER;
Could someone give me an example of the correct syntax?
I accomplished the same goal by using a WITH clause, it's nowhere near as elegant but can do the same thing. Though for this example it's really overkill. I also don't particularly recommend this.
WITH myconstants (var1, var2) as (
values (5, 'foo')
)
SELECT *
FROM somewhere, myconstants
WHERE something = var1
OR something_else = var2;
There is no such feature in PostgreSQL. You can do it only in pl/PgSQL (or other pl/*), but not in plain SQL.
An exception is WITH () query which can work as a variable, or even tuple of variables. It allows you to return a table of temporary values.
WITH master_user AS (
SELECT
login,
registration_date
FROM users
WHERE ...
)
SELECT *
FROM users
WHERE master_login = (SELECT login
FROM master_user)
AND (SELECT registration_date
FROM master_user) > ...;
You could also try this in PLPGSQL:
DO $$
DECLARE myvar integer;
BEGIN
SELECT 5 INTO myvar;
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS tmp_table;
CREATE TABLE tmp_table AS
SELECT * FROM yourtable WHERE id = myvar;
END $$;
SELECT * FROM tmp_table;
The above requires Postgres 9.0 or later.
Dynamic Config Settings
you can "abuse" dynamic config settings for this:
-- choose some prefix that is unlikely to be used by postgres
set session my.vars.id = '1';
select *
from person
where id = current_setting('my.vars.id')::int;
Config settings are always varchar values, so you need to cast them to the correct data type when using them. This works with any SQL client whereas \set only works in psql
The above requires Postgres 9.2 or later.
For previous versions, the variable had to be declared in postgresql.conf prior to being used, so it limited its usability somewhat. Actually not the variable completely, but the config "class" which is essentially the prefix. But once the prefix was defined, any variable could be used without changing postgresql.conf
It depends on your client.
However, if you're using the psql client, then you can use the following:
my_db=> \set myvar 5
my_db=> SELECT :myvar + 1 AS my_var_plus_1;
my_var_plus_1
---------------
6
If you are using text variables you need to quote.
\set myvar 'sometextvalue'
select * from sometable where name = :'myvar';
This solution is based on the one proposed by fei0x but it has the advantages that there is no need to join the value list of constants in the query and constants can be easily listed at the start of the query. It also works in recursive queries.
Basically, every constant is a single-value table declared in a WITH clause which can then be called anywhere in the remaining part of the query.
Basic example with two constants:
WITH
constant_1_str AS (VALUES ('Hello World')),
constant_2_int AS (VALUES (100))
SELECT *
FROM some_table
WHERE table_column = (table constant_1_str)
LIMIT (table constant_2_int)
Alternatively you can use SELECT * FROM constant_name instead of TABLE constant_name which might not be valid for other query languages different to postgresql.
Using a Temp Table outside of pl/PgSQL
Outside of using pl/pgsql or other pl/* language as suggested, this is the only other possibility I could think of.
begin;
select 5::int as var into temp table myvar;
select *
from somewhere s, myvar v
where s.something = v.var;
commit;
I want to propose an improvement to #DarioBarrionuevo's answer, to make it simpler leveraging temporary tables.
DO $$
DECLARE myvar integer = 5;
BEGIN
CREATE TEMP TABLE tmp_table ON COMMIT DROP AS
-- put here your query with variables:
SELECT *
FROM yourtable
WHERE id = myvar;
END $$;
SELECT * FROM tmp_table;
True, there is no vivid and unambiguous way to declare a single-value variable, what you can do is
with myVar as (select "any value really")
then, to get access to the value stored in this construction, you do
(select * from myVar)
for example
with var as (select 123)
... where id = (select * from var)
You may resort to tool special features. Like for DBeaver own proprietary syntax:
#set name = 'me'
SELECT :name;
SELECT ${name};
DELETE FROM book b
WHERE b.author_id IN (SELECT a.id FROM author AS a WHERE a.name = :name);
As you will have gathered from the other answers, PostgreSQL doesn’t have this mechanism in straight SQL, though you can now use an anonymous block. However, you can do something similar with a Common Table Expression (CTE):
WITH vars AS (
SELECT 5 AS myvar
)
SELECT *
FROM somewhere,vars
WHERE something = vars.myvar;
You can, of course, have as many variables as you like, and they can also be derived. For example:
WITH vars AS (
SELECT
'1980-01-01'::date AS start,
'1999-12-31'::date AS end,
(SELECT avg(height) FROM customers) AS avg_height
)
SELECT *
FROM customers,vars
WHERE (dob BETWEEN vars.start AND vars.end) AND height<vars.avg_height;
The process is:
Generate a one-row cte using SELECT without a table (in Oracle you will need to include FROM DUAL).
