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Abstract
The DBI package defines the generic DataBase Interface for R. The connection to individual DBMS is provided by other packages that import DBI (so-called DBI backends). This document formalizes the behavior expected by the methods declared in DBI and implemented by the individual backends. To ensure maximum portability and exchangeability, and to reduce the effort for implementing a new DBI backend, the DBItest package defines a comprehensive set of test cases that test conformance to the DBI specification. This document is derived from comments in the test definitions of the DBItest package. Any extensions or updates to the tests will be reflected in this document.
DBI defines an interface for communication between R and relational database management systems. All classes in this package are virtual and need to be extended by the various R/DBMS implementations (so-called DBI backends).
A DBI backend is an R package which imports the DBI and methods packages. For better or worse, the names of many existing backends start with ‘R’, e.g., RSQLite, RMySQL, RSQLServer; it is up to the backend author to adopt this convention or not.
A backend defines three classes, which are subclasses of DBIDriver,
DBIConnection, and DBIResult. The backend provides implementation for
all methods of these base classes that are defined but not implemented
by DBI. All methods defined in DBI are
reexported (so that the package can be used without having to attach
DBI), and have an ellipsis ... in
their formals for extensibility.
The backend must support creation of an instance of its DBIDriver
subclass with a constructor function. By default, its name is
the package name without the leading ‘R’ (if it exists), e.g.,
SQLite for the RSQLite package.
However, backend authors may choose a different name. The constructor
must be exported, and it must be a function that is callable without
arguments. DBI recommends to define a constructor with an empty argument
list.
This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Returns an SQL string that describes the SQL data type to be used for an object. The default implementation of this generic determines the SQL type of an R object according to the SQL 92 specification, which may serve as a starting point for driver implementations. DBI also provides an implementation for data.frame which will return a character vector giving the type for each column in the dataframe.
dbObj |
A object inheriting from DBIDriver or DBIConnection |
obj |
An R object whose SQL type we want to determine. |
... |
Other arguments passed on to methods. |
The data types supported by databases are different than the data types in R, but the mapping between the primitive types is straightforward:
Any of the many fixed and varying length character types are mapped to character vectors
Fixed-precision (non-IEEE) numbers are mapped into either numeric or integer vectors.
Notice that many DBMS do not follow IEEE arithmetic, so there are potential problems with under/overflows and loss of precision.
dbDataType() returns the SQL type that corresponds to
the obj argument as a non-empty character string. For data
frames, a character vector with one element per column is returned.
An error is raised for invalid values for the obj
argument such as a NULL value.
The backend can override the dbDataType() generic for
its driver class.
This generic expects an arbitrary object as second argument. To query
the values returned by the default implementation, run
example(dbDataType, package = "DBI"). If the backend needs
to override this generic, it must accept all basic R data types as its
second argument, namely logical, integer, numeric, character, dates (see
Dates), date-time (see DateTimeClasses), and difftime. If the database
supports blobs, this method also must accept lists of raw vectors, and
blob::blob objects. As-is objects
(i.e., wrapped by I()) must be supported and return the
same results as their unwrapped counterparts. The SQL data type for
factor and ordered is the same as for character. The behavior for other
object types is not specified.
All data types returned by dbDataType() are usable in an
SQL statement of the form "CREATE TABLE test (a ...)".
dbDataType(ANSI(), 1:5)
dbDataType(ANSI(), 1)
dbDataType(ANSI(), TRUE)
dbDataType(ANSI(), Sys.Date())
dbDataType(ANSI(), Sys.time())
dbDataType(ANSI(), Sys.time() - as.POSIXct(Sys.Date()))
dbDataType(ANSI(), c("x", "abc"))
dbDataType(ANSI(), list(raw(10), raw(20)))
dbDataType(ANSI(), I(3))
dbDataType(ANSI(), iris)
con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:")
dbDataType(con, 1:5)
dbDataType(con, 1)
dbDataType(con, TRUE)
dbDataType(con, Sys.Date())
dbDataType(con, Sys.time())
dbDataType(con, Sys.time() - as.POSIXct(Sys.Date()))
dbDataType(con, c("x", "abc"))
dbDataType(con, list(raw(10), raw(20)))
dbDataType(con, I(3))
dbDataType(con, iris)
dbDisconnect(con)This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Connect to a DBMS going through the appropriate authentication
procedure. Some implementations may allow you to have multiple
connections open, so you may invoke this function repeatedly assigning
its output to different objects. The authentication mechanism is left
unspecified, so check the documentation of individual drivers for
details. Use dbCanConnect() to check if a connection can be
established.
drv |
an object that inherits from DBIDriver, or an existing DBIConnection object (in order to clone an existing connection). |
... |
authentication arguments needed by the DBMS instance; these
typically include user, password,
host, port, dbname, etc. For
details see the appropriate DBIDriver. |
dbConnect() returns an S4 object that inherits from
DBIConnection. This object is used to communicate with the database
engine.
A format() method is defined for the connection object.
It returns a string that consists of a single line of text.
DBI recommends using the following argument names for authentication
parameters, with NULL default:
user for the user name (default: current
user)
password for the password
host for the host name (default: local
connection)
port for the port number (default: local
connection)
dbname for the name of the database on the host, or
the database file name
The defaults should provide reasonable behavior, in particular a
local connection for host = NULL. For some DBMS (e.g.,
PostgreSQL), this is different to a TCP/IP connection to
localhost.
In addition, DBI supports the bigint argument that
governs how 64-bit integer data is returned. The following values are
supported:
"integer": always return as integer,
silently overflow
"numeric": always return as numeric,
silently round
"character": always return the decimal
representation as character
"integer64": return as a data type that can be
coerced using as.integer() (with warning on overflow),
as.numeric() and as.character()
# SQLite only needs a path to the database. (Here, ":memory:" is a special
# path that creates an in-memory database.) Other database drivers
# will require more details (like user, password, host, port, etc.)
con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:")
con
dbListTables(con)
dbDisconnect(con)
# Bad, for subtle reasons:
# This code fails when RSQLite isn't loaded yet,
# because dbConnect() doesn't know yet about RSQLite.
dbListTables(con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:"))This section describes the behavior of the following method:
This closes the connection, discards all pending work, and frees resources (e.g., memory, sockets).
conn |
A DBIConnection object, as returned by
dbConnect(). |
... |
Other parameters passed on to methods. |
dbDisconnect() returns TRUE, invisibly.
A warning is issued on garbage collection when a connection has been
released without calling dbDisconnect(), but this cannot be
tested automatically. At least one warning is issued immediately when
calling dbDisconnect() on an already disconnected or
invalid connection.
This section describes the behavior of the following method:
The dbSendQuery() method only submits and synchronously
executes the SQL query to the database engine. It does not
extract any records — for that you need to use the
dbFetch() method, and then you must call
dbClearResult() when you finish fetching the records you
need. For interactive use, you should almost always prefer
dbGetQuery(). Use dbSendQueryArrow() or
dbGetQueryArrow() instead to retrieve the results as an
Arrow object.
conn |
A DBIConnection object, as returned by
dbConnect(). |
statement |
a character string containing SQL. |
... |
Other parameters passed on to methods. |
The following arguments are not part of the
dbSendQuery() generic (to improve compatibility across
backends) but are part of the DBI specification:
params (default: NULL)
immediate (default: NULL)
They must be provided as named arguments. See the “Specification” sections for details on their usage.
No warnings occur under normal conditions. When done, the DBIResult
object must be cleared with a call to dbClearResult().
Failure to clear the result set leads to a warning when the connection
is closed.
If the backend supports only one open result set per connection,
issuing a second query invalidates an already open result set and raises
a warning. The newly opened result set is valid and must be cleared with
dbClearResult().
The param argument allows passing query parameters, see
dbBind() for details.
immediate argumentThe immediate argument supports distinguishing between
“direct” and “prepared” APIs offered by many database drivers. Passing
immediate = TRUE leads to immediate execution of the query
or statement, via the “direct” API (if supported by the driver). The
default NULL means that the backend should choose whatever
API makes the most sense for the database, and (if relevant) tries the
other API if the first attempt fails. A successful second attempt should
result in a message that suggests passing the correct
immediate argument. Examples for possible behaviors:
DBI backend defaults to immediate = TRUE
internally
A query without parameters is passed: query is executed
A query with parameters is passed:
params not given: rejected immediately by the
database because of a syntax error in the query, the backend tries
immediate = FALSE (and gives a message)
params given: query is executed using
immediate = FALSE
DBI backend defaults to immediate = FALSE
internally
A query without parameters is passed:
simple query: query is executed
“special” query (such as setting a config options): fails, the
backend tries immediate = TRUE (and gives a
message)
A query with parameters is passed:
params not given: waiting for parameters via
dbBind()
params given: query is executed
This method is for SELECT queries only. Some backends
may support data manipulation queries through this method for
compatibility reasons. However, callers are strongly encouraged to use
dbSendStatement() for data manipulation statements.
