Running BSQL

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BSQL can be run from a batch job or from a terminal. Operation from a terminal can be used to execute statements entered directly or written in sequential files.

About Complex SQL Statements - @

Use the @ character to delimit a complex SQL statement where the normal end-of-statement character `;' appears before the end of the statement (e.g. CREATE FUNCTION, CREATE PROCEDURE, and CREATE TRIGGER).

Running BSQL from a Batch Job

To run BSQL unattended from a batch job, create a batch file with the following contents:

• the command to start BSQL
• the user name
• the password
• the SQL statements and BSQL commands
• the EXIT command (or end of file).

Unicode Pipe Support in Console Programs on Windows

All Mimer SQL Mobile console programs such as BSQL, can pipe Unicode files. The files can be any of the Unicode formats supported by Mimer SQL Mobile such as UTF16 big and little endian, and UTF8.

When output is piped to a file, the input decides the type of the output file. If the input file is ASCII, the output will also be ASCII. If the input file is UTF16, the output will also be UTF16. If the input is from the keyboard, the output will be an UTF16 file on Windows Vista/NT/2000/XP. For example:

 BSQL < UNIFILEIN.TXT > UNIFILEOUT.TXT

Security and Batch Jobs

For unattended operation, a batch file must either include the Mimer SQL ident user name and password in explicit form or connect as OS_USER.

For security reasons, make sure that your batch files are well protected and/or remove your password from the file after execution.

Alternatively, SQL statements and BSQL commands may be written in a sequential file without user name and password, and executed with the READ command from a BSQL terminal session.

Running BSQL via a Terminal

How you start BSQL depends on your operating system.

BSQL Command-line Arguments

Windows & UNIX-style	VMS-style	Function
-u username --username=username	/USERNAME=username	Ident name to be used in connect. If the switch is not given the user is prompted for a username. To connect as OS_USER, give -u "", --username="", or /USERNAME="".
-p password --password=password	/PASSWORD=password	Password for ident. If the switch is omitted the user is prompted for a password, unless OS_USER is specified with the username switch, as described above. VMS: Note that in a Open VMS environment it might be necessary to enclose the password in quotation marks as the value otherwise is translated to upper case.
-m --multi	/MULTI	Connects to the database in multi-user mode.
-s --single	/SINGLE	Connects to the database in single-user mode.
-q query --query=query	/QUERY=query	query can be any BSQL command or SQL statement. If a query is supplied, BSQL will terminate immediately after the query has been processed.
database	database	Specifies the name of the database to access. If a database name is not specified, the default database will be accessed, see Mimer SQL System Management Handbook, The Default Database.
-? --help	/HELP	Show help text.

If a database name is not specified, the default database will be accessed.

If neither --single nor --multi is specified for the optional mode flag, the way the database is accessed will be determined by the setting of the MIMER_MODE variable, see Mimer SQL System Management Handbook, Appendix A, Specifying Single-user Mode Access.

If this is not set, it will be accessed in multi-user mode.

If multiple instances of a qualifier is given, the last one is used. For example

 bsql --single --multi --username=t1 --username=t2
 

is valid and means connect user t2 in multi-user mode.

Unix examples

Start BSQL and connect user cosmo with password Kramer:

 bsql --username=cosmo --password=Kramer
 

Start BSQL, connect as OS_USER, execute a query, and then leave:

 bsql --user="" --query="select * from \"SomeTable\" where user = 'COSMO'"

VMS examples

Start BSQL and connect user cosmo with password Kramer:

 bsql /USERNAME="cosmo" /PASSWORD="Kramer"
 

Start BSQL, connect as OS_USER, execute a query, and then leave:

 bsql /USERNAME="" /QUERY="select * from ""SomeTable"" where user = 'COSMO'"
 

Note: You can also use the UNIX-style syntax in OpenVMS.

Windows examples

Start BSQL and connect user cosmo with password Kramer:

 bsql --username=cosmo --password=Kramer
 

Start BSQL, connect as OS_USER, execute a query, and then leave:

 bsql --user="" --query="select * from \"SomeTable\" where user = 'Cosmo'"

To start Mimer BSQL from the Windows Start button:

Click Start, navigate to your Mimer SQL program group and select Batch SQL.

Logging IN

Starting BSQL displays the following:

 $ bsql
 Mimer SQL command line utility, version 9.3.7
 Username:
 

After you have entered a user name and a correct password, the BSQL prompt is displayed:

 SQL>
 

You can now enter BSQL specific commands and general SQL statements. Output will be echoed on the terminal.

BSQL Command Line Editing - UNIX

Command line editing is available in the BSQL program, which uses a line-oriented interface.

The following functions are available:

Use:	To:
ctrl-a	Move to beginning of command
ctrl-b	Move backwards in command
ctrl-d	Delete current character
ctrl-e	Move to end of command
ctrl-f	Move forwards in command
ctrl-h	Delete previous character
ctrl-k	Delete after current position in command
ctrl-n	Next command
ctrl-o	Execute retrieved command and get next from history list
ctrl-p	Previous command
ctrl-r	Retrieve command by search condition
ctrl-t	Change place for the previous two characters
ctrl-u	Delete command
ctrl-w	Delete before current position in command
ctrl-<space>	Set mark in command (or `esc <space>')
ctrl-x ctrl-x	Go to mark set by `ctrl <space>'
ctrl-x ctrl-h	Show the history list
ctrl-x ctrl-r	Retrieve command by history list number
esc h	Delete previous word
esc d	Delete next word
esc b	Move to previous word
esc f	Move to next word

You can use the arrow keys for command retrieval and for positioning the cursor within a line, i.e. the same function as for ctrl-b, ctrl-f, ctrl-n and ctrl-p.

To change the number of commands that can be held in the history list, the environment variable MIMER_HISTLINES can be used (the default is 23).

Note: The operating system may have control sequences set for the terminal that, if they overlap, override those described above. The terminal settings can be listed using the UNIX stty -a command.

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