Direct Oracle Access

If you are using Borland's Delphi or C++Builder to develop Oracle applications, then the Direct Oracle Access component set can help you to make a seamless integration between this great development tool and database system. Not only will your application take maximum advantage of both products, your application development process will also benefit from the following key features:

High performance
Both online transaction and batch processing applications can benefit from Oracle's performance features. Direct Oracle Access, as the name suggests, directly accesses the Oracle Interface. This guarantees optimal performance for standard database access functions. Support for Array Fetching, Array DML, PL/SQL Blocks, PL/SQL Tables and the Direct Path Load Engine enable you to optimize your application's performance critical functions even more.

Easy Application Distribution
A Direct Oracle Access application does not require middleware like the BDE or ODBC, it merely requires Oracle SQL*Net or Net8. Consequently you can deploy your application without many of the version dependency or configuration problems typically involved with middleware installation.

Oracle Package Support
Most PL/SQL code in Oracle databases is programmed in packages. Direct Oracle Access provides a TOraclePackage component that allows you to easily call packaged program units without detailed declarations of these program units and their parameters.

Furthermore Direct Oracle Access includes a Package Wizard that can generate classes to encapsulate the program units and record types defined in packages. This will make your Oracle packages a natural extension of the Object Pascal or C++ language.

TOracle Data Set Direct
The dataset component in Direct Oracle Access supports Oracle record locking, record refreshing, server generated values and automatic sequence value generation. Master/detail relations can automatically be setup if a foreign key exists between the master and detail table.

The TOracleDataSet can use much of the information in the Oracle Dictionary at run time. Server constraints can be checked on the client, and constraint error messages can be read from a message table. Format masks, range values and default values can also be read from the dictionary. This allows you to create applications with a minimum amount of 'database knowledge' compiled into the executable, dynamically adopting changes in the database without even recompiling it.

Query By Example Mode
The TOracleDataSet component has a Query By Example mode that enables you to provide QBE Forms in your application without any additional programming, and without any additional components or controls. The resulting QBE queries are performed on the Oracle Server, so that performance will be optimal and network traffic will be minimal.

Oracle Monitor
To monitor the database access activities of your Direct Oracle Access application you can use the Oracle Monitor utility. It displays the SQL, variables, timestamp, elapsed time, network statistics, database statistics and query execution plan of each activity. This can be helpful for finding performance bottlenecks, for tuning purposes, and for solving application errors.

System Requirements
Direct Oracle Access requires a Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000 or XP client, with SQL*Net, Net 8 or Net 9 installed. The supported Oracle Server versions are 7.x, 8.x, 8i and 9i on any platform. Direct Oracle Access is available for all recent versions of Delphi, C++Builder and Kylix.