Firebird 3.0

Firebird 3.
0 Developer’s Guide
Denis Simonov
Version 1.1, 27 June 2020

Preface
Author of the written material and creator of the sample project on five
development platforms, originally as a series of magazine articles: Denis
Simonov
Translation of original Russian text to English: Dmitry Borodin (MegaTranslations Ltd)
Editor of the translated text: Helen Borrie
Copyright © 2017-2020 Firebird Project and all contributing authors, under the Public
Documentation License Version 1.0. Please refer to the License Notice in the Appendix
This volume consists of chapters that walk through the development of a

simple application for several language platforms, notably Delphi, Microsoft
Entity Framework and MVC.NET (“Model-View-Controller”) for web applications,
PHP and Java with the Spring framework. It is hoped that the work will grow in
time, with contributions from authors using other stacks with Firebird.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. About the Firebird Developer’s Guide: for Firebird 3.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1. About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1.1. Translation… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1.2. … and More Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. The examples.fdb Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1. Database Creation Script. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1.1. Database Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2. Creating the Database Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2.1. Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2.2. Primary Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2.3. Secondary Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2.4. Stored Procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.5. Roles and Privileges for Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.3. Saving and Running the Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.4. Loading Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3. Developing Firebird Applications in Delphi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.1. Starting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2. TFDConnection Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.3. Path to the Client Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.3.1. Developing for Embedded Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.4. Connection parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.4.1. Connection Parameters in a Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.4.2. Connecting to the database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.5. Working with Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.5.1. TFDTransaction Component. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.6. Datasets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

3.6.1. TFDQuery Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.6.2. TFDUpdateSQL component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.7. TFDCommand component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.7.1. Types of Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.8. Creating the Primary Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.8.1. The Read-only Transaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.8.2. The Read/Write Transaction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.8.3. Configuring the Customer Module for Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.8.4. Implementing the Customer Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.8.5. Using a RETURNING Clause to Acquire an Autoinc Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.9. Creating a Secondary Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
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3.9.1. The Transactions for Invoice Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.9.2. A Filter for the Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.9.3. Configuring the Module. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.9.4. Doing the Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.9.5. The Invoice Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.10. The Result . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

3.11. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

3.12. Source Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4. Developing Firebird Applications with Microsoft Entity Framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4.1. Methods of Interacting with a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4.2. Setting Up for Firebird in Visual Studio 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4.2.1. The Installation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
4.3. Creating a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
4.3.1. Adding Packages to the Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
4.4. Creating an Entity Data Model (EDM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.4.1. The EDM Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.5. Creating a User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.5.1. Getting a Context. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.6. Working with Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4.6.1. LINQ Extension Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.7. Secondary Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
4.7.1. Filtering Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

4.7.2. Loading the Invoice Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.7.3. Showing the Invoice Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
4.7.4. Working with Stored Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
4.7.5. Showing Products for Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4.8. Working with Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.9. The Result . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

4.10. Source Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

5. Creating Web Applications in Entity Framework with MVC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
5.1. The .NET Frameworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
5.2. The ASP.NET MVC Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
5.2.1. Model-View-Controller Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
5.3. Software Stack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

5.3.1. Preparing Visual Studio 2015 for Firebird Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
5.4. Creating a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

5.4.1. Structure of the Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
5.4.2. Adding the Missing Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
5.5. Creating an EDM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
5.6. Creating a User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5.6.1. Creating the Controller for the Customer Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
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5.7. Adapting the Controller to jqGrid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.7.1. The Attribute ValidateAntiforgeryToken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.8. Bundles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

5.9. Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

5.10. Creating a UI for Secondary Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
5.10.1. Controllers for Invoices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
5.10.2. Views for Invoices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
5.10.3. Dialog Boxes for Invoices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
5.11. Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
5.11.1. Infrastructure for Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
5.12. Authorizing Access to Controller Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
5.13. Source Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
6. Developing Web Applications with PHP and Firebird . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
6.1. Interfacing PHP and Firebird . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
6.1.1. PHP Drivers for Firebird . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
6.1.2. Comparing the Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
6.2. Choosing a Framework for Building a Web Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
6.3. Installing Laravel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
6.3.1. Installing Composer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
6.3.2. Installing Laravel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
6.4. Creating a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
6.4.1. Our Project’s Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
6.4.2. Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
6.5. Creating Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
6.5.1. A Tool for Model-making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
6.5.2. Invoice Items Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
6.5.3. How Laravel Manages Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
6.6. Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
6.7. Creating Controllers and Configuring Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
6.7.1. Using Controllers to Route Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
6.7.2. A Customer Controller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
6.7.3. A Product Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
6.7.4. A Controller for Invoices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
6.7.5. Changing the Routes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
6.8. The Result . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

6.8.1. Source Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
7. Creating an Application with jOOQ and Spring MVC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
7.1. Organising the Folder Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
7.2. Coding the Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
7.3. Start-up Code — WebInitializer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
7.4. Generating classes for jOOQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
4
Table of Contents
7.4.1. jOOQ Classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

7.5. Dependency Injection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
7.5.1. Configuring IoC Containers for Dependency Injection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
7.6. Creating SQL Queries Using jOOQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
7.6.1. The jOOQ DSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

7.6.2. Named and Unnamed Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
7.6.3. Returning Values from SELECT Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
7.6.4. Other Types of Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
7.6.5. Stored Procedures with jOOQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
7.7. Working with Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
7.7.1. Explicit Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
7.8. Writing the Application Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
7.9. Creating the Primary Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
7.9.1. CustomerManager Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
7.9.2. Customer Controller Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
7.10. Creating Secondary Modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
7.10.1. Invoice Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

7.10.2. InvoiceManager Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
7.10.3. Invoice Controller Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
7.10.4. Displaying the Invoices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
7.11. The Result. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

7.11.1. Source Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Appendix A: License notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Appendix B: Document History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
5
Chapter 1. About the Firebird Developer’s Guide: for Firebird 3.0
Chapter 1. About the Firebird Developer’s

Guide: for Firebird 3.0
This volume consists of chapters that walk through the development of a simple application for
several language platforms, notably Delphi, Microsoft Entity Framework and MVC.NET (“Model-
View-Controller”) for web applications, PHP and Java with the Spring framework. It is hoped that
the work will grow in time, with contributions from authors using other stacks with Firebird.
1.1. About the Author

Denis Simonov…
1.1.1. Translation…
Development of the original Russian version was sponsored by IBSurgeon and Moscow Exchange
Bank. A crowd-funding campaign was launched by the Firebird Foundation in 2017 to fund the
translation into English to provide this document as the foundation for translation by Firebird
Project document writers into other languages.
The campaign succeeded in raising enough to get the process under way.
1.1.2. … and More Translation
Once the DocBook source appears in GitHub, we hope the trusty translators will start making
versions in German, Japanese, Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Czech. Certainly, we never have
enough translators so please, you Firebirders who have English as a second language, do consider
translating some chapters into your first language.
1.2. Acknowledgments
We acknowledge these contributions of sponsors and donors with gratitude and thank you all for
stepping up.
Sponsors and Other Donors
Sponsors of the Russian Languageversion of this Guide
• Moscow Exchange (Russia)
Moscow Exchange is the largest exchange holding in Russia and Eastern Europe, founded on
December 19, 2011, through the consolidation of the MICEX (founded in 1992) and RTS (founded in
1995) exchange groups. Moscow Exchange ranks among the world’s top 20 exchanges by trading
in bonds and by the total capitalization of shares traded, as well as among the 10 largest exchange
platforms for trading derivatives.
• IBSurgeon (ibase.ru) (Russia)
6
Chapter 1. About the Firebird Developer’s Guide: for Firebird 3.0
Technical support and developer of administrator tools for the Firebird DBMS.
Sponsors of the Translation Project
• Firebird Developers' Day contributors, 2017 (Brazil)
• Syntess Software BV (Netherlands)
Other Donors
Listed below are the names of companies and individuals whose cash contributions covered the
costs for translation into English, editing of the raw, translated text and conversion of the whole
into the Firebird Project’s standard DocBook 4 documentation source format.
Peter Lee (Australia) Marknadsinformation i Sverige Thomas M. Conrad (U.S.A.)

AB (Sweden)
Transdata GmbH (Germany) Doug Chamberlin (U.S.A) Francis Mullan (South Africa)
Francis Moore (U.K.) Laurent Guétin (Burkina Faso) Juan Antonio Mendoza Gil
Massimilliano Coros Robert Firl Roland van Morckhoven

(Netherlands)
Aparecido Silva Andrew Kipcharsky (Russian Deon van Niekerk

Federation)
Hartmuth Prüfer (Germany) Martin Mutiku Martin Köditz (Germany)
Myles Wakeham (U.S.A.) Mark Rotteveel (Netherlands) Pal Lillejord
Roknic Dusan Chong Ray Solucionalia Consultores

Auditores, S.L. (Spain)
Jean-Marc Couret Nilson Kenji Aguena Gabor Boros
Guiseppe Minutillo (Italy) Artur Henneberg Chris Mathews (U.S.A.)
Ivan Cruz James Batson Kjell Rilbe (Sweden)
Paolo Sciarrini (Italy) Antonis Tsourinakis (Greece) Arkadiusz Wolanski (Poland)
Gerdus van Zyl (South Africa) Michele Denys Michael Trowe
Ralf Stegemann Shaymon Gracia Campos Alessandro Marcellini
Juan Carlos Ramirez Alexander K. Bowie Alberto Fornes Llodra
Cserna Zsombor Jozo Leko Juergen Bachsteffel (Germany)
Jose Antonio Amate Belchi Michele Giordano Vasily Vasilov
7
Chapter 2. The examples.fdb Database

Before we explore the process of creating applications in various programming languages, we will
walk through the creation and preparation of the database that is used as the back-end to all of the
sample projects.
The applications work with a database based on the model illustrated in this diagram:
Figure 1. Model of the examples.fdb database
Disclaimer
This chapter does not attempt to provide a tutorial about database design or SQL
syntax. The model is made as simple as possible to avoid cluttering the application
development techniques with topics about database modeling and development.
 We hope some readers might be enlightened by our approach to maintaining

interrelated data using stored procedures. The scripts are all here for you to refer
to as you work your way through the projects.
The requirements for your real-life projects are undoubtedly different from and
much more complicated than those for our example projects.
2.1. Database Creation Script

The tool used here to create the database from a script is isql, that is installed with all the other
executables in every Firebird server installation. You could use any other administration tool for
Firebird, such as FlameRobin, SQLLY Studio, IBExpert or others.
We will assume that you are working in Windows. Obviously, the formats of path names will differ
on other file systems (Linux, Apple Mac, etc.) but the isql tool works the same on all platforms.
Run isql and enter the following script after the SQL> prompt appears:
8
CREATE DATABASE 'localhost:D:\fbdata\2.5\examples.fdb'

USER 'SYSDBA' PASSWORD 'masterkey'
PAGE_SIZE 8192 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET UTF8;
The straight single quotes around the user and password arguments are not
optional in Firebird 2.5 and lower versions because, in the CREATE DATABASE syntax,
both are strings.
In Firebird 3, the rules changed. User names became identifiers and no longer
 require single quotes. They can be made case-sensitive by enclosing the name in
DOUBLE quotes, so you need to be aware of how that user is registered in the
security database. Passwords are still strings.
Quotes in the statement are not interchangeable with curly quotes, angle quotes or
any other kind of quotes.
The user whose name and password are cited in the CREATE DATABASE statement becomes the
owner of the database and has full access to all metadata objects. It is not essential that SYSDBA be
the owner of a database. Any user can be the owner, which has the same access as SYSDBA in this
database.
The actively supported versions of Firebird support the following page sizes: 4096, 8192 and 16384.
The page size of 8192 is good for most cases.
The optional DEFAULT CHARACTER SET clause specifies the default character set for string data types.
Character sets are applied to the CHAR, VARCHAR and BLOB SUB_TYPE TEXT data types. You can study the
list of available language encodings in an Appendix to the Firebird Language Reference manual. All
up-to-date programming languages support UTF8, so we choose this encoding.
Now we can exit the isql session by typing the following command:
EXIT;
2.1.1. Database Aliases
Databases are accessed locally and remotely by their physical file path on the server. Before you
start to use a database, it is useful and wise to register an alias for its file path and to use the alias
for all connections. It saves typing and, to some degree, it offers a little extra security from snoopers
by obscuring the physical location of your database file in the connection string.
In Firebird 2.5, the alias of a database is registered in the aliases.conf file as follows:
examples = D:\fbdata\2.5\examples.fdb
In Firebird 3.0, the alias of a database is registered in the databases.conf file. Along with the alias
for the database, some database-level parameters can be configured there: page cache size, the size
9
of RAM for sorting and several others, e.g.,
examples = D:\fbdata\3.0\examples.fdb
{
DefaultDbCachePages = 16K
TempCacheLimit = 512M
}
You can use an alias even before the database exists. It is valid to substitute the full
 file path with the alias in the CREATE DATABASE statement.
2.2. Creating the Database Objects

Now let us create a script for building the database objects.
2.2.1. Domains
First, we define some domains that we will use in column definitions.
CREATE DOMAIN D_BOOLEAN AS

SMALLINT
CHECK (VALUE IN (0, 1));
COMMENT ON DOMAIN D_BOOLEAN IS

'Boolean type. 0 - FALSE, 1- TRUE';
CREATE DOMAIN D_MONEY AS

NUMERIC(15,2);
CREATE DOMAIN D_ZIPCODE AS

CHAR(10) CHARACTER SET UTF8
CHECK (TRIM(TRAILING FROM VALUE) SIMILAR TO '[0-9]+');
COMMENT ON DOMAIN D_ZIPCODE IS

'Zip code';
BOOLEAN Type
In Firebird 3.0, there is a native BOOLEAN type. Some drivers do not support it, due to its relatively
recent appearance in Firebird’s SQL lexicon. With that in mind, our applications will be built on a
database that will work with either Firebird 2.5 or Firebird 3.0.
Before Firebird 3, servers could connect clients to databases that were created
 under older Firebird versions. Firebird 3 can connect only to databases that were
created on or restored under Firebird 3.
10
2.2.2. Primary Tables
Now let us proceed to the primary tables. The first will be the CUSTOMER table. We will create a
sequence (a generator) for its primary key and a corresponding trigger for implementing it as an
auto-incrementing column. We will do the same for each of the tables.
CREATE GENERATOR GEN_CUSTOMER_ID;
CREATE TABLE CUSTOMER (

CUSTOMER_ID INTEGER NOT NULL,
NAME VARCHAR(60) NOT NULL,
ADDRESS VARCHAR(250),
ZIPCODE D_ZIPCODE,
PHONE VARCHAR(14),
CONSTRAINT PK_CUSTOMER PRIMARY KEY (CUSTOMER_ID)
);
SET TERM ^ ;
CREATE OR ALTER TRIGGER CUSTOMER_BI FOR CUSTOMER

ACTIVE BEFORE INSERT POSITION 0
AS
BEGIN
IF (NEW.CUSTOMER_ID IS NULL) THEN
NEW.CUSTOMER_ID = NEXT VALUE FOR GEN_CUSTOMER_ID;
END
^
SET TERM ; ^
COMMENT ON TABLE CUSTOMER IS

'Customers';
COMMENT ON COLUMN CUSTOMER.CUSTOMER_ID IS

'Customer Id';
COMMENT ON COLUMN CUSTOMER.NAME IS

'Name';
COMMENT ON COLUMN CUSTOMER.ADDRESS IS

'Address';
COMMENT ON COLUMN CUSTOMER.ZIPCODE IS

'Zip Code';
COMMENT ON COLUMN CUSTOMER.PHONE IS

'Phone';
11
• In Firebird 3.0, you can use IDENTITY columns as auto-incremental fields. The
script for creating the table would then be as follows:
CREATE TABLE CUSTOMER (

CUSTOMER_ID INTEGER GENERATED BY DEFAULT AS IDENTITY,
ADDRESS VARCHAR(250),
ZIPCODE D_ZIPCODE,
 PHONE VARCHAR(14),
CONSTRAINT PK_CUSTOMER PRIMARY KEY (CUSTOMER_ID)
);
• In Firebird 3.0, you need the USAGE privilege to use a sequence (generator), so
you will have to add the following line to the script:
GRANT USAGE ON SEQUENCE GEN_CUSTOMER_ID TO TRIGGER CUSTOMER_BI;
Now we construct a script for creating the PRODUCT table:
12
CREATE GENERATOR GEN_PRODUCT_ID;
CREATE TABLE PRODUCT (

PRODUCT_ID INTEGER NOT NULL,
PRICE D_MONEY NOT NULL,
DESCRIPTION BLOB SUB_TYPE 1 SEGMENT SIZE 80,
CONSTRAINT PK_PRODUCT PRIMARY KEY (PRODUCT_ID)
);
SET TERM ^;
CREATE OR ALTER TRIGGER PRODUCT_BI FOR PRODUCT

