Connecting to Your Database
Setting Additional Connection Parameters

To set AutoCommit and Lock (Isolation Level) in a database profile:

1. Display the Database Profiles dialog box.

2. Click the plus sign (+) to the left of the interface you are using or double-click the interface name.

   The list expands to display the database profiles defined for your interface.

3. Select the name of the profile you want and click Edit.

   The Database Profile Setup dialog box for the selected profile displays.

4. On the Connection tab page, supply values for one or both of the following:

   • Isolation Level

     If your database supports the use of locking and isolation levels, select the isolation level you want to use for this connection from the Isolation Level drop-down list. (The Isolation Level drop-down list contains valid lock values for your interface.)

   • AutoCommit Mode

     The setting of AutoCommit controls whether PowerBuilder issues SQL statements outside (True) or inside (False) the scope of a transaction. If your database supports it, select the AutoCommit Mode check box to set AutoCommit to True or clear the AutoCommit Mode check box (the default) to set AutoCommit to False.

     For example, in addition to values for basic connection parameters (Server, Login ID, Password, and Database), the Connection tab page for the following SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise profile named Sales shows nondefault settings for Isolation Level and AutoCommit Mode.

5. (Optional) In PowerBuilder, click the Preview tab if you want to see the PowerScript connection syntax generated for Lock and AutoCommit.

   PowerBuilder generates correct PowerScript connection syntax for each option you set in the Database Profile Setup dialog box. You can copy this syntax directly into a PowerBuilder application script.

   For instructions, see Copying DBParm syntax from the Preview tab.

6. Click OK to close the Database Profile Setup dialog box.

   PowerBuilder saves your settings in the database profile entry in the registry.

To set connection-related preferences in the Database Preferences dialog box:

1. Open the Database painter.

2. Select Design>Options from the menu bar.

   The Database Preferences dialog box displays. If necessary, click the General tab to display the General property page.

3. Specify values for one or more of the connection-related database preferences in the following table.

   Preference	Description	For details, see
   Shared Database Profiles	Specifies the pathname of the file containing the database profiles you want to share. You can type the pathname or click Browse to display it.	Sharing database profiles
   Connect to Default Profile	Controls whether the Database painter establishes a connection to a database using a default profile when the painter is invoked. If not selected, the Database painter opens without establishing a connection to a database.	the section called “Connect to Default Profile” in Connection Reference
   Read Only	Specifies whether PowerBuilder should update the extended attribute system tables and any other tables in your database. Select or clear the Read Only check box as follows: Select the check box Does not update the extended attribute system tables or any other tables in your database. You cannot modify (update) information in the extended attribute system tables or any other database tables from the DataWindow painter when the Read Only check box is selected. Clear the check box (Default) Updates the extended attribute system tables and any other tables in your database.	the section called “Read Only” in Connection Reference
   Keep Connection Open	When you connect to a database in PowerBuilder without using a database profile, specifies when PowerBuilder closes the connection. Select or clear the Keep Connection Open check box as follows: Select the check box (Default) Stays connected to the database throughout your session and closes the connection when you exit Clear the check box Opens the connection only when a painter requests it and closes the connection when you close a painter or finish compiling a script Not used with profile This preference has no effect when you connect using a database profile.	the section called “Keep Connection Open” in Connection Reference
   Use Extended Attributes	Specifies whether PowerBuilder should create and use the extended attribute system tables. Select or clear the Use Extended Attributes check box as follows: Select the check box (Default) Creates and uses the extended attribute system tables Clear the check box Does not create the extended attribute system tables	the section called “Use Extended Attributes” in Connection Reference
   Columns in Table Display	Specify the number of table columns to be displayed when InfoMaker displays a table graphically. The default is eight.

   
   

4. Do one of the following:

   • Click Apply to apply the preference settings to the current connection without closing the Database Preferences dialog box.

   • Click OK to apply the preference settings to the current connection and close the Database Preferences dialog box.

   PowerBuilder saves your preference settings in the database section of PB.INI.

To copy AutoCommit and Lock syntax from the Preview tab into your script:

1. On the Connection tab in the Database Profile Setup dialog box for your connection, supply values for AutoCommit and Lock (Isolation Level) as required.

   For instructions, see Setting AutoCommit and Lock in a PowerBuilder application script.

   For example, in addition to values for basic connection parameters (Server, Login ID, Password, and Database), the Connection tab for the following Adaptive Server profile named Sales shows nondefault settings for Isolation Level and AutoCommit Mode.

   For information about the DBParm parameters for your interface and the values to supply, click Help.

2. Click Apply to save your changes to the current tab without closing the Database Profile Setup dialog box.

3. Click the Preview tab.

   The correct PowerScript syntax for each selected option displays in the Database Connection Syntax box. For example:

   

4. Select one or more lines of text in the Database Connection Syntax box and click Copy.

   PowerBuilder copies the selected text to the clipboard.

5. Click OK to close the Database Profile Setup dialog box.

6. Paste the selected text from the Preview tab into your script, modifying the default Transaction object name (SQLCA) if necessary.

To set the AutoCommit and Lock properties in a PowerBuilder script:

1. Open the application script in which you want to set connection properties.

   For instructions, see the section called “Opening Script views” in Users Guide.

2. Use the following PowerScript syntax to set the AutoCommit and Lock properties. (This syntax assumes you are using the default Transaction object SQLCA, but you can also define your own Transaction object.)

   SQLCA.AutoCommit = value
   SQLCA.Lock = "value"

   For example, the following statements in a PowerBuilder script use the default Transaction object SQLCA to connect to an SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise database named Test. SQLCA.AutoCommit is set to True and SQLCA.Lock is set to isolation level 3 (Serializable transactions).

   SQLCA.DBMS       = "SYC"
   SQLCA.Database   = "Test"
   SQLCA.LogID      = "Frans"
   SQLCA.LogPass    = "xxyyzz"
   SQLCA.ServerName = "HOST1"
   SQLCA.AutoCommit = True
   SQLCA.Lock       = "3"

   For more information, see the section called “AutoCommit” in Connection Reference and the section called “Lock” in Connection Reference.

3. Compile the script to save your changes.

   For instructions, see the the section called “Compiling the script” in Users Guide.

To read AutoCommit and Lock values from an external text file:

1. Open the application script in which you want to set connection properties.

2. Use the following PowerScript syntax to specify the ProfileString function with the SQLCA.Lock property:

   SQLCA.Lock = ProfileString ( file, section, key, default )

   The AutoCommit property is a boolean, so you need to convert the string returned by ProfileString to a boolean. For example, the following statements in a PowerBuilder script read the AutoCommit and Lock values from the [Database] section of the APP.INI file:

   string ls_string
   ls_string=Upper(ProfileString("APP.INI", "Database", "Autocommit",""))
   if ls_string = "TRUE" then
      SQLCA.Autocommit = TRUE
   else
      SQLCA.Autocommit = FALSE
   end if
   SQLCA.Lock=ProfileString("APP.INI", "Database", "Lock","")
   

3. Compile the script to save your changes.