The query is submitted to the database server and the DBMS executes
it, possibly generating vast amounts of data. Where these data live is
driver-specific: some drivers may choose to leave the output on the
server and transfer them piecemeal to R, others may transfer all the
data to the client – but not necessarily to the memory that R manages.
See individual drivers’ dbSendQuery() documentation for
details.
dbSendQuery() returns an S4 object that inherits from
DBIResult. The result set can be used with dbFetch() to
extract records. Once you have finished using a result, make sure to
clear it with dbClearResult().
This section gives a complete overview over the flow for the execution of queries that return tabular data as data frames.
Most of this flow, except repeated calling of dbBind()
or dbBindArrow(), is implemented by
dbGetQuery(), which should be sufficient unless you want to
access the results in a paged way or you have a parameterized query that
you want to reuse. This flow requires an active connection established
by dbConnect(). See also
vignette("dbi-advanced") for a walkthrough.
Use dbSendQuery() to create a result set object of
class DBIResult.
Optionally, bind query parameters with dbBind() or
dbBindArrow(). This is required only if the query contains
placeholders such as ? or \$1, depending on
the database backend.
Optionally, use dbColumnInfo() to retrieve the
structure of the result set without retrieving actual data.
Use dbFetch() to get the entire result set, a page
of results, or the remaining rows. Fetching zero rows is also possible
to retrieve the structure of the result set as a data frame. This step
can be called multiple times. Only forward paging is supported, you need
to cache previous pages if you need to navigate backwards.
Use dbHasCompleted() to tell when you’re done. This
method returns TRUE if no more rows are available for
fetching.
Repeat the last four steps as necessary.
Use dbClearResult() to clean up the result set
object. This step is mandatory even if no rows have been fetched or if
an error has occurred during the processing. It is good practice to use
on.exit() or withr::defer() to ensure that
this step is always executed.
An error is raised when issuing a query over a closed or invalid
connection, or if the query is not a non-NA string. An
error is also raised if the syntax of the query is invalid and all query
parameters are given (by passing the params argument) or
the immediate argument is set to TRUE.
con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:")
dbWriteTable(con, "mtcars", mtcars)
rs <- dbSendQuery(con, "SELECT * FROM mtcars WHERE cyl = 4")
dbFetch(rs)
dbClearResult(rs)
# Pass one set of values with the param argument:
rs <- dbSendQuery(
con,
"SELECT * FROM mtcars WHERE cyl = ?",
params = list(4L)
)
dbFetch(rs)
dbClearResult(rs)
# Pass multiple sets of values with dbBind():
rs <- dbSendQuery(con, "SELECT * FROM mtcars WHERE cyl = ?")
dbBind(rs, list(6L))
dbFetch(rs)
dbBind(rs, list(8L))
dbFetch(rs)
dbClearResult(rs)
dbDisconnect(con)This section describes the behavior of the following methods:
Fetch the next n elements (rows) from the result set and
return them as a data.frame.
res |
An object inheriting from DBIResult, created by
dbSendQuery(). |
n |
maximum number of records to retrieve per fetch. Use
n = -1 or n = Inf to retrieve all pending
records. Some implementations may recognize other special values. |
... |
Other arguments passed on to methods. |
fetch() is provided for compatibility with older DBI
clients - for all new code you are strongly encouraged to use
dbFetch(). The default implementation for
dbFetch() calls fetch() so that it is
compatible with existing code. Modern backends should implement for
dbFetch() only.
dbFetch() always returns a data.frame with as many rows
as records were fetched and as many columns as fields in the result set,
even if the result is a single value or has one or zero rows. Passing
n = NA is supported and returns an arbitrary number of rows
(at least one) as specified by the driver, but at most the remaining
rows in the result set.
This section gives a complete overview over the flow for the execution of queries that return tabular data as data frames.
Most of this flow, except repeated calling of dbBind()
or dbBindArrow(), is implemented by
dbGetQuery(), which should be sufficient unless you want to
access the results in a paged way or you have a parameterized query that
you want to reuse. This flow requires an active connection established
by dbConnect(). See also
vignette("dbi-advanced") for a walkthrough.
Use dbSendQuery() to create a result set object of
class DBIResult.
Optionally, bind query parameters with dbBind() or
dbBindArrow(). This is required only if the query contains
placeholders such as ? or \$1, depending on
the database backend.
Optionally, use dbColumnInfo() to retrieve the
structure of the result set without retrieving actual data.
Use dbFetch() to get the entire result set, a page
of results, or the remaining rows. Fetching zero rows is also possible
to retrieve the structure of the result set as a data frame. This step
can be called multiple times. Only forward paging is supported, you need
to cache previous pages if you need to navigate backwards.
Use dbHasCompleted() to tell when you’re done. This
method returns TRUE if no more rows are available for
fetching.
Repeat the last four steps as necessary.
Use dbClearResult() to clean up the result set
object. This step is mandatory even if no rows have been fetched or if
an error has occurred during the processing. It is good practice to use
on.exit() or withr::defer() to ensure that
this step is always executed.
An attempt to fetch from a closed result set raises an error. If the
n argument is not an atomic whole number greater or equal
to -1 or Inf, an error is raised, but a subsequent call to
dbFetch() with proper n argument succeeds.
Calling dbFetch() on a result set from a data
manipulation query created by dbSendStatement() can be
fetched and return an empty data frame, with a warning.
Fetching multi-row queries with one or more columns by default
returns the entire result. Multi-row queries can also be fetched
progressively by passing a whole number (integer or numeric) as the
n argument. A value of Inf for the n argument
is supported and also returns the full result. If more rows than
available are fetched, the result is returned in full without warning.
If fewer rows than requested are returned, further fetches will return a
data frame with zero rows. If zero rows are fetched, the columns of the
data frame are still fully typed. Fetching fewer rows than available is
permitted, no warning is issued when clearing the result set.
A column named row_names is treated like any other
column.
The column types of the returned data frame depend on the data returned:
integer (or coercible to an integer) for integer values between
-2^31 and 2^31 - 1, with NA for SQL NULL values
numeric for numbers with a fractional component, with NA for SQL
NULL values
logical for Boolean values (some backends may return an integer);
with NA for SQL NULL values
character for text, with NA for SQL NULL
values
lists of raw for blobs with NULL entries for SQL NULL values
coercible using as.Date() for dates, with NA for SQL
NULL values (also applies to the return value of the SQL
function current_date)
coercible using hms::as_hms() for times, with NA for
SQL NULL values (also applies to the return value of the
SQL function current_time)
coercible using as.POSIXct() for timestamps, with NA
for SQL NULL values (also applies to the return value of
the SQL function current_timestamp)
If dates and timestamps are supported by the backend, the following R types are used:
Date for dates (also applies to the return value of the SQL
function current_date)
POSIXct for timestamps (also applies to the return value of the
SQL function current_timestamp)
R has no built-in type with lossless support for the full range of 64-bit or larger integers. If 64-bit integers are returned from a query, the following rules apply:
Values are returned in a container with support for the full
range of valid 64-bit values (such as the integer64 class
of the bit64 package)
Coercion to numeric always returns a number that is as close as possible to the true value
Loss of precision when converting to numeric gives a warning
Conversion to character always returns a lossless decimal representation of the data
con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:")
dbWriteTable(con, "mtcars", mtcars)
# Fetch all results
rs <- dbSendQuery(con, "SELECT * FROM mtcars WHERE cyl = 4")
dbFetch(rs)
dbClearResult(rs)
# Fetch in chunks
rs <- dbSendQuery(con, "SELECT * FROM mtcars")
while (!dbHasCompleted(rs)) {
chunk <- dbFetch(rs, 10)
print(nrow(chunk))
}
dbClearResult(rs)
dbDisconnect(con)This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Frees all resources (local and remote) associated with a result set.
This step is mandatory for all objects obtained by calling
dbSendQuery() or dbSendStatement().
res |
An object inheriting from DBIResult. |
... |
Other arguments passed on to methods. |
dbClearResult() returns TRUE, invisibly,
for result sets obtained from dbSendQuery(),
dbSendStatement(), or dbSendQueryArrow(),
This section gives a complete overview over the flow for the execution of queries that return tabular data as data frames.
Most of this flow, except repeated calling of dbBind()
or dbBindArrow(), is implemented by
dbGetQuery(), which should be sufficient unless you want to
access the results in a paged way or you have a parameterized query that
you want to reuse. This flow requires an active connection established
by dbConnect(). See also
vignette("dbi-advanced") for a walkthrough.
Use dbSendQuery() to create a result set object of
class DBIResult.