AS
BEGIN
IF (NEW.PRODUCT_ID IS NULL) THEN
NEW.PRODUCT_ID = NEXT VALUE FOR GEN_PRODUCT_ID;
END
^
SET TERM ;^
COMMENT ON TABLE PRODUCT IS

'Goods';
COMMENT ON COLUMN PRODUCT.PRODUCT_ID IS

'Product Id';
COMMENT ON COLUMN PRODUCT.NAME IS

'Name';
COMMENT ON COLUMN PRODUCT.PRICE IS

'Price';
COMMENT ON COLUMN PRODUCT.DESCRIPTION IS

'Description';
In Firebird 3.0, you need to add the command for granting the USAGE privilege for a
sequence (generator) to the script:

GRANT USAGE ON SEQUENCE GEN_PRODUCT_ID TO TRIGGER PRODUCT_BI;
2.2.3. Secondary Tables
The script for creating the INVOICE table:
13
CREATE GENERATOR GEN_INVOICE_ID;
CREATE TABLE INVOICE (

INVOICE_ID INTEGER NOT NULL,
CUSTOMER_ID INTEGER NOT NULL,
INVOICE_DATE TIMESTAMP,
TOTAL_SALE D_MONEY,
PAID D_BOOLEAN DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT PK_INVOICE PRIMARY KEY (INVOICE_ID)
);
ALTER TABLE INVOICE ADD CONSTRAINT FK_INVOCE_CUSTOMER

FOREIGN KEY (CUSTOMER_ID) REFERENCES CUSTOMER (CUSTOMER_ID);
CREATE INDEX INVOICE_IDX_DATE ON INVOICE (INVOICE_DATE);
SET TERM ^;
CREATE OR ALTER TRIGGER INVOICE_BI FOR INVOICE

AS
BEGIN
IF (NEW.INVOICE_ID IS NULL) THEN
NEW.INVOICE_ID = GEN_ID(GEN_INVOICE_ID,1);
END
^
SET TERM ;^
COMMENT ON TABLE INVOICE IS

'Invoices';
COMMENT ON COLUMN INVOICE.INVOICE_ID IS

'Invoice number';
COMMENT ON COLUMN INVOICE.CUSTOMER_ID IS

'Customer Id';
COMMENT ON COLUMN INVOICE.INVOICE_DATE IS

'The date of issuance invoices';
COMMENT ON COLUMN INVOICE.TOTAL_SALE IS

'Total sum';
COMMENT ON COLUMN INVOICE.PAID IS

'Paid';
The INVOICE_DATE column is indexed because we will be filtering invoices by date to enable the
records to be selected by a work period that will be application-defined by a start date and an end
14
date.

GRANT USAGE ON SEQUENCE GEN_INVOICE_ID TO TRIGGER INVOICE_BI;
The script for creating the INVOICE_LINE table:
15
CREATE GENERATOR GEN_INVOICE_LINE_ID;
CREATE TABLE INVOICE_LINE (

INVOICE_LINE_ID INTEGER NOT NULL,
INVOICE_ID INTEGER NOT NULL,
PRODUCT_ID INTEGER NOT NULL,
QUANTITY NUMERIC(15,0) NOT NULL,
SALE_PRICE D_MONEY NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT PK_INVOICE_LINE PRIMARY KEY (INVOICE_LINE_ID)
);
ALTER TABLE INVOICE_LINE ADD CONSTRAINT FK_INVOICE_LINE_INVOICE

FOREIGN KEY (INVOICE_ID) REFERENCES INVOICE (INVOICE_ID);
ALTER TABLE INVOICE_LINE ADD CONSTRAINT FK_INVOICE_LINE_PRODUCT

FOREIGN KEY (PRODUCT_ID) REFERENCES PRODUCT (PRODUCT_ID);
SET TERM ^;
CREATE OR ALTER TRIGGER INVOICE_LINE_BI FOR INVOICE_LINE

AS
BEGIN
IF (NEW.INVOICE_LINE_ID IS NULL) THEN
NEW.INVOICE_LINE_ID = NEXT VALUE FOR GEN_INVOICE_LINE_ID;
END
^
SET TERM ;^
COMMENT ON TABLE INVOICE_LINE IS

'Invoice lines';
COMMENT ON COLUMN INVOICE_LINE.INVOICE_LINE_ID IS

'Invoice line Id';
COMMENT ON COLUMN INVOICE_LINE.INVOICE_ID IS

'Invoice number';
COMMENT ON COLUMN INVOICE_LINE.PRODUCT_ID IS

'Product Id';
COMMENT ON COLUMN INVOICE_LINE.QUANTITY IS

'Quantity';
COMMENT ON COLUMN INVOICE_LINE.SALE_PRICE IS

'Price';
16

GRANT USAGE ON SEQUENCE GEN_INVOICE_LINE_ID TO TRIGGER INVOICE_LINE_BI;
2.2.4. Stored Procedures
Some parts of the business logic will be implemented by means of stored procedures.
Adding a new invoice
The procedure for adding a new invoice is quite simple:
17
SET TERM ^;
CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE (

INVOICE_ID INTEGER,
CUSTOMER_ID INTEGER,
INVOICE_DATE TIMESTAMP = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP)
AS
BEGIN
INSERT INTO INVOICE (
INVOICE_ID,
CUSTOMER_ID,
INVOICE_DATE,
TOTAL_SALE,
PAID
)
VALUES (
:INVOICE_ID,
:CUSTOMER_ID,
:INVOICE_DATE,
0,
0
);
END
^
SET TERM ;^
COMMENT ON PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE IS

'Adding Invoice';
COMMENT ON PARAMETER SP_ADD_INVOICE.INVOICE_ID IS

'Invoice number';
COMMENT ON PARAMETER SP_ADD_INVOICE.CUSTOMER_ID IS

'Customer Id';
COMMENT ON PARAMETER SP_ADD_INVOICE.INVOICE_DATE IS

'Date';
GRANT INSERT ON INVOICE TO PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE;
Editing an invoice
The procedure for editing an invoice is a bit more complicated. We will include a rule to block
further editing of an invoice once it is paid. We will create an exception that will be raised if an
attempt is made to modify a paid invoice.
18
CREATE EXCEPTION E_INVOICE_ALREADY_PAYED 'Change is impossible, invoice paid.';
-- The stored procedure for editing an invoice:

SET TERM ^;
CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE (

INVOICE_ID INTEGER,
CUSTOMER_ID INTEGER,
INVOICE_DATE TIMESTAMP)
AS
BEGIN
IF (EXISTS(SELECT *
FROM INVOICE
WHERE INVOICE_ID = :INVOICE_ID
AND PAID = 1)) THEN
EXCEPTION E_INVOICE_ALREADY_PAYED;
UPDATE INVOICE
SET CUSTOMER_ID = :CUSTOMER_ID,
INVOICE_DATE = :INVOICE_DATE
WHERE INVOICE_ID = :INVOICE_ID;
END
^
SET TERM ;^
COMMENT ON PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE IS

'Editing invoice';
COMMENT ON PARAMETER SP_EDIT_INVOICE.INVOICE_ID IS

'Invoice number';
COMMENT ON PARAMETER SP_EDIT_INVOICE.CUSTOMER_ID IS

'Customer Id';
COMMENT ON PARAMETER SP_EDIT_INVOICE.INVOICE_DATE IS

'Date';
GRANT SELECT,UPDATE ON INVOICE TO PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE;
In Firebird 3.0, the USAGE privilege is required for exceptions, so we need to add the
following line:
 GRANT USAGE ON EXCEPTION E_INVOICE_ALREADY_PAYED TO PROCEDURE

SP_EDIT_INVOICE;
19
Deleting an invoice
The procedure SP_DELETE_INVOICE procedure checks whether the invoice is paid and raises an
exception if it is:
SET TERM ^ ;
CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE (

INVOICE_ID INTEGER)
AS
BEGIN
IF (EXISTS(SELECT * FROM INVOICE
AND PAID = 1)) THEN
DELETE FROM INVOICE WHERE INVOICE_ID = :INVOICE_ID;

END
^
SET TERM ;^
COMMENT ON PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE IS

'Deleting invoices';
GRANT SELECT,DELETE ON INVOICE TO PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE;
following line:

SP_DELETE_INVOICE;
Paying an invoice
We will add one more procedure for paying an invoice:
20
SET TERM ^;
CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE SP_PAY_FOR_INVOICE (

INVOICE_ID INTEGER)
AS
BEGIN
IF (EXISTS(SELECT *
FROM INVOICE
AND PAID = 1)) THEN
UPDATE INVOICE
SET PAID = 1
WHERE INVOICE_ID = :INVOICE_ID;
END
^
SET TERM ;^
COMMENT ON PROCEDURE SP_PAY_FOR_INVOICE IS

'Payment of invoices';
COMMENT ON PARAMETER SP_PAY_FOR_INVOICE.INVOICE_ID IS

'Invoice number';
GRANT SELECT,UPDATE ON INVOICE TO PROCEDURE SP_PAY_FOR_INVOICE;
following line:

SP_PAY_FOR_INVOICE;
Invoice Line Items
Procedures for managing invoice items will check whether the invoice is paid and block any
attempt to alter the line items of paid invoices. They will also correct the invoice total according to
the amount of the product sold and its price.
Adding line items
The procedure for adding a line item to an invoice:
SET TERM ^;
CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE (

INVOICE_ID INTEGER,
21
PRODUCT_ID INTEGER,
QUANTITY INTEGER)
AS
DECLARE sale_price D_MONEY;
DECLARE paid D_BOOLEAN;
BEGIN
SELECT
paid
FROM
invoice
WHERE
invoice_id = :invoice_id
INTO :paid;
-- It does not allow you to edit already paid invoice.

IF (paid = 1) THEN
SELECT
price
FROM
product
WHERE
product_id = :product_id
INTO :sale_price;
INSERT INTO invoice_line (

invoice_line_id,
invoice_id,
product_id,
quantity,
sale_price)
VALUES (
NEXT VALUE FOR gen_invoice_line_id,
:invoice_id,
:product_id,
:quantity,
:sale_price);
-- Increase the amount of the account.

UPDATE invoice
SET total_sale = COALESCE(total_sale, 0) + :sale_price * :quantity
WHERE invoice_id = :invoice_id;
END
^
SET TERM ;^
COMMENT ON PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE IS

'Adding line invoices';
22
COMMENT ON PARAMETER SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE.INVOICE_ID IS

'Invoice number';
COMMENT ON PARAMETER SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE.PRODUCT_ID IS

'Product Id';
COMMENT ON PARAMETER SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE.QUANTITY IS

'Quantity';
GRANT SELECT, UPDATE ON INVOICE TO PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE;

GRANT SELECT ON PRODUCT TO PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE;
GRANT INSERT ON INVOICE_LINE TO PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE;
-- only Firebird 3.0 and above
GRANT USAGE ON EXCEPTION E_INVOICE_ALREADY_PAYED TO PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE;
GRANT USAGE ON SEQUENCE GEN_INVOICE_LINE_ID TO PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE;
Editing line items
The procedure for editing an invoice line item:
SET TERM ^;
CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE_LINE (

INVOICE_LINE_ID INTEGER,
QUANTITY INTEGER)
AS
DECLARE invoice_id INT;
DECLARE price D_MONEY;
DECLARE paid D_BOOLEAN;
BEGIN
SELECT
product.price,
invoice.invoice_id,
invoice.paid
FROM
invoice_line
JOIN invoice ON invoice.invoice_id = invoice_line.invoice_id
JOIN product ON product.product_id = invoice_line.product_id
WHERE
invoice_line.invoice_line_id = :invoice_line_id
INTO
:price,
:invoice_id,
:paid;
-- It does not allow you to edit an already paid invoice.

IF (paid = 1) THEN
-- Update price and quantity.
23
UPDATE invoice_line
SET sale_price = :price,
quantity = :quantity
WHERE invoice_line_id = :invoice_line_id;
-- Now update the amount of the account.
MERGE INTO invoice
USING (
SELECT
invoice_id,
SUM(sale_price * quantity) AS total_sale
FROM invoice_line
WHERE invoice_id = :invoice_id
GROUP BY invoice_id) L
ON invoice.invoice_id = L.invoice_id
WHEN MATCHED THEN
UPDATE SET total_sale = L.total_sale;
END
^
SET TERM ;^
COMMENT ON PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE_LINE IS

'Editing invoice line';
COMMENT ON PARAMETER SP_EDIT_INVOICE_LINE.INVOICE_LINE_ID IS

'Invoice line id';
COMMENT ON PARAMETER SP_EDIT_INVOICE_LINE.QUANTITY IS

'Quantity';
GRANT SELECT,UPDATE ON INVOICE_LINE TO PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE_LINE;

GRANT SELECT,UPDATE ON INVOICE TO PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE_LINE;
GRANT SELECT ON PRODUCT TO PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE_LINE;
GRANT USAGE ON EXCEPTION E_INVOICE_ALREADY_PAYED TO PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE_LINE;
Deleting line items
The procedure for deleting an invoice line item from an invoice:
24
SET TERM ^;
CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE_LINE (

INVOICE_LINE_ID INTEGER)
AS
DECLARE invoice_id INT;
DECLARE price D_MONEY;
DECLARE quantity INT;
BEGIN
IF (EXISTS(SELECT *
FROM invoice_line
JOIN invoice ON invoice.invoice_id = invoice_line.invoice_id
WHERE invoice.paid = 1
AND invoice_line.invoice_line_id = :invoice_line_id)) THEN
DELETE FROM invoice_line

WHERE invoice_line.invoice_line_id = :invoice_line_id
RETURNING invoice_id, quantity, sale_price
INTO invoice_id, quantity, price;
-- Reduce the amount of the account.

UPDATE invoice
SET total_sale = total_sale - :quantity * :price
WHERE invoice_id = :invoice_id;
END
^
SET TERM ;^
COMMENT ON PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE_LINE IS

'Deleting invoice item';
COMMENT ON PARAMETER SP_DELETE_INVOICE_LINE.INVOICE_LINE_ID IS

'Code invoice item';
Privileges for Procedures
GRANT SELECT,DELETE ON INVOICE_LINE TO PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE_LINE;
GRANT SELECT,UPDATE ON INVOICE TO PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE_LINE;
GRANT USAGE ON EXCEPTION E_INVOICE_ALREADY_PAYED TO PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE_LINE;
2.2.5. Roles and Privileges for Users
Now we need to create roles and grant the corresponding privileges. We will create two roles:
MANAGER and SUPERUSER. MANAGER will have a limited set of privileges while SUPERUSER will have access
to practically everything in the database that is used by the project application.
25
CREATE ROLE MANAGER;

CREATE ROLE SUPERUSER;
-- The MANAGER role can read any table and use the corresponding procedures
-- to manage invoices:
GRANT SELECT ON CUSTOMER TO MANAGER;
GRANT SELECT ON INVOICE TO MANAGER;
GRANT SELECT ON INVOICE_LINE TO MANAGER;
GRANT SELECT ON PRODUCT TO MANAGER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE TO MANAGER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE TO MANAGER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE TO MANAGER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE_LINE TO MANAGER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE TO MANAGER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE_LINE TO MANAGER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_PAY_FOR_INVOICE TO MANAGER;
GRANT USAGE ON SEQUENCE GEN_INVOICE_ID TO MANAGER;
-- The SUPERUSER role can read any table, edit the primary tables directly
-- and use the procedures to manage invoices:
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON CUSTOMER TO SUPERUSER;
GRANT SELECT ON INVOICE TO SUPERUSER;
GRANT SELECT ON INVOICE_LINE TO SUPERUSER;
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON PRODUCT TO SUPERUSER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE TO SUPERUSER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE TO SUPERUSER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE TO SUPERUSER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE_LINE TO SUPERUSER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE TO SUPERUSER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE_LINE TO SUPERUSER;
GRANT EXECUTE ON PROCEDURE SP_PAY_FOR_INVICE TO SUPERUSER;
GRANT USAGE ON SEQUENCE GEN_CUSTOMER_ID TO SUPERUSER;
GRANT USAGE ON SEQUENCE GEN_INVOICE_ID TO SUPERUSER;
GRANT USAGE ON SEQUENCE GEN_PRODUCT_ID TO SUPERUSER;
These statements create some users and assign roles to them:
CREATE USER IVAN PASSWORD 'z12a';

CREATE USER ANNA PASSWORD 'lh67';
GRANT MANAGER TO ANNA;