CROSS JOIN the cte with the other table. Although there is a CROSS JOIN syntax, the older comma syntax is slightly more readable.
Note that I have cast the dates to avoid possible issues in the SELECT clause. I used PostgreSQL’s shorter syntax, but you could have used the more formal CAST('1980-01-01' AS date) for cross-dialect compatibility.
Normally, you want to avoid cross joins, but since you’re only cross joining a single row, this has the effect of simply widening the table with the variable data.
In many cases, you don’t need to include the vars. prefix if the names don’t clash with the names in the other table. I include it here to make the point clear.
Also, you can go on to add more CTEs.
This also works in all current versions of MSSQL and MySQL, which do support variables, as well as SQLite which doesn’t, and Oracle which sort of does and sort of doesn’t.
Here is an example using PREPARE statements. You still can't use ?, but you can use $n notation:
PREPARE foo(integer) AS
SELECT *
FROM somewhere
WHERE something = $1;
EXECUTE foo(5);
DEALLOCATE foo;
In DBeaver you can use parameters in queries just like you can from code, so this will work:
SELECT *
FROM somewhere
WHERE something = :myvar
When you run the query DBeaver will ask you for the value for :myvar and run the query.
Here is a code segment using plain variable in postges terminal. I have used it a few times. But need to figure a better way. Here I am working with string variable. Working with integer variable, you don't need the triple quote. Triple quote becomes single quote at query time; otherwise you got syntax error. There might be a way to eliminate the need of triple quote when working with string variables. Please update if you find a way to improve.
\set strainname '''B.1.1.7'''
select *
from covid19strain
where name = :strainname ;
In psql, you can use these 'variables' as macros. Note that they get "evaluated" every time they are used, rather than at the time that they are "set".
Simple example:
\set my_random '(SELECT random())'
select :my_random; -- gives 0.23330629315990592
select :my_random; -- gives 0.67458399344433542
this gives two different answers each time.
However, you can still use these as a valuable shorthand to avoid repeating lots of subselects.
\set the_id '(SELECT id FROM table_1 WHERE name = ''xxx'' LIMIT 1)'
and then use it in your queries later as
:the_id
e.g.
INSERT INTO table2 (table1_id,x,y,z) VALUES (:the_id, 1,2,3)
Note you have to double-quote the strings in the variables, because the whole thing is then string-interpolated (i.e. macro-expanded) into your query.
I have a stored procedure that performs inserts and updates in the tables. The need to create it was to try to centralize all the scan functions before inserting or updating records. Today the need arose to return the value of the field ID of the table so that my application can locate the registry and perform other stored procedures.
Stored procedure
SET TERM ^ ;
CREATE OR ALTER procedure sp_insupd (
iaction varchar(3),
iusuario varchar(20),
iip varchar(15),
imodulo varchar(30),
ifieldsvalues varchar(2000),
iwhere varchar(1000),
idesclogs varchar(200))
returns (
oid integer)
as
declare variable vdesc varchar(10000);
begin
if (iaction = 'ins') then
begin
vdesc = idesclogs;
/*** the error is on the line below ***/
execute statement 'insert into '||:imodulo||' '||:ifieldsvalues||' returning ID into '||:oid||';';
end else
if (iaction = 'upd') then
begin
execute statement 'select '||:idesclogs||' from '||:imodulo||' where '||:iwhere into :vdesc;
execute statement 'execute procedure SP_CREATE_AUDIT('''||:imodulo||''');';
execute statement 'update '||:imodulo||' set '||:ifieldsvalues||' where '||:iwhere||';';
end
insert into LOGS(USUARIO, IP, MODULO, TIPO, DESCRICAO) values (
:iusuario, :iip, :imodulo, (case :iaction when 'ins' then 1 when 'upd' then 2 end), :vdesc);
end^
SET TERM ; ^
The error in the above line is occurring due to syntax error. The procedure is compiled normally, that is, the error does not happen in the compilation, since the line in question is executed through the "execute statement". When there was no need to return the value of the ID field, the procedure worked normally with the line like this:
...
execute statement 'insert into '||:imodulo||' '||:ifieldsvalues||';';
...