Optionally, bind query parameters with dbBind() or
dbBindArrow(). This is required only if the query contains
placeholders such as ? or \$1, depending on
the database backend.
Optionally, use dbColumnInfo() to retrieve the
structure of the result set without retrieving actual data.
Use dbFetch() to get the entire result set, a page
of results, or the remaining rows. Fetching zero rows is also possible
to retrieve the structure of the result set as a data frame. This step
can be called multiple times. Only forward paging is supported, you need
to cache previous pages if you need to navigate backwards.
Use dbHasCompleted() to tell when you’re done. This
method returns TRUE if no more rows are available for
fetching.
Repeat the last four steps as necessary.
Use dbClearResult() to clean up the result set
object. This step is mandatory even if no rows have been fetched or if
an error has occurred during the processing. It is good practice to use
on.exit() or withr::defer() to ensure that
this step is always executed.
This section gives a complete overview over the flow for the
execution of SQL statements that have side effects such as stored
procedures, inserting or deleting data, or setting database or
connection options. Most of this flow, except repeated calling of
dbBindArrow(), is implemented by dbExecute(),
which should be sufficient for non-parameterized queries. This flow
requires an active connection established by dbConnect().
See also vignette("dbi-advanced") for a walkthrough.
Use dbSendStatement() to create a result set object
of class DBIResult. For some queries you need to pass
immediate = TRUE.
Optionally, bind query parameters withdbBind() or
dbBindArrow(). This is required only if the query contains
placeholders such as ? or \$1, depending on
the database backend.
Optionally, use dbGetRowsAffected() to retrieve the
number of rows affected by the query.
Repeat the last two steps as necessary.
Use dbClearResult() to clean up the result set
object. This step is mandatory even if no rows have been fetched or if
an error has occurred during the processing. It is good practice to use
on.exit() or withr::defer() to ensure that
this step is always executed.
An attempt to close an already closed result set issues a warning for
dbSendQuery(), dbSendStatement(), and
dbSendQueryArrow(),
dbClearResult() frees all resources associated with
retrieving the result of a query or update operation. The DBI backend
can expect a call to dbClearResult() for each
dbSendQuery() or dbSendStatement() call.
This section describes the behavior of the following methods:
For parametrized or prepared statements, the
dbSendQuery(), dbSendQueryArrow(), and
dbSendStatement() functions can be called with statements
that contain placeholders for values. The dbBind() and
dbBindArrow() functions bind these placeholders to actual
values, and are intended to be called on the result set before calling
dbFetch() or dbFetchArrow(). The values are
passed to dbBind() as lists or data frames, and to
dbBindArrow() as a stream created by
nanoarrow::as_nanoarrow_array_stream().
dbBindArrow() is experimental, as are the other
*Arrow functions. dbSendQuery() is compatible
with dbBindArrow(), and dbSendQueryArrow() is
compatible with dbBind().
res |
An object inheriting from DBIResult. |
params |
For dbBind(), a list of values, named or unnamed, or a
data frame, with one element/column per query parameter. For
dbBindArrow(), values as a nanoarrow stream, with one
column per query parameter. |
... |
Other arguments passed on to methods. |
DBI supports parametrized (or prepared)
queries and statements via the dbBind() and
dbBindArrow() generics. Parametrized queries are different
from normal queries in that they allow an arbitrary number of
placeholders, which are later substituted by actual values. Parametrized
queries (and statements) serve two purposes:
The same query can be executed more than once with different values. The DBMS may cache intermediate information for the query, such as the execution plan, and execute it faster.
Separation of query syntax and parameters protects against SQL injection.
The placeholder format is currently not specified by DBI; in the future, a uniform placeholder syntax may
be supported. Consult the backend documentation for the supported
formats. For automated testing, backend authors specify the placeholder
syntax with the placeholder_pattern tweak. Known examples
are:
? (positional matching in order of appearance) in
RMariaDB and RSQLite
\$1 (positional matching by index) in RPostgres and RSQLite
:name and \$name (named matching) in
RSQLite
dbBind() returns the result set, invisibly, for queries
issued by dbSendQuery() or dbSendQueryArrow()
and also for data manipulation statements issued by
dbSendStatement().
This section gives a complete overview over the flow for the execution of queries that return tabular data as data frames.
Most of this flow, except repeated calling of dbBind()
or dbBindArrow(), is implemented by
dbGetQuery(), which should be sufficient unless you want to
access the results in a paged way or you have a parameterized query that
you want to reuse. This flow requires an active connection established
by dbConnect(). See also
vignette("dbi-advanced") for a walkthrough.
Use dbSendQuery() to create a result set object of
class DBIResult.
Optionally, bind query parameters with dbBind() or
dbBindArrow(). This is required only if the query contains
placeholders such as ? or \$1, depending on
the database backend.
Optionally, use dbColumnInfo() to retrieve the
structure of the result set without retrieving actual data.
Use dbFetch() to get the entire result set, a page
of results, or the remaining rows. Fetching zero rows is also possible
to retrieve the structure of the result set as a data frame. This step
can be called multiple times. Only forward paging is supported, you need
to cache previous pages if you need to navigate backwards.
Use dbHasCompleted() to tell when you’re done. This
method returns TRUE if no more rows are available for
fetching.
Repeat the last four steps as necessary.
Use dbClearResult() to clean up the result set
object. This step is mandatory even if no rows have been fetched or if
an error has occurred during the processing. It is good practice to use
on.exit() or withr::defer() to ensure that
this step is always executed.
This section gives a complete overview over the flow for the execution of queries that return tabular data as an Arrow stream.
Most of this flow, except repeated calling of
dbBindArrow() or dbBind(), is implemented by
dbGetQueryArrow(), which should be sufficient unless you
have a parameterized query that you want to reuse. This flow requires an
active connection established by dbConnect(). See also
vignette("dbi-advanced") for a walkthrough.
Use dbSendQueryArrow() to create a result set object
of class DBIResultArrow.
Optionally, bind query parameters with dbBindArrow()
or dbBind(). This is required only if the query contains
placeholders such as ? or \$1, depending on
the database backend.
Use dbFetchArrow() to get a data stream.
Repeat the last two steps as necessary.
Use dbClearResult() to clean up the result set
object. This step is mandatory even if no rows have been fetched or if
an error has occurred during the processing. It is good practice to use
on.exit() or withr::defer() to ensure that
this step is always executed.
This section gives a complete overview over the flow for the
execution of SQL statements that have side effects such as stored
procedures, inserting or deleting data, or setting database or
connection options. Most of this flow, except repeated calling of
dbBindArrow(), is implemented by dbExecute(),
which should be sufficient for non-parameterized queries. This flow
requires an active connection established by dbConnect().
See also vignette("dbi-advanced") for a walkthrough.
Use dbSendStatement() to create a result set object
of class DBIResult. For some queries you need to pass
immediate = TRUE.
Optionally, bind query parameters withdbBind() or
dbBindArrow(). This is required only if the query contains
placeholders such as ? or \$1, depending on
the database backend.
Optionally, use dbGetRowsAffected() to retrieve the
number of rows affected by the query.
Repeat the last two steps as necessary.
Use dbClearResult() to clean up the result set
object. This step is mandatory even if no rows have been fetched or if
an error has occurred during the processing. It is good practice to use
on.exit() or withr::defer() to ensure that
this step is always executed.
Calling dbBind() for a query without parameters raises
an error.
Binding too many or not enough values, or parameters with wrong names
or unequal length, also raises an error. If the placeholders in the
query are named, all parameter values must have names (which must not be
empty or NA), and vice versa, otherwise an error is raised.
The behavior for mixing placeholders of different types (in particular
mixing positional and named placeholders) is not specified.
Calling dbBind() on a result set already cleared by
dbClearResult() also raises an error.
DBI clients execute parametrized statements as follows:
Call dbSendQuery(), dbSendQueryArrow()
or dbSendStatement() with a query or statement that
contains placeholders, store the returned DBIResult object in a
variable. Mixing placeholders (in particular, named and unnamed ones) is
not recommended. It is good practice to register a call to
dbClearResult() via on.exit() right after
calling dbSendQuery() or dbSendStatement()
(see the last enumeration item). Until dbBind() or
dbBindArrow() have been called, the returned result set
object has the following behavior:
dbFetch() raises an error (for
dbSendQuery() and dbSendQueryArrow())
dbGetRowCount() returns zero (for
dbSendQuery() and dbSendQueryArrow())
dbGetRowsAffected() returns an integer
NA (for dbSendStatement())
dbIsValid() returns TRUE
dbHasCompleted() returns FALSE
Call dbBind() or dbBindArrow():
For dbBind(), the params argument must
be a list where all elements have the same lengths and contain values
supported by the backend. A data.frame is internally stored as such a
list.
For dbBindArrow(), the params argument
must be a nanoarrow array stream, with one column per query
parameter.
