gdbm - phpMan

Command: man perldoc info search(apropos)  


GDBM(3)                                                                GDBM(3)



NAME
       GDBM  -  The  GNU  database manager.  Includes dbm and ndbm compatability. (Version
       1.8.)

SYNOPSIS
       #include <gdbm.h>

       extern gdbm_error
       gdbm_errno

       extern char
       *gdbm_version

       GDBM_FILE
       gdbm_open (name, block_size, read_write, mode, fatal_func)
       char * name;
       int block_size, read_write, mode;
       void (*fatal_func) ();

       void
       gdbm_close (dbf)
       GDBM_FILE dbf;

       int
       gdbm_store (dbf, key, content, flag)
       GDBM_FILE dbf;
       datum key, content;
       int flag;

       datum
       gdbm_fetch (dbf, key)
       GDBM_FILE dbf;
       datum key;

       int
       gdbm_delete (dbf, key)
       GDBM_FILE dbf;
       datum key;

       datum
       gdbm_firstkey (dbf)
       GDBM_FILE dbf;

       datum
       gdbm_nextkey (dbf, key)
       GDBM_FILE dbf;
       datum key;

       int
       gdbm_reorganize (dbf)
       GDBM_FILE dbf;

       void
       gdbm_sync (dbf)
       GDBM_FILE dbf;

       int
       gdbm_exists (dbf, key)
       GDBM_FILE dbf;
       datum key;

       char *
       gdbm_strerror (errno)
       gdbm_error errno;

       int
       gdbm_setopt (dbf, option, value, size)
       GDBM_FILE dbf;
       int option;
       int *value;
       int size;

       int
       gdbm_fdesc (dbf)
       GDBM_FILE dbf;


       DBM Compatability routines:

       #include <dbm.h>

       int
       dbminit (name)
       char *name;

       int
       store (key, content)
       datum key, content;

       datum
       fetch (key)
       datum key;

       int
       delete (key)
       datum key;

       datum
       firstkey ()

       datum
       nextkey (key)
       datum key;

       int
       dbmclose ()


       NDBM Compatability routines:

       #include <ndbm.h>

       DBM
       *dbm_open (name, flags, mode)
       char *name;
       int flags, mode;

       void
       dbm_close (file)
       DBM *file;

       datum
       dbm_fetch (file, key)
       DBM *file;
       datum key;

       int
       dbm_store (file, key, content, flags)
       DBM *file;
       datum key, content;
       int flags;

       int
       dbm_delete (file, key)
       DBM *file;
       datum key;

       datum
       dbm_firstkey (file)
       DBM *file;

       datum
       dbm_nextkey (file)
       DBM *file;

       int
       dbm_error (file)
       DBM *file;

       int
       dbm_clearerr (file)
       DBM *file;

       int
       dbm_pagfno (file)
       DBM *file;

       int
       dbm_dirfno (file)
       DBM *file;

       int
       dbm_rdonly (file)
       DBM *file;



DESCRIPTION
       GNU dbm is a library of routines that manages  data  files  that  contain  key/data
       pairs.   The access provided is that of storing, retrieval, and deletion by key and
       a non-sorted traversal of all keys.  A process is  allowed  to  use  multiple  data
       files at the same time.

       A  process  that opens a gdbm file is designated as a "reader" or a "writer".  Only
       one writer may open a gdbm file and many readers may open the  file.   Readers  and
       writers  can  not  open the gdbm file at the same time. The procedure for opening a
       gdbm file is:

         GDBM_FILE dbf;

         dbf = gdbm_open ( name, block_size, read_write, mode, fatal_func )

       Name is the name of the file (the complete name, gdbm does not append  any  charac-
       ters  to this name).  Block_size is the size of a single transfer from disk to mem-
       ory. This parameter is ignored unless the file is a new file.  The minimum size  is
       512.  If it is less than 512, dbm will use the stat block size for the file system.
       Read_write can have one of the following values:
       GDBM_READER reader
       GDBM_WRITER writer
       GDBM_WRCREAT writer - if database does not exist create new one
       GDBM_NEWDB writer - create new database regardless if one exists
       For the last three (writers of the database) the following may be  added  added  to
       read_write  by  bitwise  or:  GDBM_SYNC, which causes all database operations to be
       synchronized to  the  disk,  and  GDBM_NOLOCK,  which  prevents  the  library  from
       performing any locking on the database file.  The option GDBM_FAST is now obsolete,
       since gdbm defaults to no-sync mode.
       Mode is the  file  mode  (see  chmod(2)  and  open(2))  if  the  file  is  created.
       (*Fatal_func)  ()  is  a  function for dbm to call if it detects a fatal error. The
       only parameter of this function is a string.  If the value of 0 is  provided,  gdbm
       will use a default function.

