db.3 -> dbopen.3

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.\" Copyright (c) 1990 The Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" %sccs.include.redist.man%
.\"
.\"	@(#)dbopen.3	5.20 (Berkeley) %G%
.\"
.TH DBOPEN 3 ""
.UC 7
.SH NAME
dbopen \- database access methods
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
.ft B
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <limits.h>
#include <db.h>

DB *
dbopen(const char *file, int flags, int mode, DBTYPE type,
.ti +5
const void *openinfo);
.ft R
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
.IR Dbopen
is the library interface to database files.
The supported file formats are btree, hashed and record oriented.
The btree format is a representation of a sorted, balanced tree structure.
The hashed format is an extensible, dynamic hashing scheme.
The flat-file format is a byte stream file with fixed or variable length
records.
The formats and file format specific information are described in detail
in their respective manual pages
.IR btree (3),
.IR hash (3)
and
.IR recno (3).
.PP
Dbopen opens
.I file
for reading and/or writing.
Files never intended to be preserved on disk may be created by setting
the file parameter to NULL.
.PP
The
.I flags
and
.I mode arguments
are as specified to the
.IR open (2)
routine, however, only the O_CREAT, O_EXCL, O_RDONLY, O_RDWR, O_TRUNC
and O_WRONLY flags are meaningful.
.PP
The
.I type
argument is of type DBTYPE (as defined in the <db.h> include file) and
may be set to DB_BTREE, DB_HASH or DB_RECNO.
.PP
The
.I openinfo
argument is a pointer to an access method specific structure described
in the access method's manual page.
If
.I openinfo
is NULL, each access method will use defaults appropriate for the system
and the access method.
.PP
.I Dbopen
returns a pointer to a DB structure on success and NULL on error.
The DB structure is defined in the <db.h> include file, and contains at
least the following fields:
.sp
.nf
typedef struct {
.RS
DBTYPE type;
int (*close)(const DB *db);
int (*del)(const DB *db, const DBT *key, u_int flags);
int (*get)(const DB *db, DBT *key, DBT *data, u_int flags);
int (*put)(const DB *db, const DBT *key, const DBT *data,
.ti +5
u_int flags);
int (*sync)(const DB *db);
int (*seq)(const DB *db, DBT *key, DBT *data, u_int flags);
.RE
} DB;
.fi
.PP
These elements a database type and a set of functions performing various
actions.
These functions take a pointer to a structure as returned by
.IR dbopen ,
and sometimes one or more pointers to key/data structures and a flag value.
.TP
type
The type of the underlying access method (and file format).
.TP
close
A pointer to a routine to flush any cached information to disk, free any
allocated resources, and close the underlying file(s).
Since key/data pairs may be cached in memory, failing to sync the file
with a
.I close
or
.I sync
function may result in inconsistent or lost information.
.I Close
routines return -1 on error (setting
.IR errno )
and 0 on success.
.TP
del
A pointer to a routine to remove key/data pairs from the database.
.IP
The parameter
.I flag
may be set to the following value:
.RS
.TP
R_CURSOR
Delete the record referenced by the cursor.
.RE
.IP
.I Delete
routines return -1 on error (setting
.IR errno ),
0 on success, and 1 if the specified
.I key
was not in the file.
.TP
get
A pointer to a routine which is the interface for keyed retrieval from
the database.
The address and length of the data associated with the specified
.I key
are returned in the structure referenced by
.IR data .
.I Get
routines return -1 on error (setting
.IR errno ),
0 on success, and 1 if the
.I key
was not in the file.
.TP
put
A pointer to a routine to store key/data pairs in the database.
.IP
The parameter
.I flag
may be set to one of the following values:
.RS
.TP
R_APPEND
Append the data to the tree, creating a new key/data pair.
(Applicable only to the DB_RECNO access method.)
.TP
R_CURSOR
Replace the key/data pair referenced by the cursor.
.TP
R_IAFTER
Append the data immediately after the data referenced by
.IR key ,
creating a new key/data pair.
(Applicable only to the DB_RECNO access method.)
.TP
R_IBEFORE
Insert the data immediately before the data referenced by
.IR key ,
creating a new key/data pair.
(Applicable only to the DB_RECNO access method.)
.TP
R_NOOVERWRITE
Enter the new key/data pair only if the key does not previously exist.
.RE
.IP
R_APPEND, R_IAFTER and R_IBEFORE are available only for the DB_RECNO access
method because they each imply that the access method is able to create new
keys.
This is only true if the keys are ordered and independent, record numbers
for example.
.IP
The default behavior of the
.I put
routines is to enter the new key/data pair, replacing any previously
existing key.