Retrieve the data or the number of affected rows from the
DBIResult object.
For queries issued by dbSendQuery() or
dbSendQueryArrow(), call dbFetch().
For statements issued by dbSendStatements(), call
dbGetRowsAffected(). (Execution begins immediately after
the dbBind() call, the statement is processed entirely
before the function returns.)
Repeat 2. and 3. as necessary.
Close the result set via dbClearResult().
The elements of the params argument do not need to be
scalars, vectors of arbitrary length (including length 0) are supported.
For queries, calling dbFetch() binding such parameters
returns concatenated results, equivalent to binding and fetching for
each set of values and connecting via rbind(). For data
manipulation statements, dbGetRowsAffected() returns the
total number of rows affected if binding non-scalar parameters.
dbBind() also accepts repeated calls on the same result set
for both queries and data manipulation statements, even if no results
are fetched between calls to dbBind(), for both queries and
data manipulation statements.
If the placeholders in the query are named, their order in the
params argument is not important.
At least the following data types are accepted on input (including NA):
integer
numeric
logical for Boolean values
character (also with special characters such as spaces, newlines, quotes, and backslashes)
factor (bound as character, with warning)
Date (also when stored internally as integer)
POSIXct timestamps
POSIXlt timestamps
difftime values (also with units other than seconds and with the value stored as integer)
lists of raw for blobs (with NULL entries for SQL
NULL values)
objects of type blob::blob
# Data frame flow:
con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:")
dbWriteTable(con, "iris", iris)
# Using the same query for different values
iris_result <- dbSendQuery(con, "SELECT * FROM iris WHERE [Petal.Width] > ?")
dbBind(iris_result, list(2.3))
dbFetch(iris_result)
dbBind(iris_result, list(3))
dbFetch(iris_result)
dbClearResult(iris_result)
# Executing the same statement with different values at once
iris_result <- dbSendStatement(con, "DELETE FROM iris WHERE [Species] = \$species")
dbBind(iris_result, list(species = c("setosa", "versicolor", "unknown")))
dbGetRowsAffected(iris_result)
dbClearResult(iris_result)
nrow(dbReadTable(con, "iris"))
dbDisconnect(con)
# Arrow flow:
con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:")
dbWriteTable(con, "iris", iris)
# Using the same query for different values
iris_result <- dbSendQueryArrow(con, "SELECT * FROM iris WHERE [Petal.Width] > ?")
dbBindArrow(
iris_result,
nanoarrow::as_nanoarrow_array_stream(data.frame(2.3, fix.empty.names = FALSE))
)
as.data.frame(dbFetchArrow(iris_result))
dbBindArrow(
iris_result,
nanoarrow::as_nanoarrow_array_stream(data.frame(3, fix.empty.names = FALSE))
)
as.data.frame(dbFetchArrow(iris_result))
dbClearResult(iris_result)
# Executing the same statement with different values at once
iris_result <- dbSendStatement(con, "DELETE FROM iris WHERE [Species] = \$species")
dbBindArrow(iris_result, nanoarrow::as_nanoarrow_array_stream(data.frame(
species = c("setosa", "versicolor", "unknown")
)))
dbGetRowsAffected(iris_result)
dbClearResult(iris_result)
nrow(dbReadTable(con, "iris"))
dbDisconnect(con)This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Returns the result of a query as a data frame.
dbGetQuery() comes with a default implementation (which
should work with most backends) that calls dbSendQuery(),
then dbFetch(), ensuring that the result is always freed by
dbClearResult(). For retrieving chunked/paged results or
for passing query parameters, see dbSendQuery(), in
particular the “The data retrieval flow” section. For retrieving results
as an Arrow object, see dbGetQueryArrow().
conn |
A DBIConnection object, as returned by
dbConnect(). |
statement |
a character string containing SQL. |
... |
Other parameters passed on to methods. |
The following arguments are not part of the dbGetQuery()
generic (to improve compatibility across backends) but are part of the
DBI specification:
n (default: -1)
params (default: NULL)
immediate (default: NULL)
They must be provided as named arguments. See the “Specification” and “Value” sections for details on their usage.
A column named row_names is treated like any other
column.
The n argument specifies the number of rows to be
fetched. If omitted, fetching multi-row queries with one or more columns
returns the entire result. A value of Inf for the n
argument is supported and also returns the full result. If more rows
than available are fetched (by passing a too large value for
n), the result is returned in full without warning. If zero
rows are requested, the columns of the data frame are still fully typed.
Fetching fewer rows than available is permitted, no warning is
issued.
The param argument allows passing query parameters, see
dbBind() for details.
immediate argumentThe immediate argument supports distinguishing between
“direct” and “prepared” APIs offered by many database drivers. Passing
immediate = TRUE leads to immediate execution of the query
or statement, via the “direct” API (if supported by the driver). The
default NULL means that the backend should choose whatever
API makes the most sense for the database, and (if relevant) tries the
other API if the first attempt fails. A successful second attempt should
result in a message that suggests passing the correct
immediate argument. Examples for possible behaviors:
DBI backend defaults to immediate = TRUE
internally
A query without parameters is passed: query is executed
A query with parameters is passed:
params not given: rejected immediately by the
database because of a syntax error in the query, the backend tries
immediate = FALSE (and gives a message)
params given: query is executed using
immediate = FALSE
DBI backend defaults to immediate = FALSE
internally
A query without parameters is passed:
simple query: query is executed
“special” query (such as setting a config options): fails, the
backend tries immediate = TRUE (and gives a
message)
A query with parameters is passed:
params not given: waiting for parameters via
dbBind()
params given: query is executed
This method is for SELECT queries only (incl. other SQL
statements that return a SELECT-alike result, e.g.,
execution of a stored procedure or data manipulation queries like
INSERT INTO ... RETURNING ...). To execute a stored
procedure that does not return a result set, use
dbExecute().
Some backends may support data manipulation statements through this
method for compatibility reasons. However, callers are strongly advised
to use dbExecute() for data manipulation statements.
dbGetQuery() always returns a data.frame, with as many
rows as records were fetched and as many columns as fields in the result
set, even if the result is a single value or has one or zero rows.
Subclasses should override this method only if they provide some sort of performance optimization.
An error is raised when issuing a query over a closed or invalid
connection, if the syntax of the query is invalid, or if the query is
not a non-NA string. If the n argument is not
an atomic whole number greater or equal to -1 or Inf, an error is
raised, but a subsequent call to dbGetQuery() with proper
n argument succeeds.
con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:")
dbWriteTable(con, "mtcars", mtcars)
dbGetQuery(con, "SELECT * FROM mtcars")
dbGetQuery(con, "SELECT * FROM mtcars", n = 6)
# Pass values using the param argument:
# (This query runs eight times, once for each different
# parameter. The resulting rows are combined into a single
# data frame.)
dbGetQuery(
con,
"SELECT COUNT(*) FROM mtcars WHERE cyl = ?",
params = list(1:8)
)
dbDisconnect(con)This section describes the behavior of the following method:
The dbSendStatement() method only submits and
synchronously executes the SQL data manipulation statement (e.g.,
UPDATE, DELETE, INSERT INTO,
DROP TABLE, …) to the database engine. To query the number
of affected rows, call dbGetRowsAffected() on the returned
result object. You must also call dbClearResult() after
that. For interactive use, you should almost always prefer
dbExecute().
conn |
A DBIConnection object, as returned by
dbConnect(). |
statement |
a character string containing SQL. |
... |
Other parameters passed on to methods. |
The following arguments are not part of the
dbSendStatement() generic (to improve compatibility across
backends) but are part of the DBI specification:
params (default: NULL)
immediate (default: NULL)
They must be provided as named arguments. See the “Specification” sections for details on their usage.
No warnings occur under normal conditions. When done, the DBIResult
object must be cleared with a call to dbClearResult().
Failure to clear the result set leads to a warning when the connection
is closed. If the backend supports only one open result set per
connection, issuing a second query invalidates an already open result
set and raises a warning. The newly opened result set is valid and must
be cleared with dbClearResult().
The param argument allows passing query parameters, see
dbBind() for details.
immediate argumentThe immediate argument supports distinguishing between
“direct” and “prepared” APIs offered by many database drivers. Passing
immediate = TRUE leads to immediate execution of the query
or statement, via the “direct” API (if supported by the driver). The
default NULL means that the backend should choose whatever
API makes the most sense for the database, and (if relevant) tries the
other API if the first attempt fails. A successful second attempt should
result in a message that suggests passing the correct
immediate argument. Examples for possible behaviors:
DBI backend defaults to immediate = TRUE
internally
A query without parameters is passed: query is executed
A query with parameters is passed:
params not given: rejected immediately by the
database because of a syntax error in the query, the backend tries
immediate = FALSE (and gives a message)
params given: query is executed using
immediate = FALSE
DBI backend defaults to immediate = FALSE
internally
A query without parameters is passed:
simple query: query is executed
“special” query (such as setting a config options): fails, the
backend tries immediate = TRUE (and gives a
message)
A query with parameters is passed:
params not given: waiting for parameters via
dbBind()
params given: query is executed
dbSendStatement() comes with a default implementation
that simply forwards to dbSendQuery(), to support backends
that only implement the latter.
dbSendStatement() returns an S4 object that inherits
from DBIResult. The result set can be used with
dbGetRowsAffected() to determine the number of rows
affected by the query. Once you have finished using a result, make sure
to clear it with dbClearResult().
