Getting Started › DATACOM VIEWs › Arrays › Additional Items to Consider

Additional Items to Consider

Consider the following additional points:

• Multiple dimensions are not supported. In this case, arrays within the first dimension are referenced as a single CHAR column as they always have been.
• An array must be defined with CA Datacom Datadictionary, versus CREATE TABLE.
• View columns containing array elements may not be referenced by left-outer joins. Be aware that this reference can be rejected at any point prior to the execution of the query.
• Reference to the array column without the use of subscripts is disallowed.

Note: If a whole-array is referenced in a SELECT list outside a DATACOM VIEW, it is returned as a single CHAR column. The host application may redefine this area as an array. But when using Dynamic SQL, the DESCRIBE statement or the SQLDA of a FETCH statement cannot describe a column as an array (SQLDA is the SQL descriptor area used to describe columns passed to/from the user's application and the Multi-User Facility). This is because the SQLVAR structure of the SQLDA as defined by ANSI/ISO SQL does not include a field for number of elements (SQLVAR is a structure that defines a single column in an SQLDA).