Introduction to Data Management

Accessing Databases With NonStop SQL
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Using NonStop SQL NonStop SQL permits you to enter SQL statements through either an interactive or a
programmatic interface:
The NonStop SQL Conversational Interface (SQLCI) allows you to enter SQL
statements directly through your terminal or workstation. Using this interface,
you can interactively enter ad hoc queries, generate simple reports, modify data,
and test SQL statements—all without writing an application program. This
interface provides a convenient online help facility that guides your work at the
terminal. It also offers a full set of online diagnostic messages. SQLCI includes a
full-function report writer for formatting data into customized reports, complete
with titles, page and column headings, footings, spacing, custom text, and
calculated totals and subtotals. SQLCI also furnishes a powerful set of utilities that
retrieve information about your database, dictionary, and application programs.
The NonStop SQL Programmatic Interface, known as programmatic SQL, allows
you to view and modify the database through SQL statements embedded in your
application server programs. While these statements are written in SQL, the server
itself is written in a host language, commonly COBOL85 but sometimes Pascal or
C. The SQL statements allow you to request complex database operations with
convenience and ease.
The syntax of your NonStop SQL statements is basically the same, whether you are
using SQLCI or programmatic SQL. Exceptions do exist, however; for instance,
statements that select data to be read through a cursor (a named pointer defined in
SQL) are available only within programs.
Developing Queries
and Reports
If you are a business professional or clerical worker who needs immediate access to
business data stored at your site, you will often access the database simply by entering
SQL statements through SQLCI at your terminal or workstation as shown in
Figure 3-5.