Global and Local Variables

Variables can be either global or local. Their behavior is as follows:

• The value of a global variable, once it is set, applies across all SCBs. An inspection of a global variable indicates that the setting passed back is applicable to the complete environment or scope of the EDAINIT.

For example, the server major version variable (EDA_VAR_MAJOR) is a global variable. There is only one major version of the API, and it is stored centrally. (The server major version is also an example of a read-only variable.)

Note: For global variables, the SCB parameter supplied with an EDASET or an EDAINSPECT method call is ignored.

• Local variables have meaning only within the context of a given SCB. The setting of a local variable for an SCB will not affect the behavior of other SCBs.

Consider the Database Engine variable. If it were set to DB2 for a particular SCB (for example, scb1), all subsequent scb1-based SQL operations would use the DB2 engine. There would be no change in the behavior of requests controlled by other SCBs.

The inspection of a local variable value applies only for that SCB.

Some variables have been created for internal use only and therefore are not recommended for use elsewhere. See the EDA.H file provided on your API SDK media for a current list of variable definitions.