GRANT MANAGER TO IVAN WITH ADMIN OPTION;
GRANT SUPERUSER TO IVAN;
The user IVAN can assign the MANAGER role to other users.
2.3. Saving and Running the Script

Save our script to a text file named examples.sql.
26
Now you have three choices: you can
• download the ready-made script files using the following links:
◦ https://github.com/sim1984/example-db_2_5/archive/1.0.zip
◦ or https://github.com/sim1984/example-db_3_0/archive/1.0.zip
• OR run the script examples.sql that you just created yourself;
• OR download the ready-made database, complete with sample data. Links are provided at the
end of this chapter.
Now, to run our script in the database created earlier:
isql -user sysdba -password masterkey "localhost:examples"

-i "d:\examples-db\examples.sql"
 Do not split this command!
The argument "localhost:examples" uses an alias in place of the file path. It assumes that an alias
named ‘examples’ actually exists, of course! The -i switch is an abbreviation of -input and its
argument should be the path to the script file you just saved.
2.4. Loading Test Data

Now that the database is created and built, you can populate it with test data. Various tools are
available to help with that. If you prefer not to do it yourself, you can download a copy of the built
database already loaded with the test data we used in the sample projects, from one of the
following links:
• db_2_5.zip
• or db_3_0.zip
Reminder
 A database built by Firebird 2.5 will not be accessible by a Firebird 3 server, nor
vice versa. Make sure you download the correct database for your needs.
27
Chapter 3. Developing Firebird Applications in Delphi
Chapter 3. Developing Firebird Applications

in Delphi
This chapter will describe the process of developing applications for Firebird databases with the
FireDac™ data access components in the Embarcadero Delphi™ XE5 environment. FireDac™ is a
standard set of components for accessing various databases in Delphi XE3 and higher versions.
3.1. Starting a Project

Create a new project using File › New › VCL Forms Application › Delphi.
Add a new data module using File › New › Other and selecting Delphi Projects › Delphi Files ›
Data Module in the wizard. This will be the main data module in our project. It will contain some
instances of global access components that must be accessible to all forms that are intended to
work with data. TFDConnection is an example of this kind of component.
3.2. TFDConnection Component

The TFDConnection component provides connectivity to various types of databases. We will specify
an instance of this component in the Connection properties of other FireDac components. The
particular type of the database to which the connection will be established depends on the value of
the DriverName property. To access Firebird, you need to set this property to FB.
For the connection to know exactly which access library it should work with, place the
TFBPhysFBDriverLink component in the main data module. Its VendorLib property enables the path to
the client library to be specified precisely. If it is not specified, the component will attempt to
establish a connection via libraries registered in the system, for example, in system32, which might
not be what you want at all.
3.3. Path to the Client Library

We will place the necessary library in the fbclient folder located in the application folder and use
the following code for the OnCreate event of the data module:
xAppPath := ExtractFileDir(Application.ExeName) + PathDelim;

FDPhysFBDriverLink.VendorLib := xAppPath + 'fbclient' + PathDelim + 'fbclient.dll';
28
Important notes about “bitness”

If you compile a 32-bit application, you should use the 32-bit fbclient.dll library.
For a 64-bit application, it should be the 64-bit library.
Along with the file fbclient.dll, it is advisable to place the following libraries in
the same folder: msvcp80.dll and msvcr80.dll (for Firebird 2.5) as well as
msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll (for Firebird 3.0). These libraries are located either
in the bin subfolder (Firebird 2.5) or in the root folder of the server (Firebird 3.0).

For the application to show internal firebird errors correctly, it is necessary to
copy the file firebird.msg as well.
• For Firebird 2.5 or earlier, the libraries must be one level up from the folder
with the client library, i.e., in the application folder for our purposes.
• For Firebird 3, they must be in the same folder as the client library, i.e. in the
fbclient folder.
3.3.1. Developing for Embedded Applications
If you need your application to run without the installed Firebird server, i.e. in the Embedded
mode, for Firebird 2.5 you should replace fbclient.dll with fbembed.dll. Make sure the width of the
CPU register (64-bit or 32-bit) matches the application. If necessary, the name of the library can be
placed in the configuration file of your application.
It is not necessary to change anything for Firebird 3.0, in which the working mode depends on the
connection string and the value of the Providers parameter in the file firebird.conf/databases.conf.
TIP
Even if your application is intended to work with Firebird in the Embedded mode,
it is advisable to attach to the full server during development. The reason is that
embedded Firebird runs in the same address space as the application and any
application connecting to a database in embedded mode must be able to obtain
 exclusive access to that database. Once that connection succeeds, no other

embedded connections are possible. When you are connected to your database in
the Delphi IDE, the established connection is in Delphi’s application space, thus
preventing your application from being run successfully from the IDE.
Note, Firebird 3 embedded still requires exclusive access if the installed full server
is in Super (Superserver) mode.
3.4. Connection parameters

The Params property of the TFDConnection component contains the database connection parameters
(username, password, connection character set, etc.). If you invoke the TFDConnection property
editor by double-clicking on the component, you will see that those properties have been filled
automatically. The property set depends on the database type.
29
Figure 2. TFDConnection property editor
Table 1. TFDConnection component main properties
Property Purpose
Pooled Whether a connection pool is used
Database The path to the database or its alias as defined in the aliases.conf
configuration file (or in databases.conf) of the Firebird server
User_Name Firebird user name. Not used if OSAuthent is True.
Password Firebird password. Not used if OSAuthent is True.
OSAuthent Whether operating system authentication is used
30
Property Purpose
Protocol Connection protocol. Possible values:
• Local — local protocol
• NetBEUI — named pipes, WNET
• SPX — This property is for Novell’s IPX/SPX protocol, which has never

been supported in Firebird
• TCPIP — TCP/IP
Server Server name or its IP address. If the server is run on a non-standard port,
you also need to append the port number after a slash, e.g.,
localhost/3051
SQLDialect SQL Dialect. It must match that of the database
RoleName Role name, if required
CharacterSet Connection character set name
Additional Properties:
Connected Used to manage the database connection or check the connection status.
This property must be set to True in order for the wizards of other
FireDac components to work. If your application needs to request
authentication data, it is important to remember to reset this property to
False before compiling your application.
LoginPrompt Whether to request the username and password during a connection
attempt
Transaction The TFDTransaction component that will be used as default to conduct
various TFDConnection transactions. If this property is not explicitly
specified, TFDConnection will create its own TFDTransaction instance. Its
parameters can be configured in the TxOptions property.
UpdateTransaction The TFDTransaction component that is to be used as default for the
UpdateTransaction property of TFDQuery components, unless explicitly
specified for the dataset. If this property is not specified explicitly, the
value from the Transaction property of the connection will be used,
unless it is explicitly specified for the dataset.
3.4.1. Connection Parameters in a Configuration File
Since the connection parameters, except for the username and password and possibly the role, are
usually common to all instances the application, we will read them from the configuration file:
31
xIniFile := TIniFile.Create(xAppPath + 'config.ini');

try
xIniFile.ReadSectionValues('connection', FDConnection.Params);
finally
xIniFile.Free;
end;
A Typical Configuration File
Typically, the config.ini file contains the following lines:
[connection]
DriverID=FB
Protocol=TCPIP
Server=localhost/3051
Database=examples
OSAuthent=No
RoleName=
CharacterSet=UTF8
You can get the contents of the connection section by copying the contents of the Params property of
the TFDConnection component after the wizard finishes its work.
Actually, the common settings are usually located in

%AppData%\Manufacturer\AppName and are saved to that location by the application
installation software. However, it is convenient for the configuration file to be
stored somewhere closer during the development, for instance, in the application
folder.

Note that if your application is installed into the Program Files folder and the
configuration file is located there as well, it is likely that the file will be virtualized
in Program Data and issues could arise with modifying it and reading the new
settings subsequently.
3.4.2. Connecting to the database
To connect to the database, it is necessary to change the Connected property of the TFDConnection
component to True or call the Open method. You can use the Open method to pass the username and
password as parameters.
A Little Modification
We will replace the standard database connection dialog box in our application and allow users to
make three mistakes while entering the authentication information. After three failures, the
application will be closed.
To implement it, we will write the following code in the OnCreate event handler of the main data
32
module.
// After three unsuccessful login attempts, we close the application.

xLoginCount := 0;
xLoginPromptDlg := TLoginPromptForm.Create(Self);
while (xLoginCount < MAX_LOGIN_COUNT) and
(not FDConnection.Connected) do
begin
try
if xLoginPromptDlg.ShowModal = mrOK then
FDConnection.Open(
xLoginPromptDlg.UserName, xLoginPromptDlg.Password)
else
xLoginCount := MAX_LOGIN_COUNT;
except
on E: Exception do
begin
Inc(xLoginCount);
Application.ShowException(E);
end
end;
end;
xLoginPromptDlg.Free;
if not FDConnection.Connected then
Halt;
3.5. Working with Transactions

The Firebird client allows any operations to be made only in the context of a transaction so, if you
manage to access data without explicitly calling TFDTransaction.StartTransaction, it means that it
was called automatically somewhere deep in FireDac. It is highly recommended to avoid this
practice. For applications to work correctly with databases, it is advisable to manage transactions
manually, which means starting and committing them or rolling them back with explicit calls.
The TFDTransaction component is used to manage transactions explicitly.
3.5.1. TFDTransaction Component
TFDTransaction has three methods for managing a transaction explicitly: StartTransaction, Commit
and Rollback. The following table summarises the properties available to configure this component.
Table 2. TFDTransaction component main properties
Property Purpose
Connection Reference to the FDConnection component
33
Property Purpose
Options.AutoCommit Controls the automatic start and end of a transaction, emulating
Firebird’s own transaction management. The default value is True. See
note (1) below for more details about behaviour if the Autocommit option
is True.
Options.AutoStart Controls the automatic start of a transaction. The default value is True.
Options.AutoStop Controls the automatic end of a transaction. The default value is True.
Options.DisconnectActi The action that will be performed when the connection is closed while
on the transaction is active. The default value is xdCommit — the transaction
will be committed. See note (2) below for details of the other options.
Options.EnableNested Controls nested transactions. The default value is True. Firebird does not
support nested transactions as such but FireDac can emulate them using
savepoints. For more details, see note(3) below.
Options.Isolation Specifies the transaction isolation level. It is the most important
transaction property. The default value is xiReadCommitted. The other
values that Firebird supports are xiSnapshot and xiUnspecified; also
xiSerializable, to some degree. For more details about the available
isolation levels, see note (4) below.
Options.Params Firebird-specific transaction attributes that can be applied to refine the
transaction parameters, overriding attributes applied by the standard
implementation of the selected isolation level. For the attributes that can
be set and the “legal” combinations, see note (5) below.
Options.ReadOnly Indicates whether it is a read-only transaction. The default value is False.
Setting it to True disables any write activity. Long-running read-only
transactions in READ COMMITTED isolation are recommended for activities
that do not change anything in the database because they use fewer
resources and do not interfere with garbage collection.
Note 1: AutoCommit=True
If the value of AutoCommit is set to True, FireDAC behaves as follows:
• Starts a transaction (if required) before each SQL command and ends the
transaction after the SQL command completes execution
 • If the command is successfully executed, the transaction will be ended by
COMMIT. Otherwise, it will be ended by ROLLBACK.
• If the application calls the StartTransaction method, automatic transaction

management will be disabled until that transaction is ended by Commit or
Rollback.
34
Note 2: DisconnectAction
The following values are possible:
xdNone
nothing will be done. The DBMS will perform its default action.
xdCommit
 the transaction will be committed
xdRollback
the transaction will be rolled back
Note that, in some other data access components, the default value for the
DisconnectAction property is xdRollback and will need to be set manually with
Firebird to match the FDTransaction setting.
Note 3: EnableNested
If StartTransaction is called from within an active transaction, FireDac will
emulate a nested transaction by creating a savepoint. Unless you are very
 confident in the effect of enabling nested transactions, set EnableNested to False.
With this setting, calling StartTransaction inside the transaction will raise an
exception.
35
Note 4: Isolation
FireBird has three isolation levels: READ COMMITTED, SNAPSHOT (“concurrency”) and
SNAPSHOT TABLE STABILITY (“consistency”, rarely used). FireDac supports some but
not all configurations for READ COMMITTED and SNAPSHOT. It uses the third level
partially to emulate the SERIALIZABLE isolation that Firebird does not support.
xiReadCommitted
the READ COMMITTED isolation level. FireDac starts ReadCommitted transactions in
Firebird with the following parameters: read/write, rec_version, nowait
xiSnapshot
the SNAPSHOT (concurrency) isolation level. FireDac starts Snapshot transactions
in Firebird with the following parameters: read/write, wait
xiUnspecified
 Firebird’s default isolation level (SNAPSHOT) with the following parameters:
read/write, wait
xiSerializable
the SERIALIZABLE isolation level. Firebird does not support serializable isolation,
but FireDac emulates it by starting a SNAPSHOT TABLE STABILITY (“consistency”)
transaction with the following parameters: read/write, wait.
Other parameters, not supported by Firebird at all, are:
xiDirtyRead
if this is selected (not a good idea!) READ COMMITTED will be used instead
xiRepeatableRead
if this is selected, SNAPSHOT will be used instead
36
Note 5: Firebird-specific Transaction Attributes

Attributes that can be customised in Options.Params are:
• read write, the default read mode for all of the options.isolation
selections — see note (4) above. Set write off if you want read-only mode.
Alternatively, you can set Options.ReadOnly to True to achieve the same thing.
There is no such thing as a “write-only” transaction.
• read_committed, concurrency and consistency are isolation levels.

 • wait and nowait are conflict resolution settings, determining whether the
transaction is to wait for a conflict to resolve
• rec_version and no rec_version provide an option that is applicable only to READ

COMMITTED transactions. The default rec_version lets this transaction read the
latest committed version of a record and overwrite it if the transaction ID of
the latest committed version is newer (higher) than the ID of this transaction.
The no rec_version setting will block this transaction from reading the latest
committed version if an update is pending from any other transaction.
Multiple Transactions
Unlike many other DBMSs, Firebird allows as many TFDTransaction objects as you need to associate
with the same connection. In our application, we will use one common read transaction for all
primary and secondary modules and one read/write transaction for each dataset.
We do not want to rely on starting and ending transactions automatically: we want to have full
control. That is why Options.AutoCommit=False, Options.AutoStart=False and Options.AutoStop=False
are set in all of our transactions.
3.6. Datasets
The components TFDQuery, TFDTable, TFDStoredProc and TFDCommand are the components for working
with data in FireDac. TFDCommand does not deliver a dataset and, when TFDStoredProc is used with
an executable stored procedure, rather than a selectable one, it does not deliver a dataset, either.
TFDQuery, TFDTable and TFDStoredProc are inherited from TFDRdbmsDataSet.
Apart from datasets for working with the database directly, FireDac also has the TFDMemTable
component for working with in-memory datasets. It is functionally equivalent to TClientDataSet.
The main component for working with datasets, TFDQuery, can be used for practically any purpose.
The TFDTable and TFDStoredProc components are just variants, expanded or reduced to meet
differences in functionality. No more will be said about them and we will not be using them in our
application. If you wish, you can learn about them in the FireDac documentation.
The purpose of a dataset component is to buffer records retrieved by the SELECT statement,
commonly for displaying in a grid and providing for the current record in the buffer (grid) to be
editable. Unlike the IBX TIBDataSet component, TFDQuery component does not have the properties
RefreshSQL, InsertSQL, UpdateSQL and DeleteSQL. Instead, a separate TFDUpdateSQL object specifies the
37
statement for dataset modifications and the dataset component carries a reference to that
component in its UpdateObject property.
RequestLive Property
Sometimes it is possible to make an FDQuery object editable without referring,
through the UpdateObject property, to an FDUpdateSQL object that specifies queries
 for insert, update and delete. The property UpdateOptions.RequestLive can be set to
True for sets that are naturally updatable and the object will generate the
modification queries for you. However, because this approach puts strict
limitations on the SELECT query, it is not always useful to rely on it.
3.6.1. TFDQuery Component

