Win32::SqlServer 2.008
This is Win32::SqlServer, a module for calling Microsoft SQL Server from Perl
through OLE DB.
Copyright © 2004-2012 Erland Sommarskog.
All rights reserved.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as Perl itself.
Brief Overview
Win32::SqlServer is a module that permits you to access SQL Server from Perl, by
using any of the OLE DB providers SQLOLEDB or SQL Server Native Client.
Win32::SqlServer exposes
two levels of interface, a high-level interface and a mid-level interface. The
high-level interface is a developed version of the interface of my older module
MSSQL::Sqllib, and largely backwards compatible with this interface. The
mid-level interface exposes a few more knobs at the price of somewhat more
verbose code. A special feature of Win32::SqlServer is that you get fine-grained control for error handling.
There is no support for DBI. This module does not
run on Unix – or any other non-Windows OS for that matter.
What's in This Kit
The zip file includes x86 and AMD64 binaries for ActivePerl builds 8xx (from
build 809 and up),10xx (build 1007 and up), 12xx (build 1202 and up), 14xx (build 1401 and up) and 16xx (build 1600 and up).
The kit also includes source
code and test scripts. For information how to build from sources, see below.
The binaries were built on Windows
7 with the Visual Studio 2005 C++ compiler.
Prerequisites
- Perl 5.8.3 or later. (That is ActivePerl build 809 or later.)
- Windows 2000 or later versions of Windows.
- SQL Server 6.5 or later.
- MDAC 2.6 or SQL
Server Native Client.
For details, see the Prerequisites
section in the Win32::SqlServer manual.
Notes:
- The binaries are not likely to run with other binary distributions of Perl for Win32, such
as Strawberry Perl.
- While Win32::SqlServer may run against SQL Azure (or Windows Azure SQL Database as it is currently called), I don't really claim to supported, since I don't have any account on Azure myself.
- Win32::SqlServer 2.008 will be the last version to support SQL Server 6.5.
How to Install the Binary
To test that the installation is OK, either run any of the test scripts that
comes with Win32::SqlServer and which are detailed in tests.html,
or run any of the sample scripts
in the manual.
Manual
The manual is in Win32-SqlServer.html.
activeperl-copy.pl also installs it as html/site/lib/Win32/SqlServer.html
There is a POD file as well, but there is no real contents in it, only a
pointer to the HTML file.
Reporting Bugs or Problems
Please mail bug reports and suggestions to
esquel@sommarskog.se. Try to make your reports as specific as possible.
Particularly do not forget to include which versions of Perl, Windows, SQL Server
etc you are using.
I usually try to respond within 24-48 hours, but if I am on holiday I am.
Prerequisites
To build Win32::SqlServer you need:
- The Platform SDK for Windows, more
precisely, the Core SDK and the MDAC SDK.
The Platform SDK comes with Visual Studio. You can
also download the
Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5.
(The link is the current as of this writing. Microsoft often twitches things
around, so you have to search for it.)
- The SDK (header files and link libraries) for SQL Server Native client that comes with SQL 2012. (The SDK for SQL
2008 or earlier will not do.)
- Perl 5.8.3 or later.
-
A C++ compiler, preferably Visual C++ 8.0 or later. (The C++ compiler that
comes with Visual Studio 6 will not work.) If you don't have
Visual Studio, the Windows SDK (see above), comes with one.
- A make facility. Microsoft's NMAKE also
comes with the Windows SDK.
Note that if you build Win32::SqlServer for another binary distribution of Perl than ActivePerl, you should use the
C compiler and MAKE facility that distribution was built with. For instance, if you have Strawberry Perl you should use DMAKE
and GNU-C. If you try to use NMAKE, you will get strange error messages due to that DMAKE requires special tweaks to the
syntax of Perl code embedded into the Makefile. (And whether Win32::SqlServer
actually builds with Strawberry Perl I don't know, and it is not likely that I
will try to find out.)
How to Build and Install
Text in this type face indicates command you run from the command
prompt.
- Extract the zip file anywhere you like.
- Edit makefile.pl so that
$SQLDIR points to where sqlncli.h is
located.
- If you use a different compiler from Visual C++, you need to review
makefile.pl more closely as makefile.pl may include options that are specific to Visual C++.
- Note that makefile.pl explicitly lists which libraries to link with,
and specifies the MT flag for the C compiler. This is to force use of the
static C run-time library for Visual C++, which is what I want for the binary
distribution. Change this if you like.
- Open a Command Prompt, and change directory to where you extracted the
files.
- Perl makefile.pl.
- MAKE
Or NMAKE, DMAKE or whatever your
MAKE utility you use.
- MAKE test
Before you run the tests, please read tests.html
so that you understand what impact the test scripts have on your server. This
document also describes how to set the environment variable OLLEDBTEST, from
which the test scripts get information how to log into SQL Server.
- MAKE install
Known Issues
ActivePerl
Win32::SqlServer does not build for x86 with ActivePerl builds 1004 and 1005, because of a bug in
ExtUtils::MM_Win32. I've reported the bug, and it
was closed as fixed well before build 1005 came out, but 1005 does not include the fix. To build Win32::SqlServer for
x86 with ActivePerl, you need build 1002 or build 1007 or later. (Maybe builds 1003
and 1006 are OK too, I have not tested those builds.)
The bug does not affect building Win32::SqlServer for the x64 architecture.
Other Compilers than Visual C++
To be honest, I have no idea if that will work. I have certainly not tested, and nor do I plan to.
Last updated 12-09-23 23:47