Re: SQL insert/update text BLOB?

Jim, You can also get the blobs into a table using the load command. Load them into a temp table then they can be copied to another table using normal SQL commands. Jason On Thu, 11 Jun 1998 12:13:58 -0700 (PDT), Jonathan Leffler <jleffler@informix.com> wrote: > >On 11 Jun 1998, Jim Kistler wrote: >> Okay, I can't find documentation on how to "insert" or "update" >> a text BLOB with an SQL statement. > >There isn't a great deal of such documentation, partly because there isn't >much of a way to do it. It can only be done via ESQL/C -- there are no >text blob or byte blob literals in Informix's SQL. > >> The error message says: >> >> 617: A blob data type must be supplied within this context.>> >> Checking error message 617, I see that "BYTE and TEXT values must be >> assigned as whole units to columns of the same type". >> >> What does "assigned as whole units" mean? > >Well, I don't find the message very helpful either. What it really means >is that you can do things like copy a blob from TableA to TableB, but for >introducing new values into a blob field, you have to provide an ESQL/C >locator structure with the correct info in it. This is painful. > >However, I did send out a while ago a program called UPDBLOB which is now >in the IIUG archives which does update a blob from a data file. It >requires ESQL/C or c-code I4GL to compile it. > >> I find no helpful information in any documentation that I have. >> >> I can enter the data with a form, so all is not lost, but shouldn't >> I be able to do this with SQL? > >Yes, but you can't because there are no blob literals in the Informix >dialect of SQL. There was a feature request survey sent out at Partner's >Forum last week which included 'blob literals' as one of the features which >might be added. This would largely address your problem (if it is done >right). > >It would also be nice to be able to do something like: > >UPDATE BlobTable > SET BlobColumn = BlobFromFile("/my/file/name/here") > WHERE PK_Column = "PKValue"; > >I suspect you can do this, more or less, in IUS with smart blobs (BLOB and >CLOB data types). > >Yours, >Jonathan Leffler (jleffler@informix.com) #include <witticism.h> >Guardian of DBD::Informix -- see http://www.perl.com/CPAN >