6 Working with Multimedia Data Types

This chapter describes how to work with multimedia data types, which are represented in Oracle Database as Large Objects (LOBs). The discussion provides a brief theoretical overview of LOB types, and then focuses on their practical use, through PL/SQ and OCI implementation for Data Cartridges.

This chapter contains these topics:

Overview of Cartridges and Multimedia Data Types

Some data cartridges must handle large amounts of raw binary data, such as graphic images or sound waveforms, or character data, such as text or streams of numbers. Oracle supports large objects, LOBs, to handle these kinds of data.

  • Internal LOBs are stored in the database tablespaces in a way that optimizes space and provides efficient access. Internal LOBs participate in the transactional model of the server.

    Internal LOBs can store binary data (BLOBs), single-byte character data (CLOBs), or fixed-width single-byte or multibyte character data (NCLOBs). An NCLOB consists of character data that corresponds to the national character set defined for the Oracle database. Varying width character data is not supported in Oracle.

  • External LOBs are stored in operating system files outside the database tablespaces as BFILEs, binary data. They cannot participate in transactions.

Both internal LOBs and in BFILEs provide considerable flexibility in handling large amounts of data.

Data stored in a LOB is called the LOB's value. To the Oracle server, a LOB's value is unstructured and cannot be queried. You must unpack and interpret a LOB's value in cartridge-specific ways.

LOBs can be manipulated using the Oracle Call Interface, OCI, or the PL/SQL DBMS_LOB package. You can write functions, including methods on object types that can contain LOBs, to manipulate parts of LOBs.

DDL for LOBs

LOB definition can involve the CREATE TYPE and the CREATE TABLE statements. Example 6-1 specifies a CLOB within a data type named lob_type.

Example 6-1 Creating a CLOB Attribute of a Type

CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE lob_type AS OBJECT ( 
  id  INTEGER, 
  data CLOB );

Example 6-2 creates an object table, lob_table, in which each row is an instance of lob_type data:

Example 6-2 Creating a LOB Object Table

CREATE TABLE lob_table OF lob_type;

Example 6-3 shows how to store LOBs in a regular table, as opposed to an object table as in Example 6-2.

Example 6-3 Creating LOB Columns in a Table

CREATE TABLE lob_table1  (
  id  INTEGER,
  b_lob   BLOB,
  c_lob   CLOB,
  nc_lob  NCLOB,
  b_file  BFILE );

When creating LOBs in tables, you can set the LOB storage, buffering, and caching properties.

See Also:

Oracle Database SQL Language Reference manual and the Oracle Database SecureFiles and Large Objects Developer's Guide for information about using LOBs in CREATE TABLE, ALTER TABLE, CREATE TYPE and ALTER TYPE statements

LOB Locators

LOBs can be stored with other row data or separate from row data. Regardless of the storage location, each LOB has a locator, which can be viewed as a handle or pointer to the actual location. Selecting a LOB returns the LOB locator instead of the LOB value.

Example 6-4 selects the LOB locator for b_lob and places it a PL/SQL local variable named image1.

Example 6-4 Selecting a LOB Locator and Assigning it to a Local Variable

DECLARE
       image1  BLOB;
       image_no  INTEGER := 101;
BEGIN
       SELECT b_lob  INTO image1 FROM lob_table
                  WHERE key_value = image_no;
             ...
END;

When you use an API function to manipulate the LOB value, you refer to the LOB using the locator. The PL/SQL DBMS_LOB package contains useful routines to manipulate LOBs, such as PUT_LINE() and GETLENGTH(), as in Example 6-5.

Example 6-5 Manipulating LOBs with PUT_LINE() and GETLENGTH()

BEGIN
     DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Size of the Image is: ', 
                       DBMS_LOB.GETLENGTH(image1));
END;

In the OCI, LOB locators are mapped to LOBLocatorPointers, such as OCILobLocator *.

The OCI LOB interface and the PL/SQL DBMS_LOB package are described briefly in this chapter.

