Well, it comes as news to me that the array type is unsupported in the new API.
IBX supports the array type with the new FB3 api and it all seems to work fine.
The example demos work with both Firebird 2.5 and Firebird 3.0.To do this, I
had to reverse engineer the FB 2.5 code in order to understand the param block
structure, but once I had done that, it all worked! You can check out he IB
code to see how it's done. It uses getslice and putslice and manages its own
descriptors.I see no reason to deprecate the array API unless it breaks
something else.
-------- Original message --------From: Pavel Cisar <pci...@ibphoenix.cz> Date:
22/04/2020 12:49 (GMT+00:00) To: firebird-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: [Firebird-devel] FB 3 & 4, new API and the ARRAY type Hi all,I'm
writing new Python driver built using new FB3 API (mainly to get support for
new features not available through old API). I was surprised that ARRAY type
support in new API is incomplete and thus it's not possible to handle this data
type in drivers/applications. Specifically, the API provides getSlice &
putSlice methods on IAttachment, but there isn't any equivalent for very
important isc_array_lookup_bounds function (isc_array_lookup_desc and
isc_array_set_desc are also missing, but they are not important for driver
developers).Alex explained to me, that array support is not functional in new
API, because core developers are considering to deprecate & remove ARRAY type
support from future Firebird versions. And because the final decision was not
made yet, the arrays support in new API get stuck in incomplete
state.Personally, I have no problem with deprecation of the ARRAY type, as this
type is mostly not used (if at all) by Firebird users. Also, I understand the
reasoning for missing methods that would pollute the interfaces with methods
that would become eventually obsolete. However, I'm really stunned how this
issue was handled.While it's ok to provide only new API for new features (like
scrollable cursors), the NEW API SHOULD support all old Firebird features
present in given version and available through old API. And ARRAY type is such
a feature. Although it's probably not used much by Firebird users, it's still
used in example EMPLOYEE database that's used a lot in books, articles etc.,
and support for it is available to end users via some drivers (like FDB Python
driver) for many years. So it's definitely POSSIBLE, that users will run into
situations when lack of ARRAY support will be at least awkward (missing
output), if not straight fatal.Argument that one could always use old API to
access ARRAYs will not stand, because some new features are not available
through it, and they could not be used together. Users should NOT be forced to
choose between two API's with distinct features, at least one should be the
superset (preferably the new one).Also, if ARRAY type should be ever removed
from Firebird, it should be done via proper deprecation process (that also
includes creation of new example database without it). Hence I consider the
lack of (at least) isc_array_lookup_bounds equivalent in new API as a serious
BUG, that should be fixed in Firebird 3 & 4. As driver developer I would really
appreciate if it would be fixed for 3.0.6 due in June.While ARRAY support is
the pressing matter here, there are other old API functions that does not have
new API replacements (for example isc_blob_lookup_desc, and many others). I
think that it's the good time to compare old and new API's, and create a
document that will contain table listing the Old API functions with their New
API counterparts, or explanation why it was decided to not provide such
equivalent in new API. Such document should be first discussed here (so we
could decide whether to fix more new API bugs asap), and then become a part of
Firebird documentation set (as driver developer, I was really surprised that
such document does not exists yet, as it's invaluable for porting from old to
new API).best regardsPavel CisarFirebird-Devel mailing list, web interface at
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/firebird-devel
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