Dynamic Column API

This page describes the client-side API for reading and writing Dynamic Columns blobs.

Normally, you should use Dynamic column functions which are run inside the MariaDB server and allow one to access Dynamic Columns content without any client-side libraries.

If you need to read/write dynamic column blobs on the client for some reason, this API enables that.

Where to get it

The API is a part of libmysql C client library. In order to use it, you need to include this header file

#include <mysql/ma_dyncol.h>

and link against libmysql.

Data structures

DYNAMIC_COLUMN

DYNAMIC_COLUMN represents a packed dynamic column blob. It is essentially a string-with-length and is defined as follows:

/* A generic-purpose arbitrary-length string defined in MySQL Client API */
typedef struct st_dynamic_string
{
  char *str;
  size_t length,max_length,alloc_increment;
} DYNAMIC_STRING;

...

typedef DYNAMIC_STRING DYNAMIC_COLUMN;

DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE

Dynamic columns blob stores {name, value} pairs. DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE structure is used to represent the value in accessible form.

struct st_dynamic_column_value
{
  DYNAMIC_COLUMN_TYPE type;
  union
  {
    long long long_value;
    unsigned long long ulong_value;
    double double_value;
    struct {
      MYSQL_LEX_STRING value;
      CHARSET_INFO *charset;
    } string;
    struct {
      decimal_digit_t buffer[DECIMAL_BUFF_LENGTH];
      decimal_t value;
    } decimal;
    MYSQL_TIME time_value;
  } x;
};
typedef struct st_dynamic_column_value DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE;

Every value has a type, which is determined by the type member.

type	structure field
DYN_COL_NULL	-
DYN_COL_INT	value.x.long_value
DYN_COL_UINT	value.x.ulong_value
DYN_COL_DOUBLE	value.x.double_value
DYN_COL_STRING	value.x.string.value, value.x.string.charset
DYN_COL_DECIMAL	value.x.decimal.value
DYN_COL_DATETIME	value.x.time_value
DYN_COL_DATE	value.x.time_value
DYN_COL_TIME	value.x.time_value
DYN_COL_DYNCOL	value.x.string.value

Notes

• Values with type DYN_COL_NULL do not ever occur in dynamic columns blobs.

• Type DYN_COL_DYNCOL means that the value is a packed dynamic blob. This is how nested dynamic columns are done.

• Before storing a value to value.x.decimal.value, one must call mariadb_dyncol_prepare_decimal() to initialize the space for storage.

enum_dyncol_func_result

enum enum_dyncol_func_result is used as return value.

value	name	meaning
0	ER_DYNCOL_OK	OK
0	ER_DYNCOL_NO	(the same as ER_DYNCOL_OK but for functions which return a YES/NO)
1	ER_DYNCOL_YES	YES response or success
2	ER_DYNCOL_TRUNCATED	Operation succeeded but the data was truncated
-1	ER_DYNCOL_FORMAT	Wrong format of the encoded string
-2	ER_DYNCOL_LIMIT	A limit of implementation reached
-3	ER_DYNCOL_RESOURCE	Out of resources
-4	ER_DYNCOL_DATA	Incorrect input data
-5	ER_DYNCOL_UNKNOWN_CHARSET	Unknown character set

Result codes that are less than zero represent error conditions.

Function reference

Functions come in pairs:

• xxx() operates on the old (pre-MariaDB-10.0.1) dynamic column blob format where columns were identified by numbers.

• xxx_named() can operate on both old or new data format. If it modifies the blob, it will convert it to the new data format.

You should use xxx_named() functions, unless you need to keep the data compatible with MariaDB versions before 10.0.1.

mariadb_dyncol_create_many

Create a packed dynamic blob from arrays of values and names.

enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_create_many(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str,
                           uint column_count,
                           uint *column_numbers,
                           DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE *values,
                           my_bool new_string);
enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_create_many_named(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str,
                                 uint column_count,
                                 MYSQL_LEX_STRING *column_keys,
                                 DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE *values,
                                 my_bool new_string);

where

str	OUT	Packed dynamic blob will be put here
column_count	IN	Number of columns
column_numbers	IN	Column numbers array (old format)
column_keys	IN	Column names array (new format)
values	IN	Column values array
new_string	IN	If TRUE then the str will be reinitialized (not freed) before usage

mariadb_dyncol_update_many

Add or update columns in a dynamic columns blob. To delete a column, update its value to a "non-value" of type DYN_COL_NULL

enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_update_many(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str,
                           uint column_count,
                           uint *column_numbers,
                           DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE *values);
enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_update_many_named(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str,
                                 uint column_count,
                                 MYSQL_LEX_STRING *column_keys,
                                 DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE *values);

str	IN/OUT	Dynamic columns blob to be modified.
column_count	IN	Number of columns in following arrays
column_numbers	IN	Column numbers array (old format)
column_keys	IN	Column names array (new format)
values	IN	Column values array

mariadb_dyncol_exists

Check if column with given name exists in the blob

enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_exists(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str, uint column_number);
enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_exists_named(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str, MYSQL_LEX_STRING *column_key);

str	IN	Packed dynamic columns string.
column_number	IN	Column number (old format)
column_key	IN	Column name (new format)

The function returns YES/NO or Error code

mariadb_dyncol_column_count

Get number of columns in a dynamic column blob

enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_column_count(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str, uint *column_count);

str	IN	Packed dynamic columns string.
column_count	OUT	Number of not NULL columns in the dynamic columns string

mariadb_dyncol_list

List columns in a dynamic column blob.

enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_list(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str, uint *column_count, uint **column_numbers);
enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_list_named(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str, uint *column_count,
                          MYSQL_LEX_STRING **column_keys);

str	IN	Packed dynamic columns string.
column_count	OUT	Number of columns in following arrays
column_numbers	OUT	Column numbers array (old format). Caller should free this array.
column_keys	OUT	Column names array (new format). Caller should free this array.

mariadb_dyncol_get

Get a value of one column

enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_get(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *org, uint column_number,
                   DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE *value);
enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_get_named(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str, MYSQL_LEX_STRING *column_key,
                         DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE *value);

str	IN	Packed dynamic columns string.
column_number	IN	Column numbers array (old format)
column_key	IN	Column names array (new format)
value	OUT	Value of the column

If the column is not found NULL returned as a value of the column.

mariadb_dyncol_unpack

Get value of all columns

enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_unpack(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str,
                      uint *column_count,
                      MYSQL_LEX_STRING **column_keys,
                      DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE **values);

str	IN	Packed dynamic columns string to unpack.
column_count	OUT	Number of columns in following arrays
column_keys	OUT	Column names array (should be free by caller)
values	OUT	Values of the columns array (should be free by caller)

mariadb_dyncol_has_names

Check whether the dynamic columns blob uses new data format (the one where columns are identified by names)

my_bool mariadb_dyncol_has_names(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str);

str	IN	Packed dynamic columns string.

mariadb_dyncol_check

Check whether dynamic column blob has correct data format.

enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_check(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str);

str	IN	Packed dynamic columns string.

mariadb_dyncol_json

Get contents od a dynamic columns blob in a JSON form

enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_json(DYNAMIC_COLUMN *str, DYNAMIC_STRING *json);

str	IN	Packed dynamic columns string.
json	OUT	JSON representation

mariadb_dyncol_val_TYPE

Get dynamic column value as one of the base types

enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_val_str(DYNAMIC_STRING *str, DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE *val,
                       CHARSET_INFO *cs, my_bool quote);
enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_val_long(longlong *ll, DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE *val);
enum enum_dyncol_func_result
mariadb_dyncol_val_double(double *dbl, DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE *val);

str or ll or dbl	OUT	value of the column
val	IN	Value

mariadb_dyncol_prepare_decimal

Initialize DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE before value of value.x.decimal.value can be set

void mariadb_dyncol_prepare_decimal(DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE *value);

value	OUT	Value of the column

This function links value.x.decimal.value to value.x.decimal.buffer.

mariadb_dyncol_value_init

Initialize a DYNAMIC_COLUMN_VALUE structure to a safe default.

#define mariadb_dyncol_value_init(V) (V)->type= DYN_COL_NULL

mariadb_dyncol_column_cmp_named

Compare two column names (currently, column names are compared with memcmp())

int mariadb_dyncol_column_cmp_named(const MYSQL_LEX_STRING *s1,
                                    const MYSQL_LEX_STRING *s2);

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