Table 3. TFDQuery component main properties
Property Purpose
Connection Reference to the FDConnection object
MasterSource If the dataset is to be used as detail to a master dataset, this property
refers to the data source (TDataSource) of the master set
Transaction If specified, refers to the transaction within which the query will be
executed. If not specified, the default transaction for the connection will
be used.
UpdateObject Reference to the FDUpdateSQL object providing for the dataset to be
editable when the SELECT query does not meet the requirements for
automatic generation of modification queries with
UpdateOptions.RequestLive=True.
UpdateTransaction The transaction within which modification queries will be executed. If
the property is not specified the transaction from the Transaction
property of the connection will be used.
UpdateOptions.CheckReq If set to True (the default) FireDac controls the Required property of the
uired corresponding NOT NULL fields. If you keep it True and a field with the
Required=True has no value assigned to it, an exception will be raised
when the Post method is called. This might not be what you want if a
value is going to be assigned to this field later in BEFORE triggers.
UpdateOptions.EnableDe Specifies whether a record can be deleted from the dataset. If
lete EnableDelete=False, an exception will be raised when the Delete method
is called.
UpdateOptions.EnableIn Specifies whether a record can be inserted into the dataset. If
sert EnableInsert=False, an exception will be raised when the Insert/Append
method is called.
UpdateOptions.EnableUp Specifies whether a record can be edited in the dataset. If
date EnableUpdate=False, an exception will be raised when the Edit method is
called.
38
Property Purpose
UpdateOptions.FetchGen Controls the moment when the next value is fetched from the generator
eratorPoint specified in the UpdateOptions.GeneratorName property or in the
GeneratorName property of the auto-incremental field
AutoGenerateValue=arAutoInc. The default is gpDeferred, causing the next
value to be fetched from the generator before a new record is posted in
the database, i.e., during Post or ApplyUpdates. For the full set of possible
values, see note (1) below.
UpdateOptions.Generato The name of the generator from which the next value for an auto-
rName incremental field is to be fetched.
UpdateOptions.ReadOnly Specifies whether it is a read-only dataset. The default value is False. If
the value of this property is set to True, the EnableDelete, EnableInsert
and EnableUpdate properties will be automatically set to False.
UpdateOptions.RequestL Setting RequestLive to True makes a query editable, if possible. Queries
ive for insert, update and delete will be generated automatically. This setting
imposes strict limitations on the SELECT query. It is supported for
backward compatibility with the ancient BDE and is not recommended.
UpdateOptions.UpdateMo Controls how to check whether a record has been modified. This property
de allows control over possible overwriting of updates in cases where one
user is taking a long time to edit a record while another user has been
editing the same record simultaneously and completes the update earlier.
The default is upWhereKeyOnly. For information about the available modes,
see note (2) below.
CachedUpdates Specifies whether the dataset cache defers changes in the dataset buffer.
If this property is set to True, any changes (Insert/Post, Update/Post,
Delete) are saved to a special log and the application must apply them
explicitly by calling the ApplyUpdates method. All changes will be made
within a small period of time and within one short transaction. The
default value of this property is False.
SQL Contains the text of the SQL query. If this property is a SELECT statement,
execute it by calling the Open method. Use the Execute or ExecSQL for
executing a statement that does not return a dataset.
39
Note 1: UpdateOptions.FetchGeneratorPoint
The property UpdateOptions.FetchGeneratorPoint can take the following values:
gpNone
no value is fetched from the generator
 gpImmediate
the next value is fetched from the generator right after the Insert/Append
method is called
gpDeferred
the next value is fetched during Post or ApplyUpdates
40
Note 2: UpdateOptions.UpdateMode
The user in a lengthy editing session could be unaware that a record has been
updated one or more times during his editing session, perhaps causing his own
changes to overwrite someone else’s updates. The UpdateOptions.UpdateMode
property allows a choice of behaviours to lessen or avoid this risk:
upWhereAll
check whether a record exists by its primary key + check all columns for old
values, e.g.,
update table set ...

where pkfield = :old_ pkfield and
client_name = :old_client_name and
info = :old_info ...
With upWhereAll set, the update query will change content in a record only if the
record has not been edited by anyone else since our transaction started. It is
especially important if there are dependencies between values in columns, such
as minimum and maximum wages, etc.
upWhereChanged
 check whether a record exists by its primary key + check for old values only in
the columns being edited.
update table set ...

where pkfield = :old_pkfield and
client_name = :old_client
upWhereKeyOnly
check whether a record exists by its primary key. This check corresponds to the
automatically generated UpdateSQL query.
To avoid (or handle) update conflicts in a multi-user environment, typically you

need to add WHERE conditions manually. You would need a similar tactic, of
course, to implement a process that emulates upWhereChanged, removing the
unused column modifications from the update table set, leaving in the update
list only the columns that are actually modified. The update query could
otherwise overwrite someone else’s updates of this record.
Obviously, the UpdateSQL needs to be created dynamically.
If you want to specify the settings for detecting update conflicts individually for
each field, you can use the ProviderFlags property for each field.
41
3.6.2. TFDUpdateSQL component
The TFDUpdateSQL component enables you to refine or redefine the SQL command that Delphi
generates automatically for updating a dataset. It can be used to update an FDQuery object, an
FDTable object or data underlying an FDStoredProc object.
Using TFDUpdateSQL is optional for TFDQuery and TFDTable because these components can generate
statements automatically, that can sometimes be used for posting updates from a dataset to the
database. For updating a dataset that is delivered into an FDStoredProc object, use of the
TFDUpdateSQL is not optional. The developer must figure out a statement that will result in the
desired updates. If only one table is updated, a direct DML statement might be sufficient. Where
multiple tables are affected, an executable stored procedure will be unavoidable.
We recommend that you always use it, even in the simplest cases, to give yourself full control over
the queries that are requested from your application.
TFDUpdateSQL Properties
To specify the SQL DML statements at design time, double-click on the TFDUpdateSQL component in
your data module to open the property editor.
Each component has its own design-time property editor. For multiple data-aware
editors to run, FireDac needs an active connection to the database
(TFDConnection.Connected = True) and a transaction in the autostart mode
(TFDTransaction.Options.AutoStart = True) for each one.
Design-time settings could interfere with the way the application is intended to
 work. For instance, the user is supposed to log in to the program using his
username, but the FDConnection object connects to the database as SYSDBA.
It is advisable to check the Connected property of the FDConnection object and reset
it each time you use the data-aware editors. AutoStart will have to be enabled and
disabled for a read-only transaction as well.
42
Figure 3. TFDUpdateSQL property editor
You can use the Generate tab to make writing Insert/Update/Delete/Refresh queries easier for
yourself. Select the table to be updated, its key fields, the fields to be updated and the fields that will
be reread after the update and click the Generate SQL button to have Delphi generate the queries
automatically. You will be switched to the SQL Commands tab where you can correct each query.
43
Figure 4. TFDUpdateSQL SQL command editor
Since product_id is not included in Updating Fields, it is absent from the generated
Insert query. It is assumed that this column is filled automatically by a generator
call in a BEFORE INSERT trigger or, from Firebird 3.0 forward, it could be an IDENTITY
 column. When a value is fetched from the generator for this column at the server
side, it is recommended to add the PRODUCT_ID column manually to the RETURNING
clause of the INSERT statement.
The Options Tab
The Options tab contains some properties that can affect the process of query generation. These
properties are not related to the TFDUpdateSQL component itself. Rather, for convenience, they are
references to the UpdateOptions properties of the dataset that has the current TFDUpdateSQL specified
in its UpdateObject property.
Table 4. TFDUpdateSQL component main properties
Property Purpose
Connection Reference to the TFDConnection component
DeleteSQL The SQL query for deleting a record
FetchRowSQL The SQL query for returning a current record after it has been updated or
inserted — “RefreshSQL”
InsertSQL The SQL query for inserting a record
44
Property Purpose
LockSQL The SQL query for locking a current record. (FOR UPDATE WITH LOCK)
ModifySQL The SQL query for modifying a record
UnlockSQL The SQL query for unlocking a current record. It is not used in Firebird.
Notice that, because the TFDUpdateSQL component does not execute modification queries directly, it
has no Transaction property. It acts as a replacement for queries automatically generated in the
parent TFDRdbmsDataSet.
3.7. TFDCommand component

The TFDCommand component is used to execute SQL queries. It is not descended from TDataSet so it is
valid to use only for executing SQL queries that do not return datasets.
Table 5. TFDCommand component main properties
Property Purpose
Connection Reference to the TFDConnection component
Transaction The transaction within which the SQL command will be executed
CommandKind Type of command. The types are described in the section below.
CommandText SQL query text
3.7.1. Types of Command
Usually, the command type is determined automatically from the text of the SQL statement. The
following values are available for the property TFDCommand.CommandKind to cater for cases where the
internal parser might be unable to make correct, unambiguous assumptions based on the
statement text alone:
skUnknown
unknown. Tells the internal parser to determine the command type automatically from its
analysis of the text of the command
skStartTransaction
a command for starting a transaction
skCommit
a command for ending and committing a transaction
skRollback
a command for ending and rolling back a transaction
skCreate
a CREATE … command for creating a new metadata object
45
skAlter
an ALTER … command for altering a metadata object
skDrop
a DROP … command for deleting a metadata object
skSelect
a SELECT command for retrieving data
skSelectForLock
a SELECT … WITH LOCK command for locking the selected rows
skInsert
an INSERT … command for inserting a new record
skUpdate
an UPDATE … command for modifying records
skDelete
a DELETE … command for deleting records
skMerge
a MERGE INTO … command
skExecute
an EXECUTE PROCEDURE or EXECUTE BLOCK command
skStoredProc
a stored procedure call
skStoredProcNoCrs
a call to a stored procedure that does not return a cursor
skStoredProcWithCrs
a call to a stored procedure that returns a cursor
3.8. Creating the Primary Modules

We will create two primary modules in our application: a product module and a customer module.
Each primary dataset is displayed on a form by means of a TDBGrid grid and a toolbar with buttons.
The business logic of working with the dataset will be located in a separate DataModule that
contains a TDataSource data source, a TFDQuery dataset, and two TFDTransaction transactions, one
read-only and one read/write.
As our model for creating datasets, we will create the Customer dataset on the dCustomers
datamodule:
46
Figure 5. dCustomers datamodule
On tabbing to the Customers form, this is the initial view. The DataSource component is not visible
on the form because it is located in the dCustomers datamodule.
Figure 6. Customers form, initial view
We have placed the TFDQuery component in the dCustomers datamodule and named it qryCustomers.
47
This dataset will be referred to in the DataSet property of the DataSource data source in DCustomers.
We specify the read-only transaction trRead in the Transaction property, the trWritetransaction in
the UpdateTransaction property and, for the Connection property, the connection located in the main
data module. We populate the SQL property with the following query:
SELECT
customer_id,
name,
address,
zipcode,
phone
FROM
customer
ORDER BY name
3.8.1. The Read-only Transaction
The trRead read transaction is started when the dataset form is displayed (the OnActivate event) and
is ended when the form is closed. READ COMMITTED isolation level (Options.Isolation =
xiReadCommitted) is usually used to show data in grids because it allows the transaction to see
changes committed in the database by other users by just repeating queries (rereading data)
without the transaction being restarted.
Since this transaction is used only to read data, we set the Options.ReadOnly property to True. Thus,
our transaction will have the following parameters: read read_committed rec_version.
Why?
A transaction with exactly these parameters can remain open in Firebird as long
 as necessary (days, weeks, months) without locking other transactions or affecting
the accumulation of garbage in the database because, with these parameters, a
transaction is started on the server as committed.
We set the property Options.DisconnectAction to xdCommit, which perfectly fits a read-only

transaction. Finally, the read transaction will have the following properties:
Options.AutoStart = False
Options.AutoCommit = False
Options.AutoStop = False
Options.DisconnectAction = xdCommit
Options.Isolations = xiReadCommitted
Options.ReadOnly = True
48
Although we do not discuss reporting in this manual, be aware that you should not
use such a transaction for reports, especially if they use several queries in
sequence. A transaction with READ COMMITTED isolation will see all new committed
 changes when rereading data. The recommended configuration for reports is a
short read-only transaction with SNAPSHOT isolation (Options.Isolation =
xiSnapshot and Options.ReadOnly= True).
3.8.2. The Read/Write Transaction
The write transaction trWrite that we use for our FDUpdateSQL object must be as short as possible to
prevent the oldest active transaction from getting “stuck” and inhibiting garbage collection. High
levels of uncollected garbage will lead to lower performance. Since the write transaction is very
short, we can use the SNAPSHOT isolation level. The default value of the Options.DisconnectAction
property, xdCommit, is not appropriate for write transactions, so it should be set to xdRollback. We
will not rely on starting and ending transactions automatically. Instead, we will start and end a
transaction explicitly. Thus, our transaction should have the following properties:
Options.AutoStart = False
Options.AutoCommit = False
Options.AutoStop = False
Options.DisconnectAction = xdRollback
Options.Isolations = xiSnapshot
Options.ReadOnly = False
SNAPSHOT vs READ COMMITTED Isolation
It is not absolutely necessary to specify SNAPSHOT isolation for simple INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE

operations. However, if a table has complex triggers or a stored procedure is executed instead of a
simple INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE query, it is advisable to use SNAPSHOT. The reason is that READ COMMITTED
isolation does not ensure the read consistency of the statement within one transaction, since the
SELECT statement in this isolation can return data that were committed to the database after the
transaction began. In principle, SNAPSHOT isolation is recommended for short-running transactions.
3.8.3. Configuring the Customer Module for Editing
In this section, we will configure some properties in the qryCustomer and FDUpdateCustomer objects to
make the Customer dataset editable.
The TFDUpdateSQL Settings
To make the dataset editable, the InsertSQL, ModifySQL, DeleteSQL and FetchRowSQL properties should
be specified in the FDUpdateSQL object that is linked to the dataset. The wizard can generate these
statements but it may be necessary to correct some things afterwards. For example, you can add a
RETURNING clause, remove some columns from the update list or cancel an automatically generated
stored procedure call entirely.
49
InsertSQL
INSERT INTO customer (

customer_id,
name,
address,
zipcode,
phone)
VALUES (:new_customer_id,
:new_name,
:new_address,
:new_zipcode,
:new_phone)
ModifySQL
UPDATE customer
SET name = :new_name,
address = :new_address,
zipcode = :new_zipcode,
phone = :new_phone
WHERE (customer_id = :old_customer_id)
DeleteSQL
DELETE FROM customer

WHERE (customer_id = :old_customer_id)
FetchRowSQL
SELECT
customer_id,
name,
address,
zipcode,
phone
FROM
customer
WHERE customer_id = :old_customer_id
Getting a Generator Value
In this project, we will get the value from the generator before making an insert into the table. To
enable that, specify the following values for the properties of the TFDQuery component:
50
UpdateOptions.GeneratorName = GEN_CUSTOMER_ID
and
UpdateOptions.AutoIncFields = CUSTOMER_ID
This method works only for autoinc fields that are populated by explicit generators
 (sequences). It is not applicable to the IDENTITY type of autoinc key introduced in
Firebird 3.0.
Another way to get the value from the generator is to return it after the INSERT is executed by means
of a RETURNING clause. This method, which works for IDENTITY fields as well, will be shown later, in
the topic Using a RETURNING Clause to Acquire an Autoinc Value.
3.8.4. Implementing the Customer Module
Modal forms are often used to add a new record or to edit an existing one. Once the modal form is
closed by the mrOK result, the changes are posted to the database. Database-aware visual
components are usually used to create this kind of form. These components enable you to display
the values of some fields from the current record and immediately accept the user’s changes in the
corresponding fields if the dataset is in the Insert/Edit mode, i.e. before Post.
The only way to switch the dataset to Insert/Edit mode is by starting a write transaction. So, if
somebody opens a form for adding a new record and leaves for a lunch break, we will have an
active transaction hanging until the user comes back from lunch and closes the form. This
uncommitted edit can inhibit garbage collection, which will reduce performance. There are two
ways to solve this problem:
1. Use the CachedUpdates mode, which enables the transaction to be active just for a very short
period (to be exact, just for the time it takes for the changes to be applied to the database).
2. Give up using visual components that are data-aware. This approach requires some additional
effort from you to activate the data source and pass user input to it.
We will show how both methods are implemented. The first method is much more convenient to
use. Let’s examine the code for editing a customer record:
51
procedure TCustomerForm.actEditRecordExecute(Sender: TObject);

var
xEditorForm: TEditCustomerForm;
begin
xEditorForm := TEditCustomerForm.Create(Self);
try
xEditorForm.OnClose := CustomerEditorClose;
xEditorForm.DataSource := Customers.DataSource;
xEditorForm.Caption := 'Edit customer';
Customers.Edit;
xEditorForm.ShowModal;
finally
xEditorForm.Free;
end;
end;
The Customers property is initiated in the OnCreate event:
procedure TCustomerForm.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin
FCustomers := TDMCustomers.Create(Self);
DBGrid.DataSource := Customers.DataSource;
end;
We set the CachedUpdates mode for the dataset in the Edit method of the dCustomers module before
switching it to the edit mode:
procedure TdmCustomers.Edit;
begin
qryCustomer.CachedUpdates := True;
qryCustomer.Edit;
end;
The logic of handling the process of editing and adding a record is implemented in the OnClose
event handler for the modal edit form:
52
procedure TCustomerForm.CustomerEditorClose(Sender: TObject;

var Action: TCloseAction);
begin
if TEditCustomerForm(Sender).ModalResult <> mrOK then
begin
Customers.Cancel;
Action := caFree;
Exit;
end;
try
Customers.Post;
Customers.Save;
Action := caFree;
except
on E: Exception do
begin
// It does not close the window give the user correct the error
Action := caNone;
end;
end;
end;
To understand the internal processes, we can study the code for the Cancel, Post and Save methods
of the dCustomer data module:
53
procedure TdmCustomers.Cancel;
begin
qryCustomer.Cancel;
qryCustomer.CancelUpdates;
qryCustomer.CachedUpdates := False;
end;
procedure TdmCustomers.Post;
begin
qryCustomer.Post;
end;
procedure TdmCustomers.Save;
begin
// We do everything in a short transaction
// In CachedUpdates mode an error does not interrupt the running code.
// The ApplyUpdates method returns the number of errors.
// The error can be obtained from the property RowError
try
trWrite.StartTransaction;
if (qryCustomer.ApplyUpdates = 0) then
begin
qryCustomer.CommitUpdates;
trWrite.Commit;
end
else
raise Exception.Create(qryCustomer.RowError.Message);
qryCustomer.CachedUpdates := False;
except
on E: Exception do
begin
if trWrite.Active then
trWrite.Rollback;
raise;
end;
end;
end;
Observe that the write transaction is not started at all until the [ OK ] button is clicked. Thus, the
write transaction is active only while the data are being transferred from the dataset buffer to the
database. Since we access not more than one record in the buffer, the transaction will be active for
a very short time, which is exactly what we want.
3.8.5. Using a RETURNING Clause to Acquire an Autoinc Value
Creating the product is similar to creating the customer one. We will use it to demonstrate the
method of getting an auto-incremented value by means of a RETURNING clause.
The main query:
54
SELECT
product_id,
name,
price,
description
FROM product
ORDER BY name
The TFDUpdateSQL.InsertSQL property will contain the following statement:
INSERT INTO PRODUCT (NAME, PRICE, DESCRIPTION)

