UltraLite User's Guide
The Embedded SQL Interface
An indicator variable is a C variable that holds supplementary information about a particular host variable. You can use a host variable when fetching or putting data. Use indicator variables to handle NULL values.
An indicator variable is a host variable of type short int. To detect or specify a NULL value, place the indicator variable immediately following a regular host variable in a SQL statement.
For example, in the following INSERT statement, :ind_phone is an indicator variable.
EXEC SQL INSERT INTO Employee VALUES (:employee_number, :employee_name, :employee_initials, :employee_phone:ind_phone );
The following table provides a summary of indicator variable usage.
Indicator Value | Supplying Value to database | Receiving value from database |
---|---|---|
0 | Host variable value | Fetched a non-NULL value. |
-1 | NULL value | Fetched a NULL value |
Using indicator variables to handle NULL