Host variables are data items declared in a host application program and used in both
host language statements and embedded SQL statements. They provide
communication between SQL statements and the host language statements
. An input
host variable transfers data from a host language program to an SQL/MX database,
and an output host variable transfers data from a database to the program.
A host variable is a C variable with a data type that corresponds to an SQL data type.
You use host variables to provide communication between C and SQL statements and
to receive data from a database or to insert data into a database.
When you specify a host variable in an SQL statement, precede the host variable
name with a colon (:). In C statements, you do not need the colon, as shown:
EXEC SQL SELECT column1 INTO :host_variable1 FROM =table
WHERE column1 > :host_variable2;
strcpy(new_name, host_variable1);
EXEC SQL SELECT column1 INTO :host_variable1 FROM =table
WHERE column1 > :host_variable2;
strcpy(new_name, host_variable1);