For a BFILE, the LOB column has its own distinct locator, which refers to the LOB's value that is stored in an external file in the server's file system. This implies that two rows in a table with a BFILE column may refer to the same file or two distinct files. A BFILE locator variable in a PL/SQL or OCI program behaves like any other automatic variable. With respect to file operations, it behaves like a file descriptor available as part of the standard I/O library of most conventional programming languages.

EMPTY_BLOB and EMPTY_CLOB Functions

You can use the special functions EMPTY_BLOB and EMPTY_CLOB in INSERT or UPDATE statements of SQL DML to initialize a NULL or non-NULL internal LOB to empty. These are available as special functions in Oracle SQL DML, and are not part of the DBMS_LOB package.

Before you can start writing data to an internal LOB using OCI or the DBMS_LOB package, the LOB column must be made non-null, that is, it must contain a locator that points to an empty or populated LOB value. You can initialize a BLOB column's value to empty by using the function EMPTY_BLOB in the VALUES clause of an INSERT statement. Similarly, a CLOB or NCLOB column's value can be initialized by using the function EMPTY_CLOB. The syntax of the functions is demonstrated in Example 6-6.

Example 6-6 Syntax of EMPTY_CLOB() and EMPTY_CLOB() Functions

FUNCTION EMPTY_BLOB() RETURN BLOB;
FUNCTION EMPTY_CLOB() RETURN CLOB;

EMPTY_BLOB returns an empty locator of type BLOB and EMPTY_CLOB returns an empty locator of type CLOB, which can also be used for NCLOBs. The functions don't have an associated pragma.

An exception is raised if you use these functions anywhere but in the VALUES clause of a SQL INSERT statement or as the source of the SET clause in a SQL UPDATE statement.

Example 6-7 shows EMPTY_BLOB() used with SQL DML.

Example 6-7 Using EMPTY_BLOB() with SQL DML

INSERT INTO lob_table VALUES (1001, EMPTY_BLOB(), 'abcde', NULL);
UPDATE lob_table SET c_lob = EMPTY_CLOB() WHERE key_value = 1001;
INSERT INTO lob_table VALUES (1002, NULL, NULL, NULL);

Example 6-8 shows how to use EMPTY_CLOB() in PL/SQL programs.

Example 6-8 Using EMPTY_CLOB() in PL/SQL Programs

DECLARE 
  lobb         CLOB; 
  read_offset  INTEGER; 
  read_amount  INTEGER; 
  rawbuf       RAW(20); 
  charbuf      VARCHAR2(20);
BEGIN
  read_amount := 10; read_offset := 1;
  UPDATE lob_table SET c_lob = EMPTY_CLOB() 
  WHERE key_value = 1002 RETURNING c_lob INTO lobb;
  dbms_lob.read(lobb, read_amount, read_offset, charbuf); 
  dbms_output.put_line('lobb value: ' || charbuf);
END

Using the OCI to Manipulate LOBs

The OCI includes functions that enable access to data stored in BLOBs, CLOBs, NCLOBs, and BFILEs. These functions are introduced in Table 6-1.

See Also:

Oracle Call Interface Programmer's Guide. for detailed documentation, including parameters, parameter types, return values, and example code

Table 6-1 Summary of OCI Functions for Manipulating LOBs

Function Description
OCILobAppend() 

Appends LOB value to another LOB.

OCILobAssign() 

Assigns one LOB locator to another.

OCILobCharSetForm() 

Returns the character set form of a LOB.

OCILobCharSetId() 

Returns the character set ID of a LOB.

OCILobCopy() 

Copies a portion of a LOB into another LOB.

OCILobDisableBuffering() 

Disables the buffering subsystem use.

OCILobEnableBuffering() 

Uses the LOB buffering subsystem for subsequent read and write operations of LOB data.

OCILobErase() 

Erases part of a LOB, starting at a specified offset.

OCILobFileClose() 

Closes an open BFILE.

OCILobFileCloseAll() 

Closes all open BFILEs.

OCILobFileExists() 

Tests to see if a BFILE exists.

OCILobFileGetName() 

Returns the name of a BFILE.

OCILobFileIsOpen() 

Tests to see if a BFILE is open.

OCILobFileOpen() 

Opens a BFILE.

OCILobFileSetName() 

Sets the name of a BFILE in a locator.

