Working with files

This is a list of the differences between working with files and working with databases:

• You do not need to call idba_connect() and idba_disconnect(): the work session starts at idba_begin_messages() and ends at idba_commit()

• When reading, performing idba_query_stations() or idba_query_data() a second time advances to the next message in the file.

• Query parameters set before an idba_query_data() have no effect: filtering data is not implemented for files. Since it may be implemented in the future, it is suggested to avoid setting query parameters before an idba_query_data() to avoid unexpected changes of behaviour with future versions of DB-All.e.

• When reading, you will see that there are no more messages because idba_query_stations() or idba_query_data() will return 0.

• When writing, you can use the query input parameter to idba_insert_data() to control when a new message is started. If you set it to subset, then the data will be inserted in a new BUFR or CREX subset. If you set it to message, you will start a new message.

  After “message” you can specify a template for the message, using one of the names listed by dbadb export -t list, for example: “message generic”. If you do not specify a template name, an appropriate template will automatically be chosen for you.

• Setting rep_memo you can influence the output template of messages: if you set it to a synop report code, you will create a synop message.