Sybase Tech Tips / FAQ

Table of Contents

General

1. sqsh spews out errors after I give my password
2. I have seen you typing ';' at the end of command instead of 'go'. How do I enable it?
3. How do I list the tables I created?
4. I am not able to access sybase through perl+dbi
5. How do I change my password?
6. My project doesn't require sybase. Can I still use database and create table?
7. What is pubs2 and pubs3?
8. What is use?

Groups

1. What are these groups?
2. How do you find out my group?
3. I am in the creators group, what should I do?
4. I am in the creators team, I have created a table but my friends in the team are not able to access it
5. I am in the users team, What should I do?

Advanced

1. How do I specify wild cards in commands?
2. How do I access sybase from C programs?
3. I use bash as my default shell. Do you have a sybase.bashrc?

1. sqsh spews out errors after I give password
   • If it is some thing like this after you give password

     sqsh-1.7 Copyright (C) 1995-1999 Scott C. Gray
     This is free software with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
     For more information type '\warranty'
     Password: 
     Open Client Message
     Layer 6, Origin 8, Severity 5, Number 3
     ct_connect(): directory service layer: internal directory control layer error:
     Requested server name not found.
     Open Client Message
     Layer 2, Origin 1, Severity 1, Number 31
     cs_ctx_drop: cslib user api layer: external error: The context structure cannot
     be dropped because the application has not exited from ct
     

     You have to execute the following command before starting sqsh.

     source /local/etc/sybase.cshrc
     

   • If it is some thing like this after you give password

     sqsh-1.7 Copyright (C) 1995-1999 Scott C. Gray
     This is free software with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
     For more information type '\warranty'
     Password: 
     Msg 4002, Level 14, State 1
     Server 'CISE_DATASERVER_0', Line 1
     Login failed.
     Open Client Message
     Layer 4, Origin 1, Severity 4, Number 44
     ct_connect(): protocol specific layer: external error: The attempt to connect to
     the server failed.
     Open Client Message
     Layer 2, Origin 1, Severity 1, Number 31
     cs_ctx_drop: cslib user api layer: external error: The context structure cannot
     be dropped because the application has not exited from ct
     

     Then you mistyped the password. Type it again correctly.

2. I have seen you typing ';' at the end of command instead of 'go'. How do I enable it?

   To enable the semicolon hack, you have to put the following line in .sqshrc. The file has to be created in your home directory

   	\set semicolon_hack=1
   

   The file doesn't exist by default. You have to create a file and put above line in it.

3. How do I list the tables I created?

   The following command lists the tables in database

   	sp_tables
   	go
   

   It only lists the tables you created or have access to. The table names starting with sys are system tables which you generally do not have access.

4. I am not able to access sybase through perl+dbi

   Make sure that in the call to DBI connect you have given your password. You should be able to access the database with a statement like the following

   $dbh = DBI->connect('DBI:Sybase:CISE_DATASERVER_0', 'username', 'password');
   

   Substitue your username and password in the above statement for proper results.

5. How do I change my password?

   You can change your password with the following command

   sp_password "old password", "new password"
   

   The double quotes are required, if you have special characters in your password.

6. My project doesn't require sybase. Can I still use database and create table?

   If you want to use it as a learning process, we welcome it. Register for the sybase account and mail me your CISE user id.

   Whenever you login, you will be logged in as a guest user. The tables you create will be with user name guest. If you want access to other teams tables, ask the creators team to grant permission. It's left to the creator team's discretion whether to grant permission or not.

7. What is pubs2 and pubs3?

   These are two general purpose database which can be used by any one. These databases can be used for testing purposes. Use the command use (see next question) to change the database you are working on.

8. What is use?

   When you login, you will be having to access to a database named defdb which for this year is cen3031_su01. The table you create gets created in this database. If you want to create tables in a different database, you need to change the present working database with use

   Say you want to work on pubs2 database. The you would issue the following command

   	use pubs2
   	go
   

   Now onwards, the tables you create will be created in pubs2 database.

1. What are these groups?

   For easy management of users, every user in the section is put in one of the groups named

   	se<section number>c  	(or)
   	se<section number>u
   

   The group ending with 'c' contains students who will be creating tables. Students in the other group will be using the tables. If you don't know to which you group you should belong to, please see your recitation TA.

2. How do I find out my group?

   You must have already been assigned a group. The following command at sqsh prompt shows your group

   	sp_helpuser <your user name>
   	go
   

   This prints your user name along with the group to which you belong to.

3. I am in the creators team, what should I do?

   • The creators team in each section is responsible for creating and administering tables required by other teams. Only one of the students in your team should create tables. You should create tables according to the needs of table user teams.
   • After creating tables you should grant permissions to the users group with the following command

     	grant select, insert, update, delete on <table name> to se<section number>u
     	grant all on <table name> to staff;
     	go
     

     Say you are in section 6248 and created a table named demo then you give permission to access this table with following command

     	grant select, insert, update, delete on demo to se6248u
     	grant all on demo to staff;
     	go
     

     The second command should be executed so that cen3031 staff (Dr. Cubert and his TAs) will be able to access your tables.

4. I am in the creators team, I have created a table but my friends in the team are not able to access it

   You should grant all permissions on the table to your friends in the team, so that they can administer the table. It's done with

   	grant all on <table name> to se<section number>c
   	go
   

   Say you are in section 6248 and created a table named demo then you give permission to do administrative tasks to your friends in the team with

   	grant all on demo to se6248c
   	go
   

5. I am in the users team, What should I do?

   You should use the tables created by the creators team. You should talk with them to provide you with proper tables to work with. It's your responsibility to ask them to create tables. If you are not able to access tables, ask them to grant permissions to you.

1. How do I specify wild cards in commands?

   Wild cards can be used in certain commands for selecting multiple things in a command. For example, if you want to find out all the tables starting with the suffix 'sys', you would write the command as follows

   	sp_tables 'sys%'
   	go
   

   The percentage(%) character denotes a string of length 0 or more. Other wild characters commonly used are
   
   

   Symbol	Meaning
   %	Any string of 0 or more characters
   _	Any single character
   [ ]	Any single character within the specified range ([a-f]) or set ([abcdef])
   [^]	Any single character not within the specified range ([^a-f]) or set ([^abcdef])

   
   For more information follow this link
   

2. How do I access sybase from C programs?

   There are variety of ways through which you can access sybase database through 'C'. Follow this link for more information.

3. I use bash as my default shell. Do you have a sybase.bashrc?

   Yes !!! Follow this link for more information.