What would be the correct way for the value of the ID field to be stored in the OID variable?
What is REAL VALUE in ifieldsvalues ?
you can not have BOTH
'insert into '||:imodulo||' '||:ifieldsvalues
'update '||:imodulo||' set '||:ifieldsvalues
because methods to specify column names and column values in INSERT and UPDATE statements is fundamentally different!!! You either would have broken update-stmt or broken insert-stmt!
The error in the above line is occurring due to syntax error
This is not enough. Show the real error text, all of it.
It includes the actual command you generate and it seems you had generated it really wrong way.
all the scan functions before inserting or updating records
Move those functions out of the SQL server and into your application server.
Then you would not have to make insert/update in that "strings splicing" way, which is VERY fragile and "SQL injection" friendly. You stepped into the road to hell here.
the error does not happen in the compilation
Exactly. And that is only for starters. You are removing all the safety checks that should had helped you in applications development.
http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/3-tier-application
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multitier_architecture#Three-tier_architecture
http://bobby-tables.com
On modern Firebird versions EXECUTE STATEMENT command can have the same INTO clause as PSQL SELECT command.
https://www.firebirdsql.org/file/documentation/reference_manuals/fblangref25-en/html/fblangref25-psql-coding.html#fblangref25-psql-execstmt
Use http://translate.ru to read http://www.firebirdsql.su/doku.php?id=execute_statement
Or just see SQL examples there. Notice, however, those examples all use SELECT dynamic command, not INSERT. So I am not sure it would work that way.
This works in Firebird 2.5 (but not in Firebird 2.1) PSQL blocks.
execute statement 'insert into Z(payload) values(2) returning id' into :i;
To run it from IBExpert/FlameRobin/iSQL interactive shell add that obvious boilerplate:
execute block returns (i integer) as
begin
execute statement 'insert into Z(payload) values(2) returning id' into :i;
suspend;
end
I wrote this very simple SP in SQL 2008:
Create procedure dbo.GetNextID
(
#TableName nvarchar(50),
#FieldName nvarchar(50)
)
AS
BEGIN
exec('select isnull(max('+#FieldName+'),0)+1 as NewGeneratedID from '+ #TableName);
END
When I execute this procedure in Visual Studio SQL Express and pass a table name and a field name, it works fine. But when I try to add this SP as a query in a QueryTableAdapter in my ADO DataSet, I receive this error before clicking on Finish button:
the max function requires 1 argument(s)
can anyone help me with this?
I guess that VS tries to determine a field list by executing the SP. But as it does not know what to pass to the SP, it uses empty parameters. Now, of course, your select statement fails.
You could try adding the following to your SP:
IF ISNULL(#TableName,'') = '' SET #TableName = '<Name of a test table>';
IF ISNULL(#FieldName,'') = '' SET #FieldName = '<Name of some field>';
Use the names of some field and table that do exist here (for example names that you'd use from your application, too).
Alternatively you could add the following above the exec:
IF (ISNULL(#TableName, '') = '') OR (ISNULL(#FieldName, '') = '')
BEGIN
SELECT -1 AS NewGeneratedId
RETURN 0
END
EDIT
On a side note, I'd like to warn you about concurrency issues that I see coming up from what your code does. If this code is supposed to return a unique ID for a new record in some table, I'd redesign this as follows:
Create a table NumberSeries where each row contains a unique name, a possible range for IDs and the current ID value.
Create a stored procedure that uses UPDATE ... OUTPUT to update the current ID for a number series and retrieve it in one step.
That way you can make sure that creating a new ID is a single operation that does not cause concurrency problems.