VALUES (:NEW_NAME, :NEW_PRICE, :NEW_DESCRIPTION)
RETURNING PRODUCT_ID
The RETURNING clause in this statement will return the value of the PRODUCT_ID field after it has been
populated by the BEFORE INSERT trigger. The client side in this case has no need to know the name of
the generator, since it all happens on the server. Leave the UpdateOptions.GeneratorName property as
nil.
To acquire the autoinc value by this method also requires filling a couple of properties for the
PRODUCT_ID field because the value is being entered indirectly:
Required = False
and
ReadOnly = True
Everything else is set up similarly to the way it was done for the Customer module.
3.9. Creating a Secondary Module

Secondary datasets typically contain larger numbers of records than primary datasets and new
records are added frequently. Our application will have only one secondary module, named
“Invoices”.
An invoice consists of a header where some general attributes are described (number, date,
customer …) and invoice lines with the list of products, their quantities, prices, etc. It is convenient
to have two grids for such documents: the main one (master) showing the data invoice header data
and the detail one showing the invoice lines.
We want to place two TDBGrid components on the invoice form and link a separate TDataSource to
each of them that will be linked to its respective TFDQuery. In our project, the dataset with the
invoice headers (the master set) will be called qryInvoice, and the one with the invoice lines (the
detail set) will be called qryInvoiceLine.
55
3.9.1. The Transactions for Invoice Data
The Transaction property of each dataset will specify the read-only transaction trRead that is located
in the dmInvoicedata module. Use the UpdateTransaction property to specify the trWrite transaction
and the Connection property to specify the connection located in the main data module.
3.9.2. A Filter for the Data
Secondary datasets usually contain a field with the record creation date. In order to reduce the
amount of retrieved data, a notion such as “a work period” is commonly incorporated in the
application to filter the set of data sent to the client. A work period is a range of dates for which the
records are required.
Since the application could have more than one secondary dataset, it makes sense to add variables
containing the start and end dates of a work period to the global dmMain data module that is used by
all modules working with the database in one way or another. Once the application is started, the
work period could be defined by the start and end dates of the current quarter, or some other
appropriate start/end date pair. The application could allow the user to change the work period
while working with the application.
3.9.3. Configuring the Module
Figure 7. The Invoice form tab
56
Figure 8. The Invoice data module tab
Since the latest invoices are the most requested ones, it makes sense to sort them by date in reverse
order. The query will look like this in the SQL property of the qryInvoice dataset:
57
SELECT
invoice.invoice_id AS invoice_id,
invoice.customer_id AS customer_id,
customer.NAME AS customer_name,
invoice.invoice_date AS invoice_date,
invoice.total_sale AS total_sale,
IIF(invoice.payed=1, 'Yes', 'No') AS payed
FROM
invoice
JOIN customer ON customer.customer_id = invoice.customer_id
WHERE invoice.invoice_date BETWEEN :date_begin AND :date_end
ORDER BY invoice.invoice_date DESC
To open this dataset, it will be necessary to initialise the query parameters:
qryInvoice.ParamByName('date_begin').AsSqlTimeStamp := dmMain.BeginDateSt;
qryInvoice.ParamByName('date_end').AsSqlTimeStamp := dmMain.EndDateSt;
qryInvoice.Open;
For the purpose of illustration, we will use stored procedures to perform all operations on an
invoice. Regular INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE queries can be used when operations are simple and involve
writing to only one table in the database. We will execute each stored procedure as a separate
query in TFDCommand objects. This component is not descended from TFDRdbmsDataSet, does not buffer
data and returns not more than one result row. We are using it because it consumes fewer
resources for queries that do not return data.
Since our stored procedures modify data, it is necessary to point the Transaction property of each
TFDCommand object to the trWrite transaction.
Tip
 Another alternative is to place the stored procedure calls for inserting, editing and
adding a record in the corresponding properties of a TFDUpdateSQL object.
3.9.4. Doing the Work
Four operations are provided for working with the invoice header: adding, editing, deleting and
setting the “paid” attribute. Once an invoice is paid, we prevent any modifications to either the
header or the lines. The rule is implemented at stored procedure level. Let’s examine the query
strings in the CommandText property for calling the stored procedures.
58
qryAddInvoice.CommandText
EXECUTE PROCEDURE sp_add_invoice(

NEXT VALUE FOR gen_invoice_id,
:CUSTOMER_ID,
:INVOICE_DATE
)
qryEditInvoice.CommandText
EXECUTE PROCEDURE sp_edit_invoice(

:INVOICE_ID,
:CUSTOMER_ID,
:INVOICE_DATE
)
qryDeleteInvoice.CommandText
EXECUTE PROCEDURE sp_delete_invoice(:INVOICE_ID)
qryPayForInvoice.CommandText
EXECUTE PROCEDURE sp_pay_for_invoice(:invoice_id)
Since our stored procedures are not called from a TFDUpdateSQL object, we need to call
qryInvoice.Refresh after they are executed, in order to update the data in the grid.
Stored procedures that do not require input data from the user are called as follows:
59
procedure TdmInvoice.DeleteInvoice;
begin
try
qryDeleteInvoice.ParamByName('INVOICE_ID').AsInteger :=
Invoice.INVOICE_ID.Value;
qryDeleteInvoice.Execute;
trWrite.Commit;
qryInvoice.Refresh;
except
on E: Exception do
begin
trWrite.Rollback;
raise;
end;
end;
end;
Getting User Confirmation
Before performing some operations, such as deleting an invoice, we want to get confirmation from
the user:
procedure TInvoiceForm.actDeleteInvoiceExecute(Sender: TObject);

begin
if MessageDlg('Are you sure you want to delete an invoice?',
mtConfirmation,
[mbYes, mbNo], 0) = mrYes then
begin
Invoices.DeleteInvoice;
end;
end;
Adding or Editing Records
As with the primary modules, we will use modal forms to add a new record or edit an existing one.
We will not use data-aware visual components in this implementation. As another variation, we
will use a TButtonedEdit component to select a customer. It will display the name of the current
customer and open a modal form with a grid for selecting a customer on the click of the embedded
button. We could use something like TDBLookupCombobox, of course, but it has drawbacks: first, the
customer list may be too large for scrolling comfortably through the drop-down list; secondly, the
name alone may not be enough to find the customer you want.
60
Figure 9. The Customer input form
As the window for selecting a customer, we will use the same modal form that was created for
adding customers. The code for the button click handler for the TButtonedEdit component is as
follows:
procedure TEditInvoiceForm.edtCustomerRightButtonClick(Sender: TObject);

var
xSelectForm: TCustomerForm;
begin
xSelectForm := TCustomerForm.Create(Self);
try
xSelectForm.Visible := False;
if xSelectForm.ShowModal = mrOK then
begin
FCustomerId := xSelectForm.Customers.Customer.CUSTOMER_ID.Value;
edtCustomer.Text := xSelectForm.Customers.Customer.NAME.Value;
end;
finally
xSelectForm.Free;
end;
end;
Since we are not using data-aware visual components, we need to initialize the customer code and
name for displaying during the call to the edit form:
61
procedure TInvoiceForm.actEditInvoiceExecute(Sender: TObject);

var
xEditorForm: TEditInvoiceForm;
begin
xEditorForm := TEditInvoiceForm.Create(Self);
try
xEditorForm.OnClose := EditInvoiceEditorClose;
xEditorForm.Caption := 'Edit invoice';
xEditorForm.InvoiceId := Invoices.Invoice.INVOICE_ID.Value;
xEditorForm.SetCustomer(
Invoices.Invoice.CUSTOMER_ID.Value,
Invoices.Invoice.CUSTOMER_NAME.Value);
xEditorForm.InvoiceDate := Invoices.Invoice.INVOICE_DATE.AsDateTime;
finally
xEditorForm.Free;
end;
end;
procedure TEditInvoiceForm.SetCustomer(ACustomerId: Integer;

const ACustomerName: string);
begin
FCustomerId := ACustomerId;
edtCustomer.Text := ACustomerName;
end;
Adding a new invoice and editing an existing one will be handled in the Close event of the modal
form as it is for the primary modules. However, we will not switch the dataset to CachedUpdates
mode for these because the updates carried out by stored procedures and we are not using data-
aware visual components to capture input.
procedure TInvoiceForm.actAddInvoiceExecute(Sender: TObject);

var
begin
xEditorForm := TEditInvoiceForm.Create(Self);
try
xEditorForm.Caption := 'Add invoice';
xEditorForm.OnClose := AddInvoiceEditorClose;
xEditorForm.InvoiceDate := Now;
finally
xEditorForm.Free;
end;
end;
procedure TInvoiceForm.AddInvoiceEditorClose(Sender: TObject;

var
62
begin
xEditorForm := TEditInvoiceForm(Sender);
if xEditorForm.ModalResult <> mrOK then
begin
Action := caFree;
Exit;
end;
try
Invoices.AddInvoice(xEditorForm.CustomerId, xEditorForm.InvoiceDate);
Action := caFree;
except
on E: Exception do
begin
Action := caNone;
end;
end;
end;
procedure TdmInvoice.AddInvoice(ACustomerId: Integer; AInvoiceDate: TDateTime);

begin
try
qryAddInvoice.ParamByName('CUSTOMER_ID').AsInteger := ACustomerId;
qryAddInvoice.ParamByName('INVOICE_DATE').AsSqlTimeStamp :=
DateTimeToSQLTimeStamp(AInvoiceDate);
qryAddInvoice.Execute();
trWrite.Commit;
qryInvoice.Refresh;
except
on E: Exception do
begin
trWrite.Rollback;
raise;
end;
end;
end;
3.9.5. The Invoice Details
Next, we move on to the details of an invoice. For the qryInvoiceLine dataset, we set the
MasterSource property to the datasource that is linked to qryInvoice and the MasterFields property
to INVOICE_ID. We specify the following query in the SQL property:
63
SELECT
invoice_line.invoice_line_id AS invoice_line_id,
invoice_line.invoice_id AS invoice_id,
invoice_line.product_id AS product_id,
product.name AS productname,
invoice_line.quantity AS quantity,
invoice_line.sale_price AS sale_price,
invoice_line.quantity * invoice_line.sale_price AS total
FROM
invoice_line
JOIN product ON product.product_id = invoice_line.product_id
WHERE invoice_line.invoice_id = :invoice_id
As with the invoice header, we will use stored procedures to perform all modifications. Let’s
examine the query strings in the CommandText property of the commands that call the stored
procedures.
qryAddInvoiceLine.CommandText
EXECUTE PROCEDURE sp_add_invoice_line(

:invoice_id,
:product_id,
:quantity
)
qryEditInvoiceLine.CommandText
EXECUTE PROCEDURE sp_edit_invoice_line(

:invoice_line_id,
:quantity
)
qryDeleteInvoiceLine.CommandText
EXECUTE PROCEDURE sp_delete_invoice_line(

:invoice_line_id
)
As with the header, the form for adding a new record and editing an existing one does not use data-
aware visual components. To select a product, we use the TButtonedEdit component again. The code
for the on-click handler for the button on the TButtonedEdit object is as follows:
64
procedure TEditInvoiceLineForm.edtProductRightButtonClick(Sender: TObject);

var
xSelectForm: TGoodsForm;
begin
if FEditMode = emInvoiceLineEdit then
Exit;
xSelectForm := TGoodsForm.Create(Self);
try
xSelectForm.Visible := False;
if xSelectForm.ShowModal = mrOK then
begin
FProductId := xSelectForm.Goods.Product.PRODUCT_ID.Value;
edtProduct.Text := xSelectForm.Goods.Product.NAME.Value;
edtPrice.Text := xSelectForm.Goods.Product.PRICE.AsString;
end;
finally
xSelectForm.Free;
end;
end;
Since we are not using data-aware visual components, again we will need to initialize the product
code and name and its price for displaying on the edit form.
65
procedure TInvoiceForm.actEditInvoiceLineExecute(Sender: TObject);

var
xEditorForm: TEditInvoiceLineForm;
begin
xEditorForm := TEditInvoiceLineForm.Create(Self);
try
xEditorForm.EditMode := emInvoiceLineEdit;
xEditorForm.OnClose := EditInvoiceLineEditorClose;
xEditorForm.Caption := 'Edit invoice line';
xEditorForm.InvoiceLineId := Invoices.InvoiceLine.INVOICE_LINE_ID.Value;
xEditorForm.SetProduct(
Invoices.InvoiceLine.PRODUCT_ID.Value,
Invoices.InvoiceLine.PRODUCTNAME.Value,
Invoices.InvoiceLine.SALE_PRICE.AsCurrency);
xEditorForm.Quantity := Invoices.InvoiceLine.QUANTITY.Value;
finally
xEditorForm.Free;
end;
end;
procedure TEditInvoiceLineForm.SetProduct(AProductId: Integer;

