Preface

4D for OCI is a set of 4D external routines that allows a 4D database to communicate with an Oracle® database. Using 4D for OCI, your 4D database can display, manipulate, and modify data stored in an Oracle database.

With 4D for OCI, 4D becomes a front-end to an Oracle database. This configuration allows you to:

• Present a fully customized 4D interface, complete with custom menus and forms.
• Use the data storage and disk access capabilities of Oracle to create a powerful data management system.
• Create multiple 4D databases that access the same Oracle database.

This manual details implementing, using, and modifying systems that integrate an Oracle server with a 4D database.

The manual is written for users already familiar with the 4D language as well as with Oracle's SQL language. We recommend that new users familiarize themselves with both products before continuing with this manual.

Oracle OCIs are available for Mac as well as for Windows, and the 4D for OCI plug-in is available for both platforms. This plug-in is also available for both 32-bit and 64-bit applications.

Note: Prior to version v15, only 32-bit versions were available for OS X. To ensure complete compatibility with 4D for OCI v15 and higher, be sure to use version 11.2.0.4.0 of Oracle OCIs for your installation.

In this manual, 4D for OCI commands are printed in camel case, for example: OCIRawPtr.

In addition, all table names are shown in brackets in the text to help distinguish them from the names of fields, forms, and other items. For instance, the "Companies" table is written as the [Companies] table.

4D for OCI uses Oracle Call Interfaces (OCI) to take full advantage of Oracle features. 4D for OCI requires the OCI driver file provided by Oracle Corporation. This driver file works with Oracle as well as SQL*Net.

Note: The version of Oracle OCI to use with 4D for OCI is 11.2.0.4.0.