NAME

       fisql - interactive SQL shell

SYNOPSIS

       fisql [-e] [-F] [-g] [-p] [-n] [-v] [-X] [-Y]
              [-a display_charset] [-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.

       -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, of course.

       fisql uses the db-lib 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.