The Relational Database Operator (RDO) utility is an interactive
interface to Oracle Rdb, a relational database management system.
RDO lets you type Oracle Rdb statements interactively and see the
results immediately. You can use RDO to:
o Define and maintain your database
o Learn about Oracle Rdb
o Test and prototype Oracle Rdb applications
o Perform small-scale data manipulation operations
To run RDO, define a symbol and use that symbol to enter the
utility. For example:
$ RDO :== $RDO
$ RDO
RDO provides complete online HELP.
1 – Release Notes
To see the current Release Notes for Oracle Rdb, type or print
the following file:
SYS$HELP:RDBvvu[n].RELEASE_NOTES
where vv = version
u = update
n = subsequent update (optional)
For example:
SYS$HELP:RDB072.RELEASE_NOTES
2 – Sample Databases
To help you learn and test Oracle Rdb features, online files
are provided that you can execute to create the following sample
databases:
o personnel
The personnel database is a single-file database.
o mf_personnel
The mf_personnel database is a multifile database.
o corporate_data
The corporate_data database is a single-file database that
demonstrates the use of the multischema feature of SQL.
The personnel and mf_personnel databases contain the same
domains, tables, and columns. The corporate_data database
contains slightly different domains, tables, and columns.
You use a single command procedure provided by Oracle Rdb to
create the various forms of the sample databases.
By default, the command procedure builds the single-file
personnel database using SQL data definitions. Use the following
command to build this database:
$ @RDM$DEMO:PERSONNEL
You can specify parameters when you invoke the command procedure
to create alternative versions of the sample databases. The
following shows the format of the command you enter to create
a sample database:
$ @RDM$DEMO:PERSONNEL interface-lang database-form reposit multischema dir
The parameters specify the following choices:
1. Interface-lang: Enter SQL or RDO.
Specifies SQL or RDO as the data definition language. SQL is
the default.
There are slight differences between the SQL and the RDO
definitions of personnel and mf_personnel.
2. Database-form: Enter S or M.
Specifies the creation of either a single-file (S) or
multifile (M) database. A single-file database is the default.
3. Reposit: Enter CDD or NOCDD.
Specifies whether or not to store data definitions in the
repository. The default is not to store data definitions in
the repository.
4. Multischema: Enter MSDB or omit parameter.
Specifies the creation of the multischema database, corporate_
data. Note that for the first three parameters you must
specify the SQL interface, the single-file database form,
and that data definitions not be stored in the repository. The
following example demonstrates how to create the (corporate_
date) multischema database:
$ @RDM$DEMO:PERSONNEL SQL S NOCDD MSDB
5. Dir: Enter a directory specification where you want the
database created.
If you do not specify this parameter, this procedure will
prompt you for a directory specification. If you do not
provide a directory specification at the prompt, your default
directory will be used.
If you run this procedure in batch and this parameter is
empty, your default directory will be used.
To specify the second, third, fourth, or fifth parameters, you
must include any previous parameters. You can use uppercase or
lowercase to specify the parameters.
For example, to build the multifile version using RDO data
definitions and store the data definitions in the repository,
enter the following command:
$ @RDM$DEMO:PERSONNEL RDO M CDD
When you build the single-file personnel database, the command
procedure builds a database called personnel.rdb, regardless
of the interface language used. When you build the multifile
mf_personnel database, the command procedure builds a database
called mf_personnel.rdb (plus related storage area files),
regardless of the interface language used. Note that you can
use either the SQL or RDO interface to work with the resulting
database, regardless of whether the database was created using
SQL or RDO command files.
When you build the multischema corporate_data database, the
command procedure builds a database called corporate_data.rdb.
You can use only SQL to build the database. Although you can use
RDO to work with the database, RDO does not allow you to take
advantage of the multischema feature.
NOTE
When you create the personnel or mf_personnel database, a
log of the database definition statements used in creating
the database is placed in a file called personnel.log in the
same directory as the database.
When you create the corporate_data database, a log of the
database definition statements used in creating the database
is placed in a file called corporate_data.log in the same
directory as the database.
The personnel command procedure consists of several smaller
command files, executable files, and data files. These files are
located in the directory RDM$DEMO. You might want to use these
files as models in creating your databases.
For additional information about creating the sample databases,
read the online file about_sample_databases.txt. This file is
located in the Samples directory.
3 – Sample Programs
During installation, a number of sample programs are installed in
a variety of programming languages in a Samples directory.
On OpenVMS, these programs are located in the following Samples
directory:
SQL$SAMPLE
A brief description of the sample programs can be found in the
file about_sql_examples.txt in the Samples directory.