OCILobFlushBuffer() 

Flushes changes made to the LOB buffering subsystem to the database (server)

OCILobGetLength() 

Returns the length of a LOB or a BFILE.

OCILobIsEqual() 

Tests to see if two LOB locators refer to the same LOB.

OCILobLoadFromFile() 

Loads BFILE data into an internal LOB.

OCILobLocatorIsInit() 

Tests to see if a LOB locator is initialized.

OCILobLocatorSize() 

Returns the size of a LOB locator.

OCILobRead() 

Reads a specified portion of a non-null LOB or a BFILE into a buffer.

OCILobTrim() 

Truncates a LOB.

OCILobWrite() 

Writes data from a buffer into a LOB, writing over existing data.


Table 6-2 compares the OCI and PL/SQL (DBMS_LOB package) interfaces in terms of LOB access.

Table 6-2 OCI and PL/SQL (DBMS_LOB) Interfaces Compared

OCI (ociap.h) PL/SQL DBMS_LOB (dbmslob.sql)

N/A

DBMS_LOB.COMPARE() 

N/A

DBMS_LOB.INSTR() 

N/A

DBMS_LOB.SUBSTR() 
OCILobAppend()
DBMS_LOB.APPEND() 
OCILobAssign()

N/A [use PL/SQL assign operator]

OCILobCharSetForm()

N/A

OCILobCharSetId()

N/A

OCILobCopy()
DBMS_LOB.COPY() 
OCILobDisableBuffering()

N/A

OCILobEnableBuffering()

N/A

OCILobErase()
DBMS_LOB.ERASE()
OCILobFileClose()
DBMS_LOB.FILECLOSE()
OCILobFileCloseAll()
DBMS_LOB.FILECLOSEALL()
OCILobFileExists()
DBMS_LOB.FILEEXISTS()
OCILobFileGetName()
DBMS_LOB.FILEGETNAME()
OCILobFileIsOpen()
DBMS_LOB.FILEISOPEN()
OCILobFileOpen()
DBMS_LOB.FILEOPEN()
OCILobFileSetName()

N/A (use BFILENAME operator)

OCILobFlushBuffer()

N/A

OCILobGetLength()
DBMS_LOB.GETLENGTH()
OCILobIsEqual()

N/A

OCILobLoadFromFile 
DBMS_LOB.LOADFROMFILE()
OCILobLocatorIsInit 

N/A [always initialize]

OCILobRead 
DBMS_LOB.READ() 
OCILobTrim 
DBMS_LOB.TRIM() 
OCILobWrite 
DBMS_LOB.WRITE() 

Example 6-9 shows how to select a LOB from the database into a locator. It assumes that the type lob_type has two attributes, id of type INTEGER and data of type CLOB, and that a table, lob_table, of type lob_type, exists.

Example 6-9 Selecting a LOB from the Database into a Locator

/*-----------------------------------------------------------------------*/ 
/* Select lob locators from a CLOB column                                */ 
/* Use the 'FOR UPDATE' clause for writing to the LOBs.                  */ 
/*-----------------------------------------------------------------------*/ 
static OCIEnv        *envhp;
static OCIServer     *srvhp;
static OCISvcCtx     *svchp;
static OCIError      *errhp;
static OCISession    *authp;
static OCIStmt       *stmthp;
static OCIDefine     *defnp1;
static OCIBind       *bndhp;
 
sb4 select_locator(int rowind) 
{ 
  sword retval; 
  boolean flag; 
  int colc = rowind; 
  OCILobLocator *clob;
  text  *sqlstmt = (text *)"SELECT DATA FROM LOB_TABLE WHERE ID = :1 FOR UPDATE"; 

  if (OCIStmtPrepare(stmthp, errhp, sqlstmt, (ub4) strlen((char *)sqlstmt), 
      (ub4) OCI_NTV_SYNTAX, (ub4) OCI_DEFAULT)) 
  { 
    (void) printf("FAILED: OCIStmtPrepare() sqlstmt\n"); 
    return OCI_ERROR; 
  } 

