Ingres provides Dynamic SQL and Dynamic FRS to allow you to write generic programs. Dynamic SQL allows a program to build and execute SQL statements at runtime. For example, an application can include an expert mode in which the runtime user can type in select queries and browse the results at the terminal. Dynamic FRS allows a program to interact with any form at runtime. For example, an application can load in any form, allowing the runtime user to retrieve new data from the form and insert it into the database.

The Dynamic SQL and Dynamic FRS statements are described in the SQL Reference Guide and the Forms-based Application Development Tools User Guide. This section discusses the Fortran-dependent issues of dynamic programming. For a complete example of using Dynamic SQL to write an SQL Terminal Monitor application, see The SQL Terminal Monitor Application in this chapter. For an example of using both Dynamic SQL and Dynamic FRS to browse and update a database using any form, see A Dynamic SQL/Forms Database Browser in this chapter.

The VMS examples in this section make use of the VMS extensions to the Fortran language. Because the SQLDA is a structure, the UNIX examples in this section apply only to those F77 Fortran compilers that have been extended to include the support of the structures.