       The  return  value  dbf  is the pointer needed by all other routines to access that
       gdbm file.  If the return is the NULL pointer, gdbm_open was not  successful.   The
       errors  can  be found in gdbm_errno for gdbm errors and in errno for system errors.
       (For error codes, see gdbmerrno.h.)

       In all of the following calls, the parameter dbf refers  to  the  pointer  returned
       from gdbm_open.

       It  is  important  that every file opened is also closed.  This is needed to update
       the reader/writer count on the file.  This is done by:

         gdbm_close (dbf);


       The database is used by 3 primary routines.  The first stores data in the database.

         ret = gdbm_store ( dbf, key, content, flag )

       Dbf  is  the  pointer  returned by gdbm_open.  Key is the key data.  Content is the
       data to be associated with the key.  Flag can have one of the following values:
       GDBM_INSERT insert only, generate an error if key exists
       GDBM_REPLACE replace contents if key exists.

       If a reader calls gdbm_store, the  return  value  will  be   -1.   If  called  with
       GDBM_INSERT and key is in the database, the return value will be 1.  Otherwise, the
       return value is 0.

       NOTICE: If you store data for a key that is already in the data base, gdbm replaces
       the  old  data  with  the new data if called with GDBM_REPLACE.  You do not get two
       data items for the same key and you do not get an error from gdbm_store.

       NOTICE: The size in gdbm is not restricted like dbm or ndbm.  Your data can  be  as
       large as you want.


       To search for some data:

         content = gdbm_fetch ( dbf, key )

       Dbf is the pointer returned by gdbm_open.  Key is the key data.


       If  the dptr element of the return value is NULL, no data was found.  Otherwise the
       return value is a pointer to the found data.  The storage space for the  dptr  ele-
       ment  is  allocated  using malloc(3C).  Gdbm does not automatically free this data.
       It is the programmer’s responsibility to free this storage when  it  is  no  longer
       needed.


       To search for some data, without retrieving it:

         ret = gdbm_exists ( dbf, key )

       Dbf is the pointer returned by gdbm_open.  Key is the key data to search for.

       If  the  key  is  found within the database, the return value ret will be true.  If
       nothing appropiate is found, ret will be false.  This routine is useful for  check-
       ing for the existance of a record, without performing the memory allocation done by
       gdbm_fetch.


       To remove some data from the database:

         ret = gdbm_delete ( dbf, key )

       Dbf is the pointer returned by gdbm_open.  Key is the key data.

       The return value is -1 if the item is not present or the  requester  is  a  reader.
       The return value is 0 if there was a successful delete.


       The  next  two routines allow for accessing all items in the database.  This access
       is not key sequential, but it is guaranteed to visit  every  key  in  the  database
       once.  (The order has to do with the hash values.)

         key = gdbm_firstkey ( dbf )

         nextkey = gdbm_nextkey ( dbf, key )

       Dbf is the pointer returned by gdbm_open. Key is the key data.

       The  return values are both of type datum.  If the dptr element of the return value
       is NULL, there is no first key or next key.  Again notice that dptr points to  data
       allocated by malloc(3C) and gdbm will not free it for you.

       These  functions  were  intended to visit the database in read-only algorithms, for
       instance, to validate the database or similar operations.

       File ‘visiting’ is based on a ‘hash table’.  gdbm_delete re-arranges the hash table
       to make sure that any collisions in the table do not leave some item ‘un-findable’.
       The original key order is NOT guaranteed to remain unchanged in ALL instances.   It
       is  possible that some key will not be visited if a loop like the following is exe-
       cuted:

          key = gdbm_firstkey ( dbf );
          while ( key.dptr ) {
             nextkey = gdbm_nextkey ( dbf, key );
             if ( some condition ) {
                gdbm_delete ( dbf, key );
                free ( key.dptr );
             }
             key = nextkey;
          }


       The following routine should be used very infrequently.

         ret = gdbm_reorganize ( dbf )

       If you have had a lot of deletions and would like to shrink the space used  by  the
       gdbm  file,  this  routine will reorganize the database.  Gdbm will not shorten the
       length of a gdbm file except by using this  reorganization.   (Deleted  file  space
       will be reused.)


       Unless  your  database  was  opened with the GDBM_SYNC flag, gdbm does not wait for
       writes to be flushed to the disk before continuing.  The following routine  can  be
       used to guarantee that the database is physically written to the disk file.

         gdbm_sync ( dbf )

       It  will  not  return  until  the disk file state is syncronized with the in-memory
       state of the database.


       To convert a gdbm error code into English text, use this routine:

         ret = gdbm_strerror ( errno )

       Where errno is of type gdbm_error, usually the  global  variable  gdbm_errno.   The
       appropiate phrase is returned.