  if (OCIStmtBindByPos(stmthp, bndhp, errhp, (ub4) 1, (dvoid *) &colc, 
      (sb4) sizeof(colc), SQLT_INT, (dvoid *) 0, (ub2 *)0, (ub2 *)0, (ub4) 0, 
      (ub4 *) 0, (ub4) OCI_DEFAULT)) 
  {
    (void) printf("FAILED: OCIStmtBindByPos()\n"); 
    return OCI_ERROR; 
  }
  
  if (OCIDefineByPos(stmthp, &defnp1, errhp, (ub4) 1, (dvoid *) &clob, (sb4) -1,
      (ub2) SQLT_CLOB, (dvoid *) 0, (ub2 *) 0, (ub2 *) 0, (ub4) OCI_DEFAULT)) 
  { 
    (void) printf("FAILED: OCIDefineByPos()\n"); 
    return OCI_ERROR; 
  } 

  /* Execute the select and fetch one row */ 
  if (OCIStmtExecute(svchp, stmthp, errhp, (ub4) 1, (ub4) 0, 
      (CONST OCISnapshot*) 0, (OCISnapshot*) 0, (ub4) OCI_DEFAULT)) 
  { 
    (void) printf("FAILED: OCIStmtExecute() sqlstmt\n"); 
    report_error(); 
    return OCI_ERROR; 
  } 
 
  /* Now test to see if the LOB locator is initialized */ 
  retval = OCILobLocatorIsInit(envhp, errhp, clob, &flag); 
  if ((retval != OCI_SUCCESS) && (retval != OCI_SUCCESS_WITH_INFO)) 
  { 
    (void) printf("Select_Locator --ERROR: OCILobLocatorIsInit(), 
        retval = %d\n", retval); 
    report_error(); 
    checkerr(errhp, retval); 
    return OCI_ERROR; 
  } 

  if (!flag) 
  { 
    (void) printf("Select_Locator --ERROR: LOB Locator is not initialized.\n"); 
    return OCI_ERROR;  
  } 

  return OCI_SUCCESS; 
}

A sample program, populate.c, uses the OCI to populate a CLOB with the contents of a file is included on the disk.

Using DBMS_LOB to Manipulate LOBs

The DBMS_LOB package can be used to manipulate LOBs from PL/SQL. Table 6-3 introduces its routines.

See Also:

Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference provides full details on using the routines of the DBMS_LOB package.

Table 6-3 Summary of DBMS_LOB Package Routines

Routine Description
APPEND()

Appends the contents of the source LOB to the destination LOB.

COPY()

Copies all or part of the source LOB to the destination LOB.

ERASE()

Erases all or part of a LOB.

LOADFROMFILE()

Loads BFILE data into an internal LOB.

TRIM()

Trims the LOB value to the specified shorter length.

WRITE()

Write data to the LOB from a specified offsets

GETLENGTH

Gets the length of the LOB value.

INSTR()

Return the matching position of the nth occurrence of the pattern in the LOB.

READ()

Reads data from the LOB starting at the specified offset

SUBSTR()

Returns part of the LOB value starting at the specified offset.

FILECLOSE()

Closes the file.

FILECLOSEALL()

Closes all previously opened files.

FILEEXISTS()

Tests if the file exists on the server.

FILEGETNAME()

Gets the directory alias and file name.

FILEISOPEN()

Tests the file was opened using the input BFILE locators.

FILEOPEN()

Opens a file.


Example 6-10 calls the TRIM procedure to trim a CLOB value to a smaller length. It assumes that the type lob_type has two attributes, id of type INTEGER and data of type CLOB, and that a table, lob_table, of type lob_type, exists. Because this example deals with CLOB data, the second argument to DBMS_LOB.TRIM, the literal 834004, specifies the number of characters. If the example dealt with BLOB data, this argument would be interpreted as a number of bytes.

Example 6-10 Trimming a CLOB

PROCEDURE Trim_Clob IS
        clob_loc  CLOB;
BEGIN
 -- get the LOB Locator
       SELECT data into clob_loc  FROM lob_table
       WHERE id  =  179 FOR UPDATE;
   -- call the TRIM Routine
       DBMS_LOB.TRIM(clob_loc, 834004);
       COMMIT;
END;

LOBs in External Procedures

LOB locators can be passed as arguments to an external procedure, as defined in Example 6-1.