This section gives a complete overview over the flow for the
execution of SQL statements that have side effects such as stored
procedures, inserting or deleting data, or setting database or
connection options. Most of this flow, except repeated calling of
dbBindArrow(), is implemented by dbExecute(),
which should be sufficient for non-parameterized queries. This flow
requires an active connection established by dbConnect().
See also vignette("dbi-advanced") for a walkthrough.
Use dbSendStatement() to create a result set object
of class DBIResult. For some queries you need to pass
immediate = TRUE.
Optionally, bind query parameters withdbBind() or
dbBindArrow(). This is required only if the query contains
placeholders such as ? or \$1, depending on
the database backend.
Optionally, use dbGetRowsAffected() to retrieve the
number of rows affected by the query.
Repeat the last two steps as necessary.
Use dbClearResult() to clean up the result set
object. This step is mandatory even if no rows have been fetched or if
an error has occurred during the processing. It is good practice to use
on.exit() or withr::defer() to ensure that
this step is always executed.
An error is raised when issuing a statement over a closed or invalid
connection, or if the statement is not a non-NA string. An
error is also raised if the syntax of the query is invalid and all query
parameters are given (by passing the params argument) or
the immediate argument is set to TRUE.
con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:")
dbWriteTable(con, "cars", head(cars, 3))
rs <- dbSendStatement(
con,
"INSERT INTO cars (speed, dist) VALUES (1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3)"
)
dbHasCompleted(rs)
dbGetRowsAffected(rs)
dbClearResult(rs)
dbReadTable(con, "cars") # there are now 6 rows
# Pass one set of values directly using the param argument:
rs <- dbSendStatement(
con,
"INSERT INTO cars (speed, dist) VALUES (?, ?)",
params = list(4L, 5L)
)
dbClearResult(rs)
# Pass multiple sets of values using dbBind():
rs <- dbSendStatement(
con,
"INSERT INTO cars (speed, dist) VALUES (?, ?)"
)
dbBind(rs, list(5:6, 6:7))
dbBind(rs, list(7L, 8L))
dbClearResult(rs)
dbReadTable(con, "cars") # there are now 10 rows
dbDisconnect(con)This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Executes a statement and returns the number of rows affected.
dbExecute() comes with a default implementation (which
should work with most backends) that calls
dbSendStatement(), then dbGetRowsAffected(),
ensuring that the result is always freed by
dbClearResult(). For passing query parameters, see
dbBind(), in particular the “The command execution flow”
section.
conn |
A DBIConnection object, as returned by
dbConnect(). |
statement |
a character string containing SQL. |
... |
Other parameters passed on to methods. |
The following arguments are not part of the dbExecute()
generic (to improve compatibility across backends) but are part of the
DBI specification:
params (default: NULL)
immediate (default: NULL)
They must be provided as named arguments. See the “Specification” sections for details on their usage.
The param argument allows passing query parameters, see
dbBind() for details.
immediate argumentThe immediate argument supports distinguishing between
“direct” and “prepared” APIs offered by many database drivers. Passing
immediate = TRUE leads to immediate execution of the query
or statement, via the “direct” API (if supported by the driver). The
default NULL means that the backend should choose whatever
API makes the most sense for the database, and (if relevant) tries the
other API if the first attempt fails. A successful second attempt should
result in a message that suggests passing the correct
immediate argument. Examples for possible behaviors:
DBI backend defaults to immediate = TRUE
internally
A query without parameters is passed: query is executed
A query with parameters is passed:
params not given: rejected immediately by the
database because of a syntax error in the query, the backend tries
immediate = FALSE (and gives a message)
params given: query is executed using
immediate = FALSE
DBI backend defaults to immediate = FALSE
internally
A query without parameters is passed:
simple query: query is executed
“special” query (such as setting a config options): fails, the
backend tries immediate = TRUE (and gives a
message)
A query with parameters is passed:
params not given: waiting for parameters via
dbBind()
params given: query is executed
You can also use dbExecute() to call a stored procedure
that performs data manipulation or other actions that do not return a
result set. To execute a stored procedure that returns a result set, or
a data manipulation query that also returns a result set such as
INSERT INTO ... RETURNING ..., use
dbGetQuery() instead.
dbExecute() always returns a scalar numeric that
specifies the number of rows affected by the statement.
Subclasses should override this method only if they provide some sort of performance optimization.
An error is raised when issuing a statement over a closed or invalid
connection, if the syntax of the statement is invalid, or if the
statement is not a non-NA string.
con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:")
dbWriteTable(con, "cars", head(cars, 3))
dbReadTable(con, "cars") # there are 3 rows
dbExecute(
con,
"INSERT INTO cars (speed, dist) VALUES (1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3)"
)
dbReadTable(con, "cars") # there are now 6 rows
# Pass values using the param argument:
dbExecute(
con,
"INSERT INTO cars (speed, dist) VALUES (?, ?)",
params = list(4:7, 5:8)
)
dbReadTable(con, "cars") # there are now 10 rows
dbDisconnect(con)This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Call this method to generate a string that is suitable for use in a query as a string literal, to make sure that you generate valid SQL and protect against SQL injection attacks.
conn |
A DBIConnection object, as returned by
dbConnect(). |
x |
A character vector to quote as string. |
... |
Other arguments passed on to methods. |
dbQuoteString() returns an object that can be coerced to
character, of the same length as the input. For an empty character
vector this function returns a length-0 object.
When passing the returned object again to
dbQuoteString() as x argument, it is returned
unchanged. Passing objects of class SQL should also return them
unchanged. (For backends it may be most convenient to return SQL objects
to achieve this behavior, but this is not required.)
Passing a numeric, integer, logical, or raw vector, or a list for the
x argument raises an error.
The returned expression can be used in a SELECT ...
query, and for any scalar character x the value of
dbGetQuery(paste0("SELECT ", dbQuoteString(x)))[[1]] must
be identical to x, even if x contains spaces,
tabs, quotes (single or double), backticks, or newlines (in any
combination) or is itself the result of a dbQuoteString()
call coerced back to character (even repeatedly). If x is
NA, the result must merely satisfy is.na().
The strings "NA" or "NULL" are not treated
specially.
NA should be translated to an unquoted SQL
NULL, so that the query
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 1) a WHERE ... IS NULL returns one
row.
# Quoting ensures that arbitrary input is safe for use in a query
name <- "Robert'); DROP TABLE Students;--"
dbQuoteString(ANSI(), name)
# NAs become NULL
dbQuoteString(ANSI(), c("x", NA))
# SQL vectors are always passed through as is
var_name <- SQL("select")
var_name
dbQuoteString(ANSI(), var_name)
# This mechanism is used to prevent double escaping
dbQuoteString(ANSI(), dbQuoteString(ANSI(), name))This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Call this method to generate a string that is suitable for use in a
query as a column or table name, to make sure that you generate valid
SQL and protect against SQL injection attacks. The inverse operation is
dbUnquoteIdentifier().
conn |
A DBIConnection object, as returned by
dbConnect(). |
x |
A character vector, SQL or Id object to quote as identifier. |
... |
Other arguments passed on to methods. |
dbQuoteIdentifier() returns an object that can be
coerced to character, of the same length as the input. For an empty
character vector this function returns a length-0 object. The names of
the input argument are preserved in the output. When passing the
returned object again to dbQuoteIdentifier() as
x argument, it is returned unchanged. Passing objects of
class SQL should also return them unchanged. (For backends it may be
most convenient to return SQL objects to achieve this behavior, but this
is not required.)
An error is raised if the input contains NA, but not for
an empty string.
Calling dbGetQuery() for a query of the format
SELECT 1 AS ... returns a data frame with the identifier,
unquoted, as column name. Quoted identifiers can be used as table and
column names in SQL queries, in particular in queries like
SELECT 1 AS ... and
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 1) .... The method must use a quoting
mechanism that is unambiguously different from the quoting mechanism
used for strings, so that a query like
SELECT ... FROM (SELECT 1 AS ...) throws an error if the
column names do not match.
