Chapter 15. Interfacing to Relational Databases
Overview
Many scripts are only useful when the scripting language interfaces to a wide variety of packages. For example, scripts need to control graphic user interfaces or GUIs, perform database I/O, serve up customized Web pages, control TCP/IP or FTP connections for communications, display and manipulate images, and perform many other tasks that require interfaces to outside code.
Rexx offers a plethora of free and open-source interfaces, packages, and function libraries for these purposes. Appendix H lists and describes many of the more popular ones. This chapter explores how scripts interface to databases. Then Chapters 16 through 18 explore other free interfaces for Rexx scripts, including GUIs, graphical images, programming Web servers, and Extensible Markup Language (XML).
Databases are among the most important interfaces. Few industrial-strength programs can do without the power and data management services of modern database management systems, or DBMS.
Most database systems are relational. They view data in terms of tables composed of rows and columns. Relational DBMSs typically provide complete features for data management, including transactional or concurrency control, backup and recovery, various utilities, interfaces, query languages, programming interfaces, and other features for high-powered data management.
Several packages enable Rexx scripts to interface with databases. These allow the scripts to interface to almost ...
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