AProductName: string; APrice: Currency);
begin
FProductId := AProductId;
edtProduct.Text := AProductName;
edtPrice.Text := CurrToStr(APrice);
end;
We handle adding a new item and editing an existing one in the Close event of the modal form.
procedure TInvoiceForm.actAddInvoiceLineExecute(Sender: TObject);

var
begin
try
xEditorForm.EditMode := emInvoiceLineAdd;
xEditorForm.OnClose := AddInvoiceLineEditorClose;
xEditorForm.Caption := 'Add invoice line';
xEditorForm.Quantity := 1;
xEditorForm.InvoiceId := Invoices.Invoice.INVOICE_ID.Value;
finally
xEditorForm.Free;
end;
end;
procedure TInvoiceForm.actEditInvoiceLineExecute(Sender: TObject);
66
var
begin
try
xEditorForm.EditMode := emInvoiceLineEdit;
xEditorForm.OnClose := EditInvoiceLineEditorClose;
xEditorForm.Caption := 'Edit invoice line';
xEditorForm.InvoiceLineId := Invoices.InvoiceLine.INVOICE_LINE_ID.Value;
xEditorForm.SetProduct(
Invoices.InvoiceLine.PRODUCT_ID.Value,
Invoices.InvoiceLine.PRODUCTNAME.Value,
Invoices.InvoiceLine.SALE_PRICE.AsCurrency);
xEditorForm.Quantity := Invoices.InvoiceLine.QUANTITY.Value;
finally
xEditorForm.Free;
end;
end;
procedure TInvoiceForm.AddInvoiceLineEditorClose(Sender: TObject;

var
xCustomerId: Integer;
begin
xEditorForm := TEditInvoiceLineForm(Sender);
begin
Action := caFree;
Exit;
end;
try
Invoices.AddInvoiceLine(xEditorForm.ProductId, xEditorForm.Quantity);
Action := caFree;
except
on E: Exception do
begin
Action := caNone;
end;
end;
end;
procedure TInvoiceForm.EditInvoiceLineEditorClose(Sender: TObject;

var
xCustomerId: Integer;
begin
67
xEditorForm := TEditInvoiceLineForm(Sender);
begin
Action := caFree;
Exit;
end;
try
Invoices.EditInvoiceLine(xEditorForm.Quantity);
Action := caFree;
except
on E: Exception do
begin
Action := caNone;
end;
end;
end;
Now let’s take a look at the code for the AddInvoiceLine and EditInvoiceLine procedures of the
dmInvoice data module:
68
procedure TdmInvoice.AddInvoiceLine(AProductId: Integer; AQuantity: Integer);

begin
try
qryAddInvoiceLine.ParamByName('INVOICE_ID').AsInteger :=
Invoice.INVOICE_ID.Value;
if AProductId = 0 then
raise Exception.Create('Not selected product');
qryAddInvoiceLine.ParamByName('PRODUCT_ID').AsInteger := AProductId;
qryAddInvoiceLine.ParamByName('QUANTITY').AsInteger := AQuantity;
qryAddInvoiceLine.Execute();
trWrite.Commit;
qryInvoice.Refresh;
qryInvoiceLine.Refresh;
except
on E: Exception do
begin
trWrite.Rollback;
raise;
end;
end;
end;
procedure TdmInvoice.EditInvoiceLine(AQuantity: Integer);

begin
try
qryEditInvoiceLine.ParamByName('INVOICE_LINE_ID').AsInteger :=
InvoiceLine.INVOICE_LINE_ID.Value;
qryEditInvoiceLine.ParamByName('QUANTITY').AsInteger := AQuantity;
qryEditInvoiceLine.Execute();
trWrite.Commit;
qryInvoice.Refresh;
qryInvoiceLine.Refresh;
except
on E: Exception do
begin
trWrite.Rollback;
raise;
end;
end;
end;
69
3.10. The Result
Figure 10. Screenshot of the sample application
3.11. Conclusion
FireDac™ is a standard set of data-access and data-aware visual components for developing with
various database systems, including Firebird, starting from Delphi™ XE3. FireDac™ ships with the
higher-end versions of Delphi. Many independent sets of data access and data-aware visual
components are available for working with Firebird, some commercial, others distributed under a
variety of licences, including open source and freeware. They include FibPlus, IBObjects, UIB,
UniDAC, IBDac, Interbase Express (IBX) and more. The principles for developing Firebird
applications in Delphi™ are the same, regardless of the components you choose.
All queries to a database are executed within a transaction. To guarantee that applications will
work correctly and efficiently with Firebird databases, it is advisable to manage transactions
manually, by explicit calls to the StartTransaction, Commit and Rollback methods of the
TFDTransaction component. Transactions should be as short as possible and you can use as many as
the logic of your application requires.
The recommended configuration for a long-running, read-only transaction to view datasets is to use
READ COMMITTED isolation with REC_VERSION for conflict resolution. An application can run many
datasets in one such transaction or one for each dataset, according to the requirements of the
design.
70
To avoid holding an uncommitted transaction during an editing session, either use visual
components that are not data-aware or use the CachedUpdates mode. With CachedUpdates you can
restrict writes to short bursts of activity, keeping the read/write transaction active only for as long
as it takes to post the most recent changes to the database.
The TFDUpdateSQL component is necessary for editing most datasets. Update queries are governed by
its InsertSQL, ModifySQL, DeleteSQL and FetchRowSQL properties. The queries for those properties can
be generated automatically by a wizard but manual corrections or adjustments are often required.
Acquiring values for auto-incrementing primary keys can be handled in one of two ways:
• Getting the value from the generator beforehand by specifying the UpdateOptions.GeneratorName
and UpdateOptions.AutoIncFields properties for the TFDQuery component. This method cannot be
used for auto-incrementing fields of the IDENTITY type that was introduced in Firebird 3.
• Getting the value by adding a RETURNING clause to the InsertSQL query. For this method you need
to specify Required=False and ReadOnly=True for the field because the value is not entered
directly.
It is convenient and sometimes necessary to implement more complex business logic with stored
procedures. Using the TFDCommand component to execute stored procedures that do not return data
reduces resource consumption.
3.12. Source Code

ObjectPascal source code for the sample project is available for download using the following link:
FireDacEx.zip.
For links to the database scripts and ready-to-use databases, refer to the final sections of the
database chapter.
71
Chapter 4. Developing Firebird Applications with Microsoft Entity Framework
Chapter 4. Developing Firebird Applications

with Microsoft Entity Framework
This chapter will describe the process of creating applications with a Firebird database using the
Microsoft™ Entity Framework™ access components in the Visual Studio 2015™ environment.
ADO.NET Entity Framework (EF) combines an object-oriented data access technology with an
object-relational mapping (ORM) solution for the Microsoft .NET Framework. It enables interaction
with objects by means of both LINQ in the form of LINQ to Entities and with Entity SQL.
4.1. Methods of Interacting with a Database

Entity Framework assumes three possible methods for interacting with a database:
Database first
Entity Framework creates a set of classes that reflect the model of an existing database.
Model first
The developer creates a database model that Entity Framework later uses to create an actual
database on the server.
Code first
The developer creates a class for the model of the data that will be stored in a database and then
Entity Framework uses this model to generate the database and its tables
Our sample application will use the Code first approach, but you could use one of the others just as
easily.
As we already have a database, we will just write the code that would result in
 creating that database.
4.2. Setting Up for Firebird in Visual Studio 2015

To prepare for working with Firebird, you will need to install the following:
• FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient.dll
• EntityFramework.Firebird.dll
• the Firebird DDEX Provider for Visual Studio
There is nothing difficult in installing the first two. They are currently distributed and installed into
a project by means of the NuGet package manager. The DDEX Provider library, designed for
operating Visual Studio wizards, is not so easy to install and may take more time and effort.
Efforts have been made to automate the installation process and include all components in a single
installer package. However, you might need to install all of the components manually under some
conditions. If so, you can download the following:
72
• FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient-4.10.0.0.msi
• EntityFramework.Firebird-4.10.0.0-NET45.7z
• DDEXProvider-3.0.2.0.7z
• DDEXProvider-3.0.2.0-src.7z
4.2.1. The Installation Process
Important!
 Because the installation involves operations in protected directories, you will need
administrator privileges to do it.
Steps
1. Install FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient-4.10.0.0.msi
2. Unpack EntityFramework.Firebird-4.10.0.0-NET45.7z to the folder with the installed Firebird

client. In my case, it is the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\FirebirdClient\.
3. You need to install a Firebird build into the GAC. For your convenience, specify the path to the
gacutil utility for .NET Framework 4.5 in the environment variable %PATH%. In my case, the path
is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0A\bin\NETFX 4.6.1 Tools\
4. Run the command shell cmd.exe as administrator and go to the directory with the installed
client, e.g.,
chdir "c:\Program Files (x86)\FirebirdClient"
5. Now make sure that FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient is installed into the GAC by typing the
following command:
gacutil /l FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient
If FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient has not been installed into the GAC, use the following
command to do it now:
gacutil /i FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient.dll
6. Now install EntityFramework.Firebird into the GAC
gacutil /i EntityFramework.Firebird.dll
7. Unpack DDEXProvider-3.0.2.0.7z to a directory convenient for you. Mine was unpacked to

C:\Program Files (x86)\FirebirdDDEX\.
8. Unpack the contents of the /reg_files/VS2015 subdirectory from the archive DDEXProvider-
73
3.0.2.0-src.7z there as well.
Author’s remark
 For some strange reason these files are absent from the archive with the
compiled dll libraries, but they are present in the source code archive.
9. Open the FirebirdDDEXProvider64.reg file in Notepad. Find the line that contains %path% and
change it to the full path to the file FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.dll, e.g.,
"CodeBase"="C:\\Program Files
(x86)\\FirebirdDDEX\\FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.dll"
10. Save this Registry file and run it. Click [ YES ] to the question about adding the information to
the Registry.
11. Now you need to edit the machine.config file. In my installation, the path is as follows:
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\Config
Open this file in Notepad. Find the following section:
<system.data>
<DbProviderFactories>
Add the following lines to this section:
<add name="FirebirdClient Data Provider"

invariant="FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient"
description=".Net Framework Data Provider for Firebird"
type="FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient.FirebirdClientFactory,
FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient, Version=4.10.0.0, Culture=neutral,
PublicKeyToken=3750abcc3150b00c" />
 The settings we have configured here are valid for version 4.10.0.
Do the same for machine.config located at

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Config\
This completes the installation.
Testing the Installation
To make sure that everything has been installed successfully, start Visual Studio 2015. Find the
Server Explorer and try to connect to an existing Firebird database.
74
Figure 11. Choose data source for testing installation
Figure 12. Locate a database
75
Figure 13. Test and confirm the connection
4.3. Creating a Project

For our example in this chapter, we will create a Windows Forms application. Other types of
applications differ from it, but the principles of working with Firebird via Entity Framework
remain the same.
4.3.1. Adding Packages to the Project
The first task after creating a Windows Forms project is to add the following packages to it, using
the NuGet package manager:
• FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient
• EntityFramework
• EntityFramework.Firebird
Right-click the project name in Solution Explorer and select Manage NuGet Packages from the drop-
down list.
76
Figure 14. Solution Explorer-→select NuGet packages
Find the packages listed above in the Nuget catalogue and install them in the package manager.
77
Figure 15. Select and install packages from NuGet catalogue
4.4. Creating an Entity Data Model (EDM)

In our application, we will use the Code First approach.
To create an EDM, right-click the project name in Solution Explorer and select Add › New Item
from the menu.
78
Figure 16. Solution Explorer — Add › New Item
Next, in the Add New Item wizard, select ADO.NET Entity Data Model.
79
Figure 17. Add New Item wizard — select ADO.NET Entity Data Model
Since we already have a database, we will generate the EDM from the database. Select the icon
captioned Code First from database.
Figure 18. Add New Item wizard — select 'Code First from database'
Now we need to select the connection the model will be created from. If the connection does not
exist, it will have to be created.
80
Figure 19. Add New Item wizard — choose Connection
You might need to specify some advanced properties in addition to the main connection properties.
You might want to set the transaction isolation, for example, to a level different from the default
Read Committed, or to specify connection pooling, or something else that differs from defaults.
81
Figure 20. Add Connection wizard — Connection properties
Figure 21. Add Connection wizard — Advanced connection properties
82
Snapshot is the recommended isolation level because Entity Framework and

 ADO.NET both use disconnected data access — where each connection and each
transaction is active only for a very short time.
Next, the Entity Data Model wizard will ask you how to store the connection string.
Figure 22. EDM wizard — connection string storage
For a web application or another three-tier architecture, where all users will be working with the
database using a single account, select Yes. If your application is going to request authentication for
connecting to the database, select No.
83
It is much more convenient to work with wizards if you select Yes for each
property. You can always change the isolation level in the application when it is
ready for testing and deployment by just editing the connection string in the
<AppName>.exe.conf application configuration file. The connection string will be
stored in the connectionStrings section and will look approximately like this:
<add name="DbModel"
 connectionString="character set=UTF8; data source=localhost;
initial catalog=examples; port number=3050;
user id=sysdba; dialect=3; isolationlevel=Snapshot;
pooling=True; password=masterkey;"
providerName="FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient" />
For the configuration file to stop storing the confidential information, just delete
this parameter from the connection string: password=masterkey;
Firebird 3.0 Notes

Unfortunately, the current ADO.Net provider for Firebird (version 5.9.0.0) does not
support network traffic encryption, which is enabled by default in Firebird 3.0 and
higher versions. If you want to work with Firebird 3.0, you need to change some
settings in firebird.conf (or in databases.conf for a specific database) to make
Firebird to work without trying to use network encryption.
To do it, change the setting from the default
 # WireCrypt = Enabled
to
WireCrypt = Disabled
making sure to delete the ‘#’ comment marker. Remember that you must restart
the server for configuration changes to take effect.
Next, you will be asked which tables and views should be included in the model.
84
Figure 23. EDM wizard — select tables and views
For our project, select the four tables that are checked in the screenshot.
The basic EDM is now ready.
4.4.1. The EDM Files
When the wizard’s work is finished, you should have five new files: a model file and four files each
describing an entity in the model.
An Entity File
Let’s take a look at the generated file describing the INVOICE entity:
85
[Table("Firebird.INVOICE")]
public partial class INVOICE
{
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage",
"CA2214:DoNotCallOverridableMethodsInConstructors")]
public INVOICE()
{
INVOICE_LINES = new HashSet<INVOICE_LINE>();
}
[Key]
[DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.None)]
public int INVOICE_ID { get; set; }
public int CUSTOMER_ID { get; set; }
public DateTime? INVOICE_DATE { get; set; }
public decimal? TOTAL_SALE { get; set; }
public short PAYED { get; set; }
public virtual CUSTOMER CUSTOMER { get; set; }
"CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
public virtual ICollection<INVOICE_LINE> INVOICE_LINES { get; set; }
}
The class contains properties for each field of the INVOICE table. Each of these properties has
attributes that describe constraints. You can study the details of the various attributes in the
Microsoft document, Code First Data Annotations.
Navigation Properties and “Lazy Loading”
Two navigation properties are generated: CUSTOMER and INVOICE_LINES. The first one contains a
reference to the customer entity. The second contains a collection of invoice lines. It is generated
because the INVOICE_LINE table has a foreign key to the INVOICE table. Of course, you can remove this
property from the INVOICE entity, but it is not really necessary. The CUSTOMER and INVOICE_LINES
properties use “lazy loading” which means that loading is not performed until the first access to an
object. That way, the loading of related data is avoided unless it is actually needed. Once the data
are accessed via the navigation property, they will be loaded from the database automatically.
If lazy loading is in effect, classes that use it must be public and their properties
 must have the keywords public and virtual.
The DbModel File
Next, we examine the DbModel.cs file that describes the overall model.
86
public partial class DbModel : DbContext

{
public DbModel()
: base("name=DbModel")
{
}
public virtual DbSet<CUSTOMER> CUSTOMERS { get; set; }

public virtual DbSet<INVOICE> INVOICES { get; set; }
public virtual DbSet<INVOICE_LINE> INVOICE_LINES { get; set; }
public virtual DbSet<PRODUCT> PRODUCTS { get; set; }
protected override void OnModelCreating(DbModelBuilder modelBuilder)

{
modelBuilder.Entity<CUSTOMER>()
.Property(e => e.ZIPCODE)
.IsFixedLength();
modelBuilder.Entity<CUSTOMER>()
.HasMany(e => e.INVOICES)
.WithRequired(e => e.CUSTOMER)
.WillCascadeOnDelete(false);
modelBuilder.Entity<PRODUCT>()
.HasMany(e => e.INVOICE_LINES)
.WithRequired(e => e.PRODUCT)
modelBuilder.Entity<INVOICE>()
.HasMany(e => e.INVOICE_LINES)
.WithRequired(e => e.INVOICE)
}
}
The properties coded here describe a dataset for each entity, along with advanced properties that
are specified for creating a model with Fluent API. A complete description of the Fluent API can be
found in the Microsoft document entitled Configuring/Mapping Properties and Types with the
Fluent API.
We will use the Fluent API to specify precision and scale for properties of type DECIMAL in the
OnModelCreating method, by adding the following lines:
87
modelBuilder.Entity<PRODUCT>()
.Property(p => p.PRICE)
.HasPrecision(15, 2);
modelBuilder.Entity<INVOICE>()
.Property(p => p.TOTAL_SALE)
modelBuilder.Entity<INVOICE_LINE>()
.Property(p => p.SALE_PRICE)
modelBuilder.Entity<INVOICE_LINE>()
.Property(p => p.QUANTITY)
4.5. Creating a User Interface

In our application, we will create interfaces for two primary entities: a form each for the product
and the customer entities. Each form contains a DataGridView grid, a ToolStrip toolbar with
buttons and also a BindingSource component that is used to bind data to the controls on the form.
Figure 24. A form for the Customer entity
88
Since both forms are similar in function and implementation, we will describe just one.
4.5.1. Getting a Context
To work with our model, we will need the method for getting a context (or a model). The following
statement is sufficient for that purpose:
DbModel dbContext = new DbModel();
If no confidential data are stored in the connection string — for example, the password is absent
because it will be captured during the authentication process when the application is started — we
will need a special method for storing and recovering the connection string or for storing the
previously created context. For that, we will create a special class containing some application-level
global variables, along with a method for getting a context.
A context might be the start and end dates of a work period, for example.
static class AppVariables