The method can quote column names that contain special characters
such as a space, a dot, a comma, or quotes used to mark strings or
identifiers, if the database supports this. In any case, checking the
validity of the identifier should be performed only when executing a
query, and not by dbQuoteIdentifier().
# Quoting ensures that arbitrary input is safe for use in a query
name <- "Robert'); DROP TABLE Students;--"
dbQuoteIdentifier(ANSI(), name)
# Use Id() to specify other components such as the schema
id_name <- Id(schema = "schema_name", table = "table_name")
id_name
dbQuoteIdentifier(ANSI(), id_name)
# SQL vectors are always passed through as is
var_name <- SQL("select")
var_name
dbQuoteIdentifier(ANSI(), var_name)
# This mechanism is used to prevent double escaping
dbQuoteIdentifier(ANSI(), dbQuoteIdentifier(ANSI(), name))This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Reads a database table to a data frame, optionally converting a
column to row names and converting the column names to valid R
identifiers. Use dbReadTableArrow() instead to obtain an
Arrow object.
conn
|
A DBIConnection object, as returned by |
name
|
The table name, passed on to
|
…
|
Other parameters passed on to methods. |
The following arguments are not part of the
dbReadTable() generic (to improve compatibility across
backends) but are part of the DBI specification:
row.names (default: FALSE)
check.names
They must be provided as named arguments. See the “Value” section for details on their usage.
The name argument is processed as follows, to support
databases that allow non-syntactic names for their objects:
If an unquoted table name as string: dbReadTable()
will do the quoting, perhaps by calling
dbQuoteIdentifier(conn, x = name)
If the result of a call to dbQuoteIdentifier(): no
more quoting is done
This function returns a data frame. Use
dbReadTableArrow() to obtain an Arrow object.
dbReadTable() returns a data frame that contains the
complete data from the remote table, effectively the result of calling
dbGetQuery() with
SELECT * FROM <name>.
An empty table is returned as a data frame with zero rows.
The presence of rownames depends on the row.names
argument, see sqlColumnToRownames() for details:
If FALSE or NULL, the returned data
frame doesn’t have row names.
If TRUE, a column named “row_names” is converted to
row names.
If NA, a column named “row_names” is converted to
row names if it exists, otherwise no translation occurs.
If a string, this specifies the name of the column in the remote table that contains the row names.
The default is row.names = FALSE.
If the database supports identifiers with special characters, the
columns in the returned data frame are converted to valid R identifiers
if the check.names argument is TRUE, If
check.names = FALSE, the returned table has non-syntactic
column names without quotes.
An error is raised if the table does not exist.
An error is raised if row.names is TRUE and
no “row_names” column exists,
An error is raised if row.names is set to a string and
no corresponding column exists.
An error is raised when calling this method for a closed or invalid
connection. An error is raised if name cannot be processed
with dbQuoteIdentifier() or if this results in a
non-scalar. Unsupported values for row.names and
check.names (non-scalars, unsupported data types,
NA for check.names) also raise an error.
This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Writes, overwrites or appends a data frame to a database table, optionally converting row names to a column and specifying SQL data types for fields.
conn
|
A DBIConnection object, as returned by |
name
|
The table name, passed on to
|
value
|
A data.frame (or coercible to data.frame). |
…
|
Other parameters passed on to methods. |
The following arguments are not part of the
dbWriteTable() generic (to improve compatibility across
backends) but are part of the DBI specification:
row.names (default: FALSE)
overwrite (default: FALSE)
append (default: FALSE)
field.types (default: NULL)
temporary (default: FALSE)
They must be provided as named arguments. See the “Specification” and “Value” sections for details on their usage.
The name argument is processed as follows, to support
databases that allow non-syntactic names for their objects:
If an unquoted table name as string: dbWriteTable()
will do the quoting, perhaps by calling
dbQuoteIdentifier(conn, x = name)
If the result of a call to dbQuoteIdentifier(): no
more quoting is done
The value argument must be a data frame with a subset of
the columns of the existing table if append = TRUE. The
order of the columns does not matter with
append = TRUE.
If the overwrite argument is TRUE, an
existing table of the same name will be overwritten. This argument
doesn’t change behavior if the table does not exist yet.
If the append argument is TRUE, the rows in
an existing table are preserved, and the new data are appended. If the
table doesn’t exist yet, it is created.
If the temporary argument is TRUE, the
table is not available in a second connection and is gone after
reconnecting. Not all backends support this argument. A regular,
non-temporary table is visible in a second connection, in a pre-existing
connection, and after reconnecting to the database.
SQL keywords can be used freely in table names, column names, and data. Quotes, commas, spaces, and other special characters such as newlines and tabs, can also be used in the data, and, if the database supports non-syntactic identifiers, also for table names and column names.
The following data types must be supported at least, and be read
identically with dbReadTable():
integer
numeric (the behavior for Inf and NaN
is not specified)
logical
NA as NULL
64-bit values (using "bigint" as field type); the
result can be
converted to a numeric, which may lose precision,
converted a character vector, which gives the full decimal representation
written to another table and read again unchanged
character (in both UTF-8 and native encodings), supporting empty strings before and after a non-empty string
factor (returned as character)
list of raw (if supported by the database)
objects of type blob::blob (if supported by the database)
date (if supported by the database; returned as
Date), also for dates prior to 1970 or 1900 or after
2038
time (if supported by the database; returned as objects that
inherit from difftime)
timestamp (if supported by the database; returned as
POSIXct respecting the time zone but not necessarily
preserving the input time zone), also for timestamps prior to 1970 or
1900 or after 2038 respecting the time zone but not necessarily
preserving the input time zone)
Mixing column types in the same table is supported.
The field.types argument must be a named character
vector with at most one entry for each column. It indicates the SQL data
type to be used for a new column. If a column is missed from
field.types, the type is inferred from the input data with
dbDataType().
The interpretation of rownames depends on the row.names
argument, see sqlRownamesToColumn() for details:
If FALSE or NULL, row names are
ignored.
If TRUE, row names are converted to a column named
“row_names”, even if the input data frame only has natural row names
from 1 to nrow(...).
If NA, a column named “row_names” is created if the
data has custom row names, no extra column is created in the case of
natural row names.
If a string, this specifies the name of the column in the remote table that contains the row names, even if the input data frame only has natural row names.
The default is row.names = FALSE.
This function expects a data frame. Use
dbWriteTableArrow() to write an Arrow object.
This function is useful if you want to create and load a table at the
same time. Use dbAppendTable() or
dbAppendTableArrow() for appending data to an existing
table, dbCreateTable() or dbCreateTableArrow()
for creating a table, and dbExistsTable() and
dbRemoveTable() for overwriting tables.
DBI only standardizes writing data frames with
dbWriteTable(). Some backends might implement methods that
can consume CSV files or other data formats. For details, see the
documentation for the individual methods.
dbWriteTable() returns TRUE, invisibly.
If the table exists, and both append and
overwrite arguments are unset, or
append = TRUE and the data frame with the new data has
different column names, an error is raised; the remote table remains
unchanged.
An error is raised when calling this method for a closed or invalid
connection. An error is also raised if name cannot be
processed with dbQuoteIdentifier() or if this results in a
non-scalar. Invalid values for the additional arguments
row.names, overwrite, append,
field.types, and temporary (non-scalars,
unsupported data types, NA, incompatible values, duplicate
or missing names, incompatible columns) also raise an error.
con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:")
dbWriteTable(con, "mtcars", mtcars[1:5, ])
dbReadTable(con, "mtcars")
dbWriteTable(con, "mtcars", mtcars[6:10, ], append = TRUE)
dbReadTable(con, "mtcars")
dbWriteTable(con, "mtcars", mtcars[1:10, ], overwrite = TRUE)
dbReadTable(con, "mtcars")
# No row names
dbWriteTable(con, "mtcars", mtcars[1:10, ], overwrite = TRUE, row.names = FALSE)
dbReadTable(con, "mtcars")This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Returns the unquoted names of remote tables accessible through this connection. This should include views and temporary objects, but not all database backends (in particular RMariaDB and RMySQL) support this.
conn |
A DBIConnection object, as returned by
dbConnect(). |
... |
Other parameters passed on to methods. |
dbListTables() returns a character vector that
enumerates all tables and views in the database. Tables added with
dbWriteTable() are part of the list. As soon a table is
removed from the database, it is also removed from the list of database
tables.
The same applies to temporary tables if supported by the database.
The returned names are suitable for quoting with
dbQuoteIdentifier().
An error is raised when calling this method for a closed or invalid connection.
This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Returns if a table given by name exists in the database.
conn
|
A DBIConnection object, as returned by |
name
|
The table name, passed on to
|
…
|
Other parameters passed on to methods. |
dbExistsTable() returns a logical scalar,
TRUE if the table or view specified by the
name argument exists, FALSE otherwise.
This includes temporary tables if supported by the database.