.IP
.I Put
routines return -1 on error (setting
.IR errno ),
0 on success, and 1 if the R_NOOVERWRITE
.I flag
was set and the key already exists in the file.
.TP
seq
A pointer to a routine which is the interface for sequential
retrieval from the database.
The address and length of the key are returned in the structure
referenced by
.IR key ,
and the address and length of the data are returned in the
structure referenced
by
.IR data .
.IP
Sequential key/data pair retrieval may begin at any time, and the
position of the ``cursor'' is not affected by calls to the
.IR del ,
.IR get ,
.IR put ,
or
.I sync
routines.
Modifications to the database during a sequential scan will be reflected
in the scan, i.e. records inserted behind the cursor will not be returned
while records inserted in front of the cursor will be returned.
.IP
The flag value
.B must
be set to one of the following values:
.RS
.TP
R_CURSOR
The data associated with the specified key is returned.
This differs from the
.I get
routines in that it sets the ``cursor'' to the location of the
key as well.
(Note, for the DB_BTREE access method, the returned key is not necessarily an
exact match for the specified key.
The returned key is the smallest key greater than or equal to the specified
key, permitting partial key matches and range searches.)
.TP
R_FIRST
The first key/data pair of the database is returned.
.TP
R_LAST
The last key/data pair of the database is returned.
(Applicable only to the DB_BTREE and DB_RECNO access methods.)
.TP
R_NEXT
Retrieve the key/data pair immediately after the key/data pair most recently
retrieved using the
.I seq
routine.
The cursor is moved to the returned key/data pair.
If
.I flag
is set to R_NEXT the first time the
.I seq
routine is called, the first key/data pair of the database is returned.
.TP
R_PREV
Retrieve the key/data pair immediately before the key/data pair most recently
retrieved using the
.I seq
routine.
The cursor is moved to the returned key/data pair.
If
.I flag
is set to R_PREV the first time the
.I seq
routine is called, the last key/data pair of the database is returned.
(Applicable only to the DB_BTREE and DB_RECNO access methods.)
.RE
.IP
R_LAST and R_PREV are available only for the DB_BTREE and DB_RECNO
access methods because they each imply that the keys have an inherent order
which does not change.
.IP
.I Seq
routines return -1 on error (setting
.IR errno ),
0 on success and 1 if there are no key/data pairs less than or greater
than the specified or current key.
If the DB_RECNO access method is being used, and if the database file
is a character special file and no complete key/data pairs are currently
available, the
.I seq
routines return 2.
.TP
sync
A pointer to a routine to flush any cached information to disk.
If the database is in memory only, the
.I sync
routine has no effect and will always succeed.
.I Sync
routines return -1 on error (setting
.IR errno )
and 0 on success.
.SH "KEY/DATA PAIRS"
Access to all file types is based on key/data pairs.
Both keys and data are represented by the following data structure:
.PP
typedef struct {
.RS
void *data;
.br
size_t size;
.RE
} DBT;
.PP
The elements of the DBT structure are defined as follows:
.TP
data
A pointer to a byte string.
.TP
size
The length of the byte string.
.PP
Key and data byte strings may reference strings of essentially unlimited
length although any two of them must fit into available memory at the same
time.
It should be noted that the access methods provide no guarantees about
byte string alignment.
.SH ERRORS
The
.I dbopen
routine may fail and set
.I errno
for any of the errors specified for the library routines
.IR open (2)
and
.IR malloc (3)
or the following:
.TP
[EFTYPE]
A file is incorrectly formatted.
.TP
[EINVAL]
A parameter has been specified (hash function, pad byte etc.) that is
incompatible with the current file specification or there is a mismatch
between the version number of file and the software.
.PP
The
.I close
routines may fail and set
.I errno
for any of the errors specified for the library routines
.IR close (2),
.IR read (2),
.IR write (2),
.IR free (3),
or
.IR fsync (2).
.PP
The
.IR del ,
.IR get ,
.I put
and
.I seq
routines may fail and set
.I errno
for any of the errors specified for the library routines
.IR read (2),
.IR write (2),
.IR free (3)
or
.IR malloc (3).
.PP
The
.I sync
routines may fail and set
.I errno
for any of the errors specified for the library routine
.IR fsync (2).
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IR btree (3),
.IR hash (3),
.IR mpool (3),
.IR recno (3)
.SH BUGS
The typedef DBT is a mnemonic for ``data base thang'', and was used
because noone could think of a reasonable name that wasn't already used.
.PP
None of the access methods provide any form of concurrent access,
locking, or transactions.