       Gdbm now supports the ability to set certain options on an already open database.

         ret = gdbm_setopt ( dbf, option, value, size )

       Where  dbf is the return value from a previous call to gdbm_open, and option speci-
       fies which option to set.  The valid options are currently:

         GDBM_CACHESIZE - Set the size of the internal bucket
         cache. This option may only be set once on each GDBM_FILE
         descriptor, and is set automatically to 100 upon the first
         access to the database.

         GDBM_FASTMODE - Set fast mode to either on or off.  This
         allows fast mode to be toggled on an already open and
         active database. value (see below) should be set to either
         TRUE or FALSE.  This option is now obsolete.

         GDBM_SYNCMODE - Turn on or off file system synchronization operations.
         This setting defaults to off; value (see below) should be set to either
         TRUE or FALSE.

         GDBM_CENTFREE - Set central free block pool to either on or off.
         The default is off, which is how previous versions of Gdbm
         handled free blocks. If set, this option causes all subsequent free
         blocks to be placed in the global pool, allowing (in thoery)
         more file space to be reused more quickly. value (see below) should
         be set to either TRUE or FALSE.
         NOTICE: This feature is still under study.

         GDBM_COALESCEBLKS - Set free block merging to either on or off.
         The default is off, which is how previous versions of Gdbm
         handled free blocks. If set, this option causes adjacent free blocks
         to be merged. This can become a CPU expensive process with time, though,
         especially if used in conjunction with GDBM_CENTFREE. value
         (see below) should be set to either TRUE or FALSE.
         NOTICE: This feature is still under study.

       value is the value to set option to, specified as an integer pointer.  size is  the
       size of the data pointed to by value.  The return value will be -1 upon failure, or
       0 upon success.  The global variable gdbm_errno will be set upon failure.

       For instance, to set a database to use  a  cache  of  10,  after  opening  it  with
       gdbm_open, but prior to accessing it in any way, the following code could be used:

         int value = 10;

         ret = gdbm_setopt( dbf, GDBM_CACHESIZE, &value, sizeof(int));


       If  the database was opened with the GDBM_NOLOCK flag, the user may wish to perform
       their own file locking on the database file in order to  prevent  multiple  writers
       operating on the same file simultaneously.

       In order to support this, the gdbm_fdesc routine is provided.

         ret = gdbm_fdesc ( dbf )

       Where  dbf is the return value from a previous call to gdbm_open.  The return value
       will be the file descriptor of the database.

       The following two external variables may be useful:

       gdbm_errno is the variable  that  contains  more  information  about  gdbm  errors.
       (gdbm.h has the definitions of the error values and defines gdbm_errno as an exter-
       nal variable.)
       gdbm_version is the string containing the version information.


       There are a few more things of interest.  First, gdbm files are not "sparse".   You
       can  copy  them with the UNIX cp(1) command and they will not expand in the copying
       process.  Also, there is a compatibility mode for use with  programs  that  already
       use  UNIX dbm.  In this compatibility mode, no gdbm file pointer is required by the
       programmer, and only one file may be opened at a time.  All users in  compatibility
       mode are assumed to be writers.  If the gdbm file is a read only, it will fail as a
       writer, but will also try to open it as a reader.  All returned pointers  in  datum
       structures  point  to  data  that gdbm WILL free.  They should be treated as static
       pointers (as standard UNIX dbm does).



LINKING
       This library is accessed by specifying -lgdbm as the last parameter to the  compile
       line, e.g.:

            gcc -o prog prog.c -lgdbm



BUGS
SEE ALSO
       dbm, ndbm


AUTHOR
       by Philip A. Nelson and Jason Downs.  Copyright (C) 1990 - 1999 Free Software Foun-
       dation, Inc.

       GDBM is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms  of
       the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
       version 1, or (at your option) any later version.

       GDBM is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT  ANY  WARRANTY;
       without  even  the  implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
       PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more details.

       You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with  GDBM;
       see the file COPYING.  If not, write to the Free Software Foundation, 675 Mass Ave,
       Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

       You may contact the original author by:
          e-mail:  phil AT cs.edu
         us-mail:  Philip A. Nelson
       Computer Science Department
       Western Washington University
       Bellingham, WA 98226

       You may contact the current maintainer by:
          e-mail:  downsj AT downsj.com




                                    5/19/99                            GDBM(3)

Generated by $Id: phpMan.php,v 4.55 2007/09/05 04:42:51 chedong Exp $ Author: Che Dong
On Apache/1.3.41 (Unix) PHP/5.2.5 mod_perl/1.30 mod_gzip/1.3.26.1a
Under GNU General Public License
2008-12-02 05:46 @38.103.63.58 CrawledBy CCBot/1.0 (+http://www.commoncrawl.org/bot.html)
Valid XHTML 1.0!Valid CSS!