An error is raised when calling this method for a closed or invalid
connection. An error is also raised if name cannot be
processed with dbQuoteIdentifier() or if this results in a
non-scalar.
The name argument is processed as follows, to support
databases that allow non-syntactic names for their objects:
If an unquoted table name as string: dbExistsTable()
will do the quoting, perhaps by calling
dbQuoteIdentifier(conn, x = name)
If the result of a call to dbQuoteIdentifier(): no
more quoting is done
For all tables listed by dbListTables(),
dbExistsTable() returns TRUE.
This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Remove a remote table (e.g., created by dbWriteTable())
from the database.
conn
|
A DBIConnection object, as returned by |
name
|
The table name, passed on to
|
…
|
Other parameters passed on to methods. |
The following arguments are not part of the
dbRemoveTable() generic (to improve compatibility across
backends) but are part of the DBI specification:
temporary (default: FALSE)
fail_if_missing (default:
TRUE)
These arguments must be provided as named arguments.
If temporary is TRUE, the call to
dbRemoveTable() will consider only temporary tables. Not
all backends support this argument. In particular, permanent tables of
the same name are left untouched.
If fail_if_missing is FALSE, the call to
dbRemoveTable() succeeds if the table does not exist.
A table removed by dbRemoveTable() doesn’t appear in the
list of tables returned by dbListTables(), and
dbExistsTable() returns FALSE. The removal
propagates immediately to other connections to the same database. This
function can also be used to remove a temporary table.
The name argument is processed as follows, to support
databases that allow non-syntactic names for their objects:
If an unquoted table name as string: dbRemoveTable()
will do the quoting, perhaps by calling
dbQuoteIdentifier(conn, x = name)
If the result of a call to dbQuoteIdentifier(): no
more quoting is done
dbRemoveTable() returns TRUE,
invisibly.
If the table does not exist, an error is raised. An attempt to remove a view with this function may result in an error.
An error is raised when calling this method for a closed or invalid
connection. An error is also raised if name cannot be
processed with dbQuoteIdentifier() or if this results in a
non-scalar.
This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Returns the field names of a remote table as a character vector.
conn
|
A DBIConnection object, as returned by |
name
|
The table name, passed on to
|
…
|
Other parameters passed on to methods. |
dbListFields() returns a character vector that
enumerates all fields in the table in the correct order. This also works
for temporary tables if supported by the database. The returned names
are suitable for quoting with dbQuoteIdentifier().
If the table does not exist, an error is raised. Invalid types for
the name argument (e.g., character of length
not equal to one, or numeric) lead to an error. An error is also raised
when calling this method for a closed or invalid connection.
The name argument can be
a string
the return value of dbQuoteIdentifier()
a value from the table column from the return value
of dbListObjects() where is_prefix is
FALSE
A column named row_names is treated like any other
column.
This section describes the behavior of the following method:
This generic tests whether a database object is still valid (i.e. it hasn’t been disconnected or cleared).
dbObj |
An object inheriting from DBIObject, i.e. DBIDriver, DBIConnection, or a DBIResult |
... |
Other arguments to methods. |
dbIsValid() returns a logical scalar, TRUE
if the object specified by dbObj is valid,
FALSE otherwise. A DBIConnection object is initially valid,
and becomes invalid after disconnecting with
dbDisconnect(). For an invalid connection object (e.g., for
some drivers if the object is saved to a file and then restored), the
method also returns FALSE. A DBIResult object is valid
after a call to dbSendQuery(), and stays valid even after
all rows have been fetched; only clearing it with
dbClearResult() invalidates it. A DBIResult object is also
valid after a call to dbSendStatement(), and stays valid
after querying the number of rows affected; only clearing it with
dbClearResult() invalidates it. If the connection to the
database system is dropped (e.g., due to connectivity problems, server
failure, etc.), dbIsValid() should return
FALSE. This is not tested automatically.
This section describes the behavior of the following method:
This method returns if the operation has completed. A
SELECT query is completed if all rows have been fetched. A
data manipulation statement is always completed.
res |
An object inheriting from DBIResult. |
... |
Other arguments passed on to methods. |
dbHasCompleted() returns a logical scalar. For a query
initiated by dbSendQuery() with non-empty result set,
dbHasCompleted() returns FALSE initially and
TRUE after calling dbFetch() without limit.
For a query initiated by dbSendStatement(),
dbHasCompleted() always returns TRUE.
This section gives a complete overview over the flow for the execution of queries that return tabular data as data frames.
Most of this flow, except repeated calling of dbBind()
or dbBindArrow(), is implemented by
dbGetQuery(), which should be sufficient unless you want to
access the results in a paged way or you have a parameterized query that
you want to reuse. This flow requires an active connection established
by dbConnect(). See also
vignette("dbi-advanced") for a walkthrough.
Use dbSendQuery() to create a result set object of
class DBIResult.
Optionally, bind query parameters with dbBind() or
dbBindArrow(). This is required only if the query contains
placeholders such as ? or \$1, depending on
the database backend.
Optionally, use dbColumnInfo() to retrieve the
structure of the result set without retrieving actual data.
Use dbFetch() to get the entire result set, a page
of results, or the remaining rows. Fetching zero rows is also possible
to retrieve the structure of the result set as a data frame. This step
can be called multiple times. Only forward paging is supported, you need
to cache previous pages if you need to navigate backwards.
Use dbHasCompleted() to tell when you’re done. This
method returns TRUE if no more rows are available for
fetching.
Repeat the last four steps as necessary.
Use dbClearResult() to clean up the result set
object. This step is mandatory even if no rows have been fetched or if
an error has occurred during the processing. It is good practice to use
on.exit() or withr::defer() to ensure that
this step is always executed.
Attempting to query completion status for a result set cleared with
dbClearResult() gives an error.
The completion status for a query is only guaranteed to be set to
FALSE after attempting to fetch past the end of the entire
result. Therefore, for a query with an empty result set, the initial
return value is unspecified, but the result value is TRUE
after trying to fetch only one row.
Similarly, for a query with a result set of length n, the return
value is unspecified after fetching n rows, but the result value is
TRUE after trying to fetch only one more row.
This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Returns the statement that was passed to dbSendQuery()
or dbSendStatement().
res |
An object inheriting from DBIResult. |
... |
Other arguments passed on to methods. |
dbGetStatement() returns a string, the query used in
either dbSendQuery() or dbSendStatement().
Attempting to query the statement for a result set cleared with
dbClearResult() gives an error.
This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Returns the total number of rows actually fetched with calls to
dbFetch() for this result set.
res |
An object inheriting from DBIResult. |
... |
Other arguments passed on to methods. |
dbGetRowCount() returns a scalar number (integer or
numeric), the number of rows fetched so far. After calling
dbSendQuery(), the row count is initially zero. After a
call to dbFetch() without limit, the row count matches the
total number of rows returned. Fetching a limited number of rows
increases the number of rows by the number of rows returned, even if
fetching past the end of the result set. For queries with an empty
result set, zero is returned even after fetching. For data manipulation
statements issued with dbSendStatement(), zero is returned
before and after calling dbFetch().
Attempting to get the row count for a result set cleared with
dbClearResult() gives an error.
This section describes the behavior of the following method:
This method returns the number of rows that were added, deleted, or updated by a data manipulation statement.
res |
An object inheriting from DBIResult. |
... |
Other arguments passed on to methods. |
dbGetRowsAffected() returns a scalar number (integer or
numeric), the number of rows affected by a data manipulation statement
issued with dbSendStatement(). The value is available
directly after the call and does not change after calling
dbFetch(). NA_integer_ or
NA_numeric_ are allowed if the number of rows affected is
not known.
For queries issued with dbSendQuery(), zero is returned
before and after the call to dbFetch(). NA
values are not allowed.
This section gives a complete overview over the flow for the
execution of SQL statements that have side effects such as stored
procedures, inserting or deleting data, or setting database or
connection options. Most of this flow, except repeated calling of
dbBindArrow(), is implemented by dbExecute(),
which should be sufficient for non-parameterized queries. This flow
requires an active connection established by dbConnect().
See also vignette("dbi-advanced") for a walkthrough.
Use dbSendStatement() to create a result set object
of class DBIResult. For some queries you need to pass
immediate = TRUE.
Optionally, bind query parameters withdbBind() or
dbBindArrow(). This is required only if the query contains
placeholders such as ? or \$1, depending on
the database backend.
Optionally, use dbGetRowsAffected() to retrieve the
number of rows affected by the query.
Repeat the last two steps as necessary.
Use dbClearResult() to clean up the result set
object. This step is mandatory even if no rows have been fetched or if
an error has occurred during the processing. It is good practice to use
on.exit() or withr::defer() to ensure that
this step is always executed.
Attempting to get the rows affected for a result set cleared with
dbClearResult() gives an error.
