NAME

     fisql — interactive SQL shell

SYNOPSIS

     fisql [-eFgpnvXY] [-a display_charset] [-A packet_size] [-c cmdend] [-D database]
           [-E editor] [-h headers] [-H hostname] [-i inputfile] [-I interfaces_file]
           [-J client_charset] [-l login_timeout] [-m errorlevel] [-o outputfile] [-P password]
           [-s colseparator] [-S server] [-t timeout] [-U username] [-w width] [-y sybase_dir]
           [-z language]

DESCRIPTION

     fisql is very similar to the ‘isql’ utility programs distributed by Sybase and Microsoft.
     Like them, fisql uses the command ‘go’ on a line by itself as a separator between batches.

OPTIONS

     -a display_charset
             The client charset name. Not implemented.

     -A packet_size
             Set protocol packet size. You should not need to set this parameter.

     -c cmdend
             Command terminator, defaults to ‘go’.

     -D      Database name on the server to use.

     -e      Echo SQL input (usually in outputfile)

     -E editor
             Specify an editor to invoke. Defaults to vi.

     -F      FIPS mode ON. Server returns a message (but processes the query anyway) when it
             encounters a non-standard SQL command.

     -g      Display a brief help message

     -h headers
             Number of rows after which to repeat the column headers. Default is once per
             resultset.

     -H hostname
             Hostname of the client machine as it will be told to the server.

     -I interfaces_file
             Name of the interfaces or freetds.conf file to use.

     -i inputfile
             Name of script file, containing SQL.

     -J client_charset
             Not implemented.

     -l login_timeout
             How long to wait for the server to acknowledge a login attempt.

     -m errorlevel
             For errors of the severity level specified or higher, print only the message number,
             state, and error level.  Below that level, print nothing.

     -n      Suppress line numbers in echoed output.

     -o outputfile
             Name of output file, holding result data.

     -p      Prints performance statistics. Not implemented.

     -P password
             Database server password.

     -s colseparator
             The column separator. Default is space. Shell metacharacters require quoting.

     -S server
             Database server to which to connect.

     -t timeout
             The query timeout, in seconds. How long to wait for a query to be processed.  The
             default is indefinitely, or as determined by freetds.conf.

     -U username
             Database server login name.

     -v      Display version and copyright.

     -w width
             How many characters wide to print the output. Defaults to 80.

     -X      Use encrypted login. Not implemented in FreeTDS.

     -y sybase_dir
             Sets the SYBASE environment variable. Not used by FreeTDS.

     -Y      Use chained transactions.

     -z language
             Name of a language for fisql's prompts and messages.  Cf. DBSETLNATLANG.

NOTES

     fisql is a filter; it reads from standard input, writes to standard output, and writes
     errors to standard error. The -i, -o, and -e options override these defaults.

     fisql uses the DB-Library API provided by FreeTDS. It was first implemented using Sybase's
     own library and continues to work with it. Before (and after) modifying it, it would be well
     to test it with Sybase's library to assure compatibility between it and FreeTDS.  EXIT
     STATUS

     fisql exits 0 on success, and >0 if the server cannot process the query.

     fisql will report any errors returned by the server, but will continue processing. In a
     production environment, this behavior may be insufficiently stringent. To make it extremely
     intolerant of errors, change the message and error handlers to call exit(3).

HISTORY

     fisql first appeared in FreeTDS 0.65.

AUTHORS

     The fisql utility was written by Nicholas S. Castellano <entropy@freetds.org>, who
     contributed it to the FreeTDS project under the terms of the GPL.

BUGS

     Requires the GNU readline library.