Example 6-11 Defining a PL/SQL External Procedure

FUNCTION DS_Findmin(data CLOB) RETURN PLS_INTEGER IS EXTERNAL 
                   NAME "c_findmin" LIBRARY DS_Lib LANGUAGE C;

The corresponding C function gets an argument of type OCILobLocator *. When the function defined in Table 6-3 is called, it invokes a c routine, c_findmin(), with the signature int c_findmin(OCILobLocator*).


The routine c_findmin is in a shared library associated with DS_Lib. To use the pointer OCILobLocator* to get data from the LOB, you must reconnect to the database by making a callback.

LOBs and Triggers

You cannot write to a LOB (:old or :new value) in any kind of trigger.

In regular triggers, you can read the :old value, but you cannot read the :new value. In INSTEAD OF triggers, you can read both the :old and the :new values.

You cannot specify LOB type columns in an OF clause, because BFILE types can be updated without updating the underlying table on which the trigger is defined.

Using OCI functions or the DBMS_LOB package to update LOB values or LOB attributes of object columns does not fire triggers defined on the table that contains the columns or attributes.

Using Open/Close as Bracketing Operations for Efficient Performance

The Open/Close functions let you indicate the beginning and end of a series of LOB operations, so that large-scale operations, such updating indexes, can be performed when the Close function is called. This means that when the Open call is made, the index would not be updated each time the LOB is modified, and that such updating would not resume until the Close call.

You do not have to wrap all LOB operations inside the Open/Close operations, but code block can be very valuable for the following reasons:

  • If you do not wrap LOB operations inside an Open/Close call, then each modification to the LOB implicitly opens and closes the LOB, thereby firing all triggers. If you do wrap the LOB operations inside a pair of Open...Close operations, then the triggers are not fired for each LOB modification. Instead, one trigger is fired when the Close call is made. Likewise, extensible indexes are not updated until the Close call. This means that any extensible indexes on the LOB are not valid between the Open...Close calls.

  • You must apply this technology carefully because state, which reflects the changes to the LOB, is not saved between the Open and the Close operations. When you have called Open, Oracle no longer keeps track of what portions of the LOB value were modified, nor of the old and new values of the LOB that result from any modifications. The LOB value is still updated directly for each OCILob* or DBMS_LOB operation, and the usual read consistency mechanism is still in place. You may also want extensible indexes on the LOB to be updated, as LOB modifications are made because the extensible LOB indexes are always valid and may be used at any time.

  • The API enables you to determine if the LOB is open. In all cases, openness is associated with the LOB, not the locator. The locator does not save any state information.

Errors and Restrictions Regarding Open/Close Operations

It is an error to commit the transaction before closing all previously opened LOBs. At transaction rollback time, all LOBs that are still open are discarded, which means that they are not closed, which fires the triggers.

It is an error to Open/Close the same LOB twice, either with different locators or with the same locator. It is an error to close a LOB that has not been opened.

Example 6-12 assumes that loc1 is refers to an open LOB, and is assigned to loc2. If loc2 is subsequently used to modify the LOB value, the modification is grouped with loc1's modifications. This means that there is only one entry in the LOB manager's state, not one for each locator. When the LOB is closed, either through loc1 or loc2, the triggers are fired, so all updates made to the LOB through either locator are committed. After the close of the LOB, if the user tries to use either locator to modify the LOB, the operation performs an implicit Open() and Close(), as Open() ... operation ... Close(). Note that consistent read is still maintained for each locator. Remember that it is the LOB, not the locator, that is opened and closed. No matter how many copies of the locator are made, the triggers for the LOB are fired only one time on the first Close() call.

Example 6-12 Using Open() and Close() Code Block

open (loc1);
loc2 := loc1;
write (loc1);
write (loc2); 
open (loc2);  /* error because the LOB is open */
close (loc1); /* triggers are fired and all LOB updates made before this 
                 statement by any locator are incorporated in the extensible
                 index */
write (loc2); /* implicit open, write, implicit close */