{
private static DbModel dbContext = null;
/// <summary>
/// Start date of the working period
/// </summary>
public static DateTime StartDate { get; set; }
/// <summary>
/// End date of the working period
/// </summary>
public static DateTime FinishDate { get; set; }
/// <summary>
/// Returns an instance of the model (context)
/// </summary>
/// <returns>Model</returns>
public static DbModel CreateDbContext() {
dbContext = dbContext ?? new DbModel();
return dbContext;
}
}
The connection string itself is applied after the authentication process completes successfully
during the application launch. We will add the following code to the Load event handler of the main
form for that.
89
private void MainForm_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {

var dialog = new LoginForm();
if (dialog.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
var dbContext = AppVariables.getDbContext();
try
{
string s = dbContext.Database.Connection.ConnectionString;
var builder = new FbConnectionStringBuilder(s);
builder.UserID = dialog.UserName;
builder.Password = dialog.Password;
dbContext.Database.Connection.ConnectionString = builder.ConnectionString;
// try connect
dbContext.Database.Connection.Open();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// display error
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "Error");
Application.Exit();
}
}
else
Application.Exit();
}
Now, to get a context, we use the static CreateDbContext method:
4.6. Working with Data

The entities in the model definition contain no data. The easiest way to to load data is to call the
Load method. For example,
90
private void LoadCustomersData()

{
dbContext.CUSTOMERS.Load();
var customers = dbContext.CUSTOMERS.Local;
bindingSource.DataSource = customers.ToBindingList();
}
private void CustomerForm_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

{
LoadCustomersData();
dataGridView.DataSource = bindingSource;
dataGridView.Columns["CUSTOMER_ID"].Visible = false;
}
However, this approach has a few drawbacks:
1. The Load method loads all data from the CUSTOMER table to memory at once
2. Although lazy properties (INVOICES) are not loaded immediately, but only once they are
accessed, they will be loaded anyway when the records are shown in the grid and it will happen
each time a group of records is shown
3. Record ordering is not defined
To get around these drawbacks, we will use a feature of the LINQ (Language Integrated Query)
technology, LINQ to Entities. LINQ to Entities offers a simple and intuitive approach to getting data
using C# statements that are syntactically similar to SQL query statements. You can read about the
LINQ syntax in LINQ to Entities.
4.6.1. LINQ Extension Methods
The LINQ extension methods can return two objects: IEnumerable and IQueryable. The IQueryable
interface is inherited from IEnumerable so, theoretically, an IQueryable object is also an IEnumerable.
In reality, they are distinctly different.
The IEnumerable interface is in the System.Collections namespace. An IEnumerable object is a

collection of data in memory that can be addressed only in a forward direction. During the query
execution, IEnumerable loads all data. Filtering, if required, is done on the client side.
The IQueryable interface is in the System.Linq namespace. It provides remote access to the database
and movement through the data can be bi-directional. During the process of creating a query that
returns an IQueryable object, the query is optimized to minimise memory usage and network
bandwidth.
The Local property returns the IEnumerable interface, through which we can create LINQ queries.
91

{
dbContext.CUSTOMERS.Load();
var customers =
from customer in dbContext.CUSTOMERS.Local
orderby customer.NAME
select new customer;
}
However, as this query will be executed on the data in memory, it is really useful only for small
tables that do not need to be filtered beforehand.
For a LINQ query to be converted into SQL and executed on the server, we need to access the
dbContext.CUSTOMERS directly instead of accessing the dbContext.CUSTOMERS.Local property in the
LINQ query. The prior call to dbContext.CUSTOMERS.Load(); to load the collection to memory is not
required.
IQueryable and BindingList
IQueryable objects present a small problem: they cannot return BindingList. BindingList is a base
class for creating a two-way data-binding mechanism. We can use the IQueryable interface to get a
regular list by calling ToList but, this way, we lose handy features such as sorting in the grid and
several more. The deficiency was fixed in .NET Framework 5 by creating a special extension. To do
the same thing in FW4, we will create our own solution.
92
public static class DbExtensions

{
// Internal class for map generator values to it
private class IdResult
{
public int Id { get; set; }
}
// Cast IQueryable to BindingList

public static BindingList<T> ToBindingList<T>
(this IQueryable<T> source) where T : class
{
return (new ObservableCollection<T>(source)).ToBindingList();
}
// Get the next value of the sequence

public static int NextValueFor(this DbModel dbContext, string genName)
{
string sql = String.Format(
"SELECT NEXT VALUE FOR {0} AS Id FROM RDB$DATABASE", genName);
return dbContext.Database.SqlQuery<IdResult>(sql).First().Id;
}
// Disconnect all objects from the DbSet collection from the context
// Useful for updating the cache
public static void DetachAll<T>(this DbModel dbContext, DbSet<T> dbSet)
where T : class
{
foreach (var obj in dbSet.Local.ToList())
{
dbContext.Entry(obj).State = EntityState.Detached;
}
}
// Update all changed objects in the collection

public static void Refresh(this DbModel dbContext, RefreshMode mode,
IEnumerable collection)
{
var objectContext = ((IObjectContextAdapter)dbContext).ObjectContext;
objectContext.Refresh(mode, collection);
}
// Update the object

public static void Refresh(this DbModel dbContext, RefreshMode mode,
object entity)
{
var objectContext = ((IObjectContextAdapter)dbContext).ObjectContext;
objectContext.Refresh(mode, entity);
}
}
93
Other Extensions
There are several more extensions in the iQueryable interface:
NextValueFor
is used to get the next value from the generator.
dbContext.Database.SqlQuery
allows SQL queries to be executed directly and their results to be displayed on some entity
(projection).
DetachAll
is used to detach all objects of the DBSet collection from the context. It is necessary to update the
internal cache, because all retrieved data are cached and are not retrieved from the database
again. However, that is not always useful because it makes it more difficult to get the latest
version of records that were modified in another context.
In web applications, a context usually exists for a very short period. A new
 context has an empty cache.
Refresh
is used to update the properties of an entity object. It is useful for updating the properties of an
object after it has been edited or added.
Code for Loading the Data
Our code for loading data will look like this:
94

{
// disconnect all loaded objects
// this is necessary to update the internal cache
// for the second and subsequent calls of this method
dbContext.DetachAll(dbContext.CUSTOMERS);
var customers =
from customer in dbContext.CUSTOMERS
orderby customer.NAME
select customer;
}
private void CustomerForm_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

{
LoadCustomersData();
dataGridView.DataSource = bindingSource;
dataGridView.Columns["INVOICES"].Visible = false;
dataGridView.Columns["CUSTOMER_ID"].Visible = false;
dataGridView.Columns["NAME"].HeaderText = "Name";
dataGridView.Columns["ADDRESS"].HeaderText = "Address";
dataGridView.Columns["ZIPCODE"].HeaderText = "ZipCode";
dataGridView.Columns["PHONE"].HeaderText = "Phone";
}
Adding a Customer
This is the code of the event handler for clicking the Add button:
95
private void btnAdd_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {

// creating a new entity instance
var customer = (CUSTOMER)bindingSource.AddNew();
// create an editing form
using (CustomerEditorForm editor = new CustomerEditorForm()) {
editor.Text = "Add customer";
editor.Customer = customer;
// Form Close Handler
editor.FormClosing += delegate (object fSender,
FormClosingEventArgs fe) {
if (editor.DialogResult == DialogResult.OK) {
try {
// get next sequence value
// and assign it
customer.CUSTOMER_ID = dbContext.NextValueFor("GEN_CUSTOMER_ID");
// add a new customer
dbContext.CUSTOMERS.Add(customer);
// trying to save the changes
dbContext.SaveChanges();
// and update the current record
dbContext.Refresh(RefreshMode.StoreWins, customer);
}
catch (Exception ex) {
// display error
// Do not close the form to correct the error
fe.Cancel = true;
}
}
else
bindingSource.CancelEdit();
};
// show the modal form
editor.ShowDialog(this);
}
}
While adding the new record, we used the generator to get the value of the next identifier. We
could have done it without applying the value of the identifier, leaving the BEFORE INSERT trigger to
fetch the next value of the generator and apply it. However, that would leave us unable to update
the added record.
Editing a Customer
The code of the event handler for clicking the Edit button is as follows:
96
private void btnEdit_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {

// get instance
var customer = (CUSTOMER)bindingSource.Current;
// create an editing form
using (CustomerEditorForm editor = new CustomerEditorForm()) {
editor.Text = "Edit customer";
editor.Customer = customer;
editor.FormClosing += delegate (object fSender, FormClosingEventArgs fe) {
try {
dbContext.Refresh(RefreshMode.StoreWins, customer);
// update all related controls
bindingSource.ResetCurrentItem();
}
// display error
fe.Cancel = true;
}
}
else
bindingSource.CancelEdit();
};
}
}
The form for editing the customer looks like this:
97
Figure 25. Customer edit form
The code for binding to data is very simple.
public CUSTOMER Customer { get; set; }
private void CustomerEditorForm_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

{
edtName.DataBindings.Add("Text", this.Customer, "NAME");
edtAddress.DataBindings.Add("Text", this.Customer, "ADDRESS");
edtZipCode.DataBindings.Add("Text", this.Customer, "ZIPCODE");
edtPhone.DataBindings.Add("Text", this.Customer, "PHONE");
}
Deleting a Customer
The code of the event handler for clicking the Delete button is as follows:
98
private void btnDelete_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {

var result = MessageBox.Show("Are you sure you want to delete the customer?",
"Confirmation",
MessageBoxButtons.YesNo,
MessageBoxIcon.Question);
if (result == DialogResult.Yes) {
// get the entity
var customer = (CUSTOMER)bindingSource.Current;
try {
dbContext.CUSTOMERS.Remove(customer);
// remove from the linked list
bindingSource.RemoveCurrent();
}
// display error
}
}
}
4.7. Secondary Modules

Our application will have only one secondary module, named “Invoices”. Secondary modules
typically contain larger numbers of records than primary ones and new records are added to them
frequently.
An invoice consists of a title where some general attributes are described (number, date, customer
…) and invoice lines with the list of products, their quantities, prices, etc. It is convenient to have
two grids for such documents: the main one showing the invoice header data and the detail one for
the list of products sold. We will need one DataGridView component for each entity on the
document form, binding the appropriate BindingSource to each.
99
Figure 26. Invoice form
4.7.1. Filtering Data
Most secondary entities contain a field with the document creation date. To reduce the amount of
retrieved data, the concept of a work period is usually introduced to filter the data sent to the client.
A work period is a range of dates for which the records are required. Since the application can have
more than one secondary entity, it makes sense to add variables containing the start and end dates
of a work period to the global AppVariables data module (see Getting a Context that is used by all
modules working with the database in one way or another. Once the application is started, the
work period is usually defined by the dates when the current quarter starts and ends, although of
course, other options are possible. While working with the application, the user can change the
work period.
Since the most recent records are the most requested, it makes sense to sort them by date in reverse
order. As with the primary modules, we will use LINQ to retrieve data.
4.7.2. Loading the Invoice Data
The following method loads the invoice headers:
100
public void LoadInvoicesData() {

var invoices =
from invoice in dbContext.INVOICES
where (invoice.INVOICE_DATE >= AppVariables.StartDate) &&
(invoice.INVOICE_DATE <= AppVariables.FinishDate)
orderby invoice.INVOICE_DATE descending
select new InvoiceView
{
Id = invoice.INVOICE_ID,
Cusomer_Id = invoice.CUSTOMER_ID,
Customer = invoice.CUSTOMER.NAME,
Date = invoice.INVOICE_DATE,
Amount = invoice.TOTAL_SALE,
Payed = (invoice.PAYED == 1) ? "Yes" : "No"
};
masterBinding.DataSource = invoices.ToBindingList();
}
To simplify type casting, we define an InvoiceView class, rather than use some anonymous type. The
definition is as follows:
101
public class InvoiceView {

public int Cusomer_Id { get; set; }
public string Customer { get; set; }
public DateTime? Date { get; set; }
public decimal? Amount { get; set; }
public string Payed { get; set; }
public void Load(int Id) {

var invoices =
from invoice in dbContext.INVOICES
where invoice.INVOICE_ID == Id
select new InvoiceView
{
Id = invoice.INVOICE_ID,
Cusomer_Id = invoice.CUSTOMER_ID,
Customer = invoice.CUSTOMER.NAME,
Date = invoice.INVOICE_DATE,
Amount = invoice.TOTAL_SALE,
Payed = (invoice.PAYED == 1) ? "Yes" : "No"
};
InvoiceView invoiceView = invoices.ToList().First();

this.Id = invoiceView.Id;
this.Cusomer_Id = invoiceView.Cusomer_Id;
this.Customer = invoiceView.Customer;
this.Date = invoiceView.Date;
this.Amount = invoiceView.Amount;
this.Payed = invoiceView.Payed;
}
}
The Load method allows us to update one added or updated record in the grid quickly, instead of
completely reloading all records. Here is the code of the event handler for clicking the Add button:
102
private void btnAddInvoice_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {

var invoice = dbContext.INVOICES.Create();
using (InvoiceEditorForm editor = new InvoiceEditorForm()) {
editor.Text = "Add invoice";
editor.Invoice = invoice;
try {
// get next sequence value
invoice.INVOICE_ID = dbContext.NextValueFor("GEN_INVOICE_ID");
// add a record
dbContext.INVOICES.Add(invoice);
// add the projection to the grid list
((InvoiceView)masterBinding.AddNew()).Load(invoice.INVOICE_ID);
}
// display error
fe.Cancel = true;
}
}
};
}
}
In our primary modules, the similarly-named method called dbContext.Refresh but, here, a record
is updated by by calling the Load method of the InvoiceView class. The reason for the difference is
that dbContext.Refresh is used to update entity objects, not the objects that can be produced by
complex LINQ queries.
The code of the event handler for clicking the Edit button:
103
private void btnEditInvoice_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {

// find entity by id
var invoice = dbContext.INVOICES.Find(this.CurrentInvoice.Id);
if (invoice.PAYED == 1) {
MessageBox.Show("The change is not possible, the invoice has already been paid.",
"Error");
return;
}
using (InvoiceEditorForm editor = new InvoiceEditorForm()) {
editor.Text = "Edit invoice";
editor.Invoice = invoice;
try {
// refresh
CurrentInvoice.Load(invoice.INVOICE_ID);
masterBinding.ResetCurrentItem();
}
// display error
fe.Cancel = true;
}
}
};
}
}
Here we needed to find an entity by the identifier provided in the current record. The
CurrentInvoice is used to retrieve the invoice selected in the grid. This is how we code it:
public InvoiceView CurrentInvoice {

get {
return (InvoiceView)masterBinding.Current;
}
}
Using the same approach, you can implement deleting the invoice header yourself.
Paying an Invoice
Besides adding, editing and deleting, we want one more operation for invoices: payment. Here is
104
code for a method implementing this operation:
private void btnInvoicePay_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {

try {
if (invoice.PAYED == 1)
throw new Exception("The change is not possible, the invoice has already been
paid.");
invoice.PAYED = 1;
// refresh record
}
// display error
}
}
4.7.3. Showing the Invoice Lines
We have two choices for displaying the invoice lines:
1. Getting data for each invoice from the INVOICE_LINE navigation property and displaying the
contents of this complex property in the detail grid, probably with LINQ transformations
2. Getting the data for each invoice with a separate LINQ query that will be re-executed when the
cursor moves to another record in the master grid
Either way has its advantages and drawbacks.
The first one assumes that we want to retrieve all invoices at once for the specified period together
with the bound data from the invoice lines when the invoice form is opened. Although it is done
with one SQL query, it may take quite a while and requires a large amount of random-access
memory. It is better suited to web applications where records are usually displayed page by page.
The second one is a bit more difficult to implement, but it allows the invoice form to be opened
quickly and requires less resource. However, each time the cursor in the master grid moves, an SQL
query will be executed, generating network traffic, albeit with only a small volume of data.
For our application we will use the second approach. We need an event handler for the
BindingSource component for editing the current record:
105
private void masterBinding_CurrentChanged(object sender, EventArgs e) {

