SQL Built-In Functions and Stored Procedures: The i5/iSeries Programmer's Guide

Stored procedures and built-in functions can greatly expand the power and usefulness of SQL, but surprisingly these highly useful tools remain untapped by many programmers. For programmers who are new to the subject or those who want to expand on what they already know, this book provides a terrific introduction to the creation and use of built-in functions and stored procedures under OS/400 and i5/OS. But what are they?

Built-in functions are a part of practically every programming language and can be a big boost to productivity by identifying and isolating functions that need to be executed repeatedly. SQL makes particularly good use of its built-in functions. Stored procedures are programs that can be called from within SQL—and other programming languages, such as RPG—to process entire datasets. This book will put you on the fast track to using and writing both effectively.

After you learn the basics of these powerful tools, you?ll go on to explore some of the stored procedures and functions included with SQL on the iSeries as part of OS/400 and i5/OS. Author Mike Faust even explains the process of developing custom built-in functions for your own use and has included a stored procedure that can be used to create a crosstab or pivot table representation of supplied data.

This book is the tool you need to boost the power of your i5/OS SQL programming skills.

With SQL Built-In Functions and Stored Procedures, you will:

– Discover how to perform routine maintenance functions, such as copying a file or rebuilding an existing table without losing the data in the existing table.

– Learn how to build data files, modify a library list, and compile programs.

– Practice using example programs that not only teach, but also make excellent additions
to any programmer's library.

– Learn how to use 11 different functions, including functions to edit numeric values for print with commas, decimal points, and currency symbols; a function that returns the distance in miles between two ZIP codes; functions to convert date and currency to a text string and more.

– Gain access to complete code on the Web for each function, which you can use directly in your own programs.

Pro T-SQL 2005 Programmer's Guide provides comprehensive and detailed coverage of all the major features and facilities of T-SQL for SQL Server 2005. It is designed for all users of T-SQL, database administrators, systems administrators, application developers, and end-users, who want to learn how to exploit the power of T-SQL. Whatever you need to do with T-SQL, you'll find it described clearly here.

Stored procedures, triggers, and user-defined functions are only part of the story. Dynamic SQL, the new XML data type, and SQLCLR programming are also covered, as well as accessing SQL Server with ADO.NET. Exception handling and performance are fully covered, too. This book is truly a complete programmer's guide to T-SQL and SQL Server 2005.

A book for every developer working with T-SQL - Review of Database Administrator SQLAuthority.com.......2007-09-14

The Programmer's Guide to SQL provides an in-depth yet concise tutorial on the use of Structured Query Language (SQL), the standard that defines how to create and manipulate databases and the data that they store. Once you've mastered the fundamentals, the book serves as a handy desktop reference on SQL usage, covering all the major SQL statements that you're likely to need when programming databases, with example code for five major database systems: SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, MySQL, and Access. In each case, it demonstrates how the SQL standard is implemented, and in some cases extended, by each database system vendor. It discusses:

The book covers the very latest version of the SQL standard, SQL-99, and includes two complete case studies, showing how to create and query the underlying database for a fully featured web site, and how to implement role-based security in your applications. As such, it is ideal for any programmer, analyst, or database administrator in search of an SQL reference that also demonstrates how to use SQL to solve real business problems.

The Programmer's Guide to SQL provides an in-depth yet concise tutorial on the use of Structured Query Language (SQL), the standard that defines how to create and manipulate databases and the data that they store. Once you've mastered the fundamentals, the book serves as a handy desktop reference on SQL usage, covering all of the major SQL statements that you're likely to need when programming databases--with example code for five major database systems: SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, MySQL, and Access.

In each case, it demonstrates how the SQL standard is implemented, and in some cases extended, by each database system vendor. It discusses:

The book covers the very latest version of the SQL standard, SQL-99, and includes two complete case studies that show how to create and query the underlying database for a fully featured web site, as well as how to implement role-based security in your applications. As such, it is ideal for any programmer, analyst, or database administrator in search of a SQL reference that also demonstrates how to use SQL to solve real business problems.

Chapters include: * Extending SQL * The Postgres Rule System * Interfacing Extensions To Indices * Linking Dynamically-Loaded Functions * Triggers * Server Programming Interface *Large Objects * libpq-C Library * libpq-C++ Binding Library * pgtcl-TCL Binding Library * ODBC Interface * JDBC Interface * Lisp Programming Interface * Overview of PostgreSQL Internals * Frontend/Backend Protocol * Postgres Signals * gcc Default Optimizations

I am not sure what was used to write this book (I think DocBook) but it doesn't much take into account that humans will be reading it.

Glaringly absent is an index. Also the table of contents was polluted by giving seven lines for each function in the API list. Not to mention the API is in the middle of the book and visually confusing.

How did this book earn 3 stars from me? It does in fact contain content useful to anyone who wants to seriously hack on postgresql.