This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Produces a data.frame that describes the output of a query. The data.frame should have as many rows as there are output fields in the result set, and each column in the data.frame describes an aspect of the result set field (field name, type, etc.)
res |
An object inheriting from DBIResult. |
... |
Other arguments passed on to methods. |
dbColumnInfo() returns a data frame with at least two
columns "name" and "type" (in that order) (and
optional columns that start with a dot). The "name" and
"type" columns contain the names and types of the R columns
of the data frame that is returned from dbFetch(). The
"type" column is of type character and only
for information. Do not compute on the "type" column,
instead use dbFetch(res, n = 0) to create a zero-row data
frame initialized with the correct data types.
This section gives a complete overview over the flow for the execution of queries that return tabular data as data frames.
Most of this flow, except repeated calling of dbBind()
or dbBindArrow(), is implemented by
dbGetQuery(), which should be sufficient unless you want to
access the results in a paged way or you have a parameterized query that
you want to reuse. This flow requires an active connection established
by dbConnect(). See also
vignette("dbi-advanced") for a walkthrough.
Use dbSendQuery() to create a result set object of
class DBIResult.
Optionally, bind query parameters with dbBind() or
dbBindArrow(). This is required only if the query contains
placeholders such as ? or \$1, depending on
the database backend.
Optionally, use dbColumnInfo() to retrieve the
structure of the result set without retrieving actual data.
Use dbFetch() to get the entire result set, a page
of results, or the remaining rows. Fetching zero rows is also possible
to retrieve the structure of the result set as a data frame. This step
can be called multiple times. Only forward paging is supported, you need
to cache previous pages if you need to navigate backwards.
Use dbHasCompleted() to tell when you’re done. This
method returns TRUE if no more rows are available for
fetching.
Repeat the last four steps as necessary.
Use dbClearResult() to clean up the result set
object. This step is mandatory even if no rows have been fetched or if
an error has occurred during the processing. It is good practice to use
on.exit() or withr::defer() to ensure that
this step is always executed.
An attempt to query columns for a closed result set raises an error.
A column named row_names is treated like any other
column.
The column names are always consistent with the data returned by
dbFetch().
If the query returns unnamed columns, non-empty and
non-NA names are assigned.
Column names that correspond to SQL or R keywords are left unchanged.
This section describes the behavior of the following methods:
A transaction encapsulates several SQL statements in an atomic unit.
It is initiated with dbBegin() and either made persistent
with dbCommit() or undone with dbRollback().
In any case, the DBMS guarantees that either all or none of the
statements have a permanent effect. This helps ensuring consistency of
write operations to multiple tables.
conn |
A DBIConnection object, as returned by
dbConnect(). |
... |
Other parameters passed on to methods. |
Not all database engines implement transaction management, in which case these methods should not be implemented for the specific DBIConnection subclass.
dbBegin(), dbCommit() and
dbRollback() return TRUE, invisibly.
The implementations are expected to raise an error in case of
failure, but this is not tested. In any way, all generics throw an error
with a closed or invalid connection. In addition, a call to
dbCommit() or dbRollback() without a prior
call to dbBegin() raises an error. Nested transactions are
not supported by DBI, an attempt to call dbBegin() twice
yields an error.
Actual support for transactions may vary between backends. A
transaction is initiated by a call to dbBegin() and
committed by a call to dbCommit(). Data written in a
transaction must persist after the transaction is committed. For
example, a record that is missing when the transaction is started but is
created during the transaction must exist both during and after the
transaction, and also in a new connection.
A transaction can also be aborted with dbRollback(). All
data written in such a transaction must be removed after the transaction
is rolled back. For example, a record that is missing when the
transaction is started but is created during the transaction must not
exist anymore after the rollback.
Disconnection from a connection with an open transaction effectively rolls back the transaction. All data written in such a transaction must be removed after the transaction is rolled back.
The behavior is not specified if other arguments are passed to these
functions. In particular, RSQLite issues named
transactions with support for nesting if the name argument
is set.
The transaction isolation level is not specified by DBI.
con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:")
dbWriteTable(con, "cash", data.frame(amount = 100))
dbWriteTable(con, "account", data.frame(amount = 2000))
# All operations are carried out as logical unit:
dbBegin(con)
withdrawal <- 300
dbExecute(con, "UPDATE cash SET amount = amount + ?", list(withdrawal))
dbExecute(con, "UPDATE account SET amount = amount - ?", list(withdrawal))
dbCommit(con)
dbReadTable(con, "cash")
dbReadTable(con, "account")
# Rolling back after detecting negative value on account:
dbBegin(con)
withdrawal <- 5000
dbExecute(con, "UPDATE cash SET amount = amount + ?", list(withdrawal))
dbExecute(con, "UPDATE account SET amount = amount - ?", list(withdrawal))
if (dbReadTable(con, "account")\$amount >= 0) {
dbCommit(con)
} else {
dbRollback(con)
}
dbReadTable(con, "cash")
dbReadTable(con, "account")
dbDisconnect(con)This section describes the behavior of the following methods:
Given that transactions are implemented, this function allows you to
pass in code that is run in a transaction. The default method of
dbWithTransaction() calls dbBegin() before
executing the code, and dbCommit() after successful
completion, or dbRollback() in case of an error. The
advantage is that you don’t have to remember to do
dbBegin() and dbCommit() or
dbRollback() – that is all taken care of. The special
function dbBreak() allows an early exit with rollback, it
can be called only inside dbWithTransaction().
conn |
A DBIConnection object, as returned by
dbConnect(). |
code |
An arbitrary block of R code. |
... |
Other parameters passed on to methods. |
DBI implements dbWithTransaction(), backends should need
to override this generic only if they implement specialized
handling.
dbWithTransaction() returns the value of the executed
code.
Failure to initiate the transaction (e.g., if the connection is
closed or invalid of if dbBegin() has been called already)
gives an error.
dbWithTransaction() initiates a transaction with
dbBegin(), executes the code given in the code
argument, and commits the transaction with dbCommit(). If
the code raises an error, the transaction is instead aborted with
dbRollback(), and the error is propagated. If the code
calls dbBreak(), execution of the code stops and the
transaction is silently aborted. All side effects caused by the code
(such as the creation of new variables) propagate to the calling
environment.
con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:")
dbWriteTable(con, "cash", data.frame(amount = 100))
dbWriteTable(con, "account", data.frame(amount = 2000))
# All operations are carried out as logical unit:
dbWithTransaction(
con,
{
withdrawal <- 300
dbExecute(con, "UPDATE cash SET amount = amount + ?", list(withdrawal))
dbExecute(con, "UPDATE account SET amount = amount - ?", list(withdrawal))
}
)
# The code is executed as if in the current environment:
withdrawal
# The changes are committed to the database after successful execution:
dbReadTable(con, "cash")
dbReadTable(con, "account")
# Rolling back with dbBreak():
dbWithTransaction(
con,
{
withdrawal <- 5000
dbExecute(con, "UPDATE cash SET amount = amount + ?", list(withdrawal))
dbExecute(con, "UPDATE account SET amount = amount - ?", list(withdrawal))
if (dbReadTable(con, "account")\$amount < 0) {
dbBreak()
}
}
)
# These changes were not committed to the database:
dbReadTable(con, "cash")
dbReadTable(con, "account")
dbDisconnect(con)This section describes the behavior of the following method:
Retrieves information on objects of class DBIDriver, DBIConnection or DBIResult.
dbObj |
An object inheriting from DBIObject, i.e. DBIDriver, DBIConnection, or a DBIResult |
... |
Other arguments to methods. |
For objects of class DBIDriver, dbGetInfo() returns a
named list that contains at least the following components:
driver.version: the package version of the DBI
backend,
client.version: the version of the DBMS client
library.
For objects of class DBIConnection, dbGetInfo() returns
a named list that contains at least the following components:
db.version: version of the database server,
dbname: database name,
username: username to connect to the
database,
host: hostname of the database server,
port: port on the database server. It must not
contain a password component. Components that are not
applicable should be set to NA.
For objects of class DBIResult, dbGetInfo() returns a
named list that contains at least the following components:
statatment: the statement used with
dbSendQuery() or dbExecute(), as returned by
dbGetStatement(),
row.count: the number of rows fetched so far (for
queries), as returned by dbGetRowCount(),
rows.affected: the number of rows affected (for
statements), as returned by dbGetRowsAffected()
has.completed: a logical that indicates if the query
or statement has completed, as returned by
dbHasCompleted().
The default implementation for DBIResult objects
constructs such a list from the return values of the corresponding
methods, dbGetStatement(), dbGetRowCount(),
dbGetRowsAffected(), and dbHasCompleted().
These binaries (installable software) and packages are in development.
They may not be fully stable and should be used with caution. We make no claims about them.
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