LoadInvoiceLineData(this.CurrentInvoice.Id);
detailGridView.DataSource = detailBinding;
}
Now, the method for loading the invoice data:
private void LoadInvoiceLineData(int? id) {

var lines =
from line in dbContext.INVOICE_LINES
where line.INVOICE_ID == id
select new InvoiceLineView
{
Id = line.INVOICE_LINE_ID,
Invoice_Id = line.INVOICE_ID,
Product_Id = line.PRODUCT_ID,
Product = line.PRODUCT.NAME,
Quantity = line.QUANTITY,
Price = line.SALE_PRICE,
Total = Math.Round(line.QUANTITY * line.SALE_PRICE, 2)
};
detailBinding.DataSource = lines.ToBindingList();
}
We use the InvoiceLineView class as an extension:
public class InvoiceLineView {

public int Invoice_Id { get; set; }
public int Product_Id { get; set; }
public string Product { get; set; }
public decimal Quantity { get; set; }
public decimal Price { get; set; }
public decimal Total { get; set; }
}
Unlike the InvoiceView class, this one has no method for loading one current
record. In our example, the speed of reloading the detail grid it is not crucial,
 because one document does not contain thousands of items. Implementing this
method is optional.
Now we will add a special property for retrieving the current line of the document selected in the
detail grid.
106
public InvoiceLineView CurrentInvoiceLine {

get {
return (InvoiceLineView)detailBinding.Current;
}
}
4.7.4. Working with Stored Procedures
The methods we will use for adding, editing and deleting illustrate how to work with stored
procedures in Entity Framework. As an example, this is the method for adding a new record:
private void btnAddInvoiceLine_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {

// get current invoice
"Error");
return;
}
// create invoice position
var invoiceLine = dbContext.INVOICE_LINES.Create();
invoiceLine.INVOICE_ID = invoice.INVOICE_ID;
// create the position editor of the invoice
using (InvoiceLineEditorForm editor = new InvoiceLineEditorForm()) {
editor.Text = "Add invoice line";
editor.InvoiceLine = invoiceLine;
try {
// create SP parameters
var invoiceIdParam = new FbParameter("INVOICE_ID",
FbDbType.Integer);
var productIdParam = new FbParameter("PRODUCT_ID",
FbDbType.Integer);
var quantityParam = new FbParameter("QUANTITY", FbDbType.Integer);
// initial parameters values
invoiceIdParam.Value = invoiceLine.INVOICE_ID;
productIdParam.Value = invoiceLine.PRODUCT_ID;
quantityParam.Value = invoiceLine.QUANTITY;
// execute stored procedure
dbContext.Database.ExecuteSqlCommand(
"EXECUTE PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE("
+ "@INVOICE_ID, @PRODUCT_ID, @QUANTITY)",
invoiceIdParam,
productIdParam,
quantityParam);
// refresh grids
107
// reload current invoice record

// reload all record in detail grid
LoadInvoiceLineData(invoice.INVOICE_ID);
// refresh all related data
}
// display error
fe.Cancel = true;
}
}
};
}
}
With our example, an update of the master grid record will be needed because one of its fields
(TotalSale) contains aggregated information derived from the detail lines of the document. This is
how we do that:
private void btnEditInvoiceLine_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {

"Error");
return;
}
// get current invoice position
var invoiceLine = invoice.INVOICE_LINES
.Where(p => p.INVOICE_LINE_ID == this.CurrentInvoiceLine.Id)
.First();
// create invoice position editor
using (InvoiceLineEditorForm editor = new InvoiceLineEditorForm()) {
editor.Text = "Edit invoice line";
editor.InvoiceLine = invoiceLine;
// form close handler
try {
// create parameters
var idParam = new FbParameter("INVOICE_LINE_ID", FbDbType.Integer);
var quantityParam = new FbParameter("QUANTITY", FbDbType.Integer);
// initial parameters values
idParam.Value = invoiceLine.INVOICE_LINE_ID;
quantityParam.Value = invoiceLine.QUANTITY;
108

"EXECUTE PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE_LINE("
+ "@INVOICE_LINE_ID, @QUANTITY)",
idParam,
quantityParam);
// refresh grids
// reload current invoice record
// reload all records in detail grid
// refresh all related controls
}
// display error
fe.Cancel = true;
}
}
};
}
}
Deleting an Invoice Detail Line
The method for deleting a detail record is implemented as follows:
109
private void btnDeleteInvoiceLine_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {

var result = MessageBox.Show(
" Are you sure you want to delete the invoice item?",
"Confirmation",
MessageBoxButtons.YesNo,
MessageBoxIcon.Question);
if (result == DialogResult.Yes) {
try {
if (invoice.PAYED == 1)
throw new Exception("It is not possible to delete the entry, the invoice is
paid.");
var idParam = new FbParameter("INVOICE_LINE_ID", FbDbType.Integer);
// initialize parameters values
idParam.Value = this.CurrentInvoiceLine.Id;
"EXECUTE PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE_LINE(@INVOICE_LINE_ID)",
idParam);
// update grids
// reload current invoice
// reload all records in detail grids
// refresh related controls
}
// display error
}
}
}
4.7.5. Showing Products for Selection
In the methods for adding and editing invoice lines we used the form. For displaying products, we
will use a TextBox control.
110
Figure 27. Product form
A click on the button next to the TextBox will open a modal form with a grid for selecting products.
The same modal form created for displaying the products is used for selecting them. The click
handler code for the embedded button that initiates the form is:
public partial class InvoiceLineEditorForm : Form {

public InvoiceLineEditorForm() {
InitializeComponent();
}
public INVOICE_LINE InvoiceLine { get; set; }
private void InvoiceLineEditorForm_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {

if (this.InvoiceLine.PRODUCT != null) {
edtProduct.Text = this.InvoiceLine.PRODUCT.NAME;
edtPrice.Text = this.InvoiceLine.PRODUCT.PRICE.ToString("F2");
btnChooseProduct.Click -= this.btnChooseProduct_Click;
}
if (this.InvoiceLine.QUANTITY == 0)
this.InvoiceLine.QUANTITY = 1;
edtQuantity.DataBindings.Add("Value", this.InvoiceLine, "QUANTITY");
}
private void btnChooseProduct_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {

GoodsForm goodsForm = new GoodsForm();
if (goodsForm.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK) {
InvoiceLine.PRODUCT_ID = goodsForm.CurrentProduct.Id;
edtProduct.Text = goodsForm.CurrentProduct.Name;
edtPrice.Text = goodsForm.CurrentProduct.Price.ToString("F2");
}
}
}
111

Whenever we call the SaveChanges() method while adding, updating or deleting, Entity Framework
starts and ends an implicit transaction. Since we use disconnected data access, all operations are
carried out within one transaction. Entity Framework starts and ends a transaction automatically
for each data retrieval. We will take the following example to illustrate how automatic transactions
work.
Suppose we need to make a discount on goods selected in the grid. Without explicit transaction
management, the code would be as follows:

foreach (DataGridViewRow gridRows in dataGridView.SelectedRows) {
int id = (int)gridRows.Cells["Id"].Value;
// here there is an implicit start and the completion of the transaction
var product = dbContext.PRODUCTS.Find(id);
// discount 10%
decimal discount = 10.0m;
product.PRICE = product.PRICE * (100 - discount) /100;
}
// here there is an implicit start and the completion of the transaction
// all changes occur in one transaction
Let’s say we select 10 products. Ten implicit transactions will be used for finding the products by
their identifiers. One more transaction will be used to save the changes.
If we control transactions explicitly, we can use just one transaction for the same piece of work. For
example:
112

// explicit start of a default transaction
using (var dbTransaction = dbContext.Database.BeginTransaction()) {
string sql =
"UPDATE PRODUCT " +
"SET PRICE = PRICE * ROUND((100 - @DISCOUNT)/100, 2) " +
"WHERE PRODUCT_ID = @PRODUCT_ID";
try {
// create query parameters
var idParam = new FbParameter("PRODUCT_ID", FbDbType.Integer);
var discountParam = new FbParameter("DISCOUNT", FbDbType.Decimal);
// create a SQL command to update records
var sqlCommand = dbContext.Database.Connection.CreateCommand();
sqlCommand.CommandText = sql;
// specify which transaction to use
sqlCommand.Transaction = dbTransaction.UnderlyingTransaction;
sqlCommand.Parameters.Add(discountParam);
sqlCommand.Parameters.Add(idParam);
// prepare query
sqlCommand.Prepare();
// for all selected records in the grid
int id = (int)gridRows.Cells["Id"].Value;
// initialize query parameters
idParam.Value = id;
discountParam.Value = 10.0m; // discount 10%
// execute sql statement
sqlCommand.ExecuteNonQuery();
}
dbTransaction.Commit();
}
dbTransaction.Rollback();
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "error");
}
}
Our code starts the transaction with the default parameters. To specify your own parameters for a
transaction, you should use the UseTransaction method.
private void btnDiscount_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {

DiscountEditorForm editor = new DiscountEditorForm();
editor.Text = "Enter discount";
if (editor.ShowDialog() != DialogResult.OK)
return;
bool needUpdate = false;

var connection = dbContext.Database.Connection;
113
// explicit start of transaction

using (var dbTransaction = connection.BeginTransaction(IsolationLevel.Snapshot)) {
dbContext.Database.UseTransaction(dbTransaction);
string sql =
"UPDATE PRODUCT " +
"SET PRICE = ROUND(PRICE * (100 - @DISCOUNT)/100, 2) " +
"WHERE PRODUCT_ID = @PRODUCT_ID";
try {
// create query parameters
var idParam = new FbParameter("PRODUCT_ID", FbDbType.Integer);
var discountParam = new FbParameter("DISCOUNT", FbDbType.Decimal);
// create a SQL command to update records
var sqlCommand = connection.CreateCommand();
sqlCommand.CommandText = sql;
// specify which transaction to use
sqlCommand.Transaction = dbTransaction;
sqlCommand.Parameters.Add(discountParam);
sqlCommand.Parameters.Add(idParam);
// prepare statement
sqlCommand.Prepare();
int id = (int)gridRows.Cells["PRODUCT_ID"].Value;
// initialize query parameters
idParam.Value = id;
discountParam.Value = editor.Discount;
// execute SQL statement
needUpdate = (sqlCommand.ExecuteNonQuery() > 0) || needUpdate;
}
dbTransaction.Commit();
}
dbTransaction.Rollback();
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "error");
needUpdate = false;
}
}
// refresh grid
if (needUpdate) {
var product = (PRODUCT)bindingSource.List[gridRows.Index];
dbContext.Refresh(RefreshMode.StoreWins, product);
}
bindingSource.ResetBindings(false);
}
}
That’s it. Now only one transaction is used for the entire set of updates and there are no
unnecessary commands for finding data.
114
All that is left to do is to add a dialog box for entering the value of the discount and code to update
data in the grid. Try to do it on your own.
4.9. The Result
Figure 28. The result of the Entity Framework project
4.10. Source Code

You can get the source code for the sample application using this link: FBFormAppExample.zip.
115
Chapter 5. Creating Web Applications in Entity Framework with MVC
Chapter 5. Creating Web Applications in

Entity Framework with MVC
This chapter will describe how to create web applications with Firebird as the back-end, using
Microsoft™ Entity Framework™ and the Visual Studio 2015 environment.
We examine the specifics of creating a web application with this framework. The basic principles
for working with Entity Framework and Firebird are described in the previous chapter, Creating
Applications with Microsoft Entity Framework.
5.1. The .NET Frameworks

The .NET platform offers two main frameworks for creating web applications developed as “active
server pages” (ASP): ASP.NET Web Forms and ASP.NET MVC. As I prefer using the MVC pattern, it is
this technology that we will be examining.
5.2. The ASP.NET MVC Platform

The ASP.NET MVC platform is a framework for creating websites and web applications on the
model-view-controller (MVC) pattern. The concept underlying the MVC pattern breaks down an
application into three parts:
Controller
Controllers work with the model and provide interaction with the user. They also provide view
options for displaying the user interface. In an MVC application, views only display data while
the controller handles the input and responds to user activities.
As an example, the controller can process string values in a query and send them to the model,
which can use these values to send a query to the database.
View
the visual part of application’s user interface. The user interface is usually created to reflect the
data from the model.
Model
Model objects are the parts of the application that implement the logic for working with the
application data. Model objects typically receive the status of the model and save it in the
database.
5.2.1. Model-View-Controller Interaction
Interaction between these components is illustrated in the following general diagram:
116
Figure 29. Interaction between M-V-C parts
The MVC pattern supports the creation of applications whose logical aspects — input, business and
interface — are separated but interact closely with one another. The diagram illustrates the location
of each logic type in the application:
• the user interface in the view
• the input logic in the controller
• the business logic in the model
This separation allows you to work with complex structures while developing the application
because it ensures discrete implementation of each aspect. The developer can focus on creating a
view separately from implementing the business logic.
More comprehensive information about the ASP.NET MVC technology can be found at the website
of the ASP.NET community.
5.3. Software Stack

Along with the libraries for working with Firebird, Entity Framework and MVC.NET, you will need a
number of JavaScript libraries to support a responsive interface, such as jquery, jquery-ui,
Bootstrap, jqGrid. In this example, we have tried to make a web application whose interface is
similar to a desktop UI, by employing grids for views and modal windows for data input.
5.3.1. Preparing Visual Studio 2015 for Firebird Work
Some essential steps are needed before you can start working in Visual Studio with Firebird. The
preparation process is described in detail in the previous chapter, under the topic Setting Up for
Firebird in Visual Studio 2015.

The Following topics will show how to use the Visual Studio wizards to create the framework of an
117
MVC.NET application.
Open File › New › Project in Visual Studio 2015 and create a new project named FBMVCExample.
Figure 30. Create the FBMVCExample project
118
Figure 31. Change authentication setting
For now, we will create a web application with no authentication, so click the [ Change
Authentication ] button to disable authentication. We will get back to this issue a bit later.
Figure 32. Disable authentication for now
5.4.1. Structure of the Project
The project that you create will have virtually no functionality, but it already has its basic structure,
described briefly in the following table:
Table 6. Basic Structure of the MVC Project
119
Folder or File Purpose
/App_Data folder Where private web application data, such as XML files or
database files, are located.
/App_Start folder Contains some main configuration settings for the project,
including the definitions of routes and filters.
/Content folder Static content goes in here, such as CSS files and images. It is an
optional convention. You can store CSS files anywhere you want.
/Controllers folder Controller classes are saved here. It is an optional convention.

You can store controller classes anywhere.
/Models folder View model and business model classes are saved here although
it is better for all applications (except for the simplest ones) to
define a business model in a separate project. It is an optional
convention. You can store model classes anywhere you like.
/Scripts folder Stores the JavaScript libraries being used in the application. By
default, Visual Studio adds jQuery libraries and several other
popular JavaScript libraries. It is an optional convention.
/Views folder Stores the views and partial views. They are commonly grouped
together in sub-folders name for the controllers they are
connected with.
/Views/Shared subfolder Stores layouts and views not specific to one controller.
/Views/Web.config file Contains the configuration information that ensures that views
are processed within ASP.NET and not by the IIS web server. Also
contains the namespaces imported into views by default.
/Global.asax file The global class of an ASP.NET application. A configuration for a

route is registered in the file with its code (Global.asax.cs). Also
contains also any code that is supposed to be executed during the
launch or termination of an application or when an unhandled
exception arises.
/Web.config file The configuration file for the application.
5.4.2. Adding the Missing Packages
We will use the NuGet package manager to add the missing packages:
• FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient
• EntityFramework (automatically added by the wizard)
• EntityFramework.Firebird
• Bootstrap (automatically added by the wizard)
• jQuery (automatically added by the wizard)
• jQuery.UI.Combined
• Respond (automatically added by the wizard)
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• Newtonsoft.Json
• Moderninzr (automatically added by the wizard)
• Trirand.jqGrid
Not all packages provided by NuGet are the latest version of the libraries. It is
especially true for JavaScript libraries. You can install the latest versions of
 JavaScript libraries using a content delivery network (CDN) or by just downloading
them and replacing the libraries provided by NuGet.
Right-click the project name in Solution Explorer and select the Manage NuGet Packages item in
the drop-down menu.
Figure 33. Select Manage NuGet Packages
Find and install the necessary packages in the package manager.
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Figure 34. Select packages for installing
5.5. Creating an EDM

If you already have a Windows Forms application that uses Entity Framework, you can just copy
model classes to the Models folder. Otherwise, you have to create them from scratch. The process of
creating an EDM is described in the previous chapter in the topic Creating an Entity Data Model
(EDM).
There is one more small difference: your response to the EDM wizard’s question about how to store
the connection string:
122
Figure 35. Configuring connection string storage
When we create a web application, all users will work with the database using a single account, so
select Yes for this question. Any user with enough privileges can be specified as the username. It is
advisable not to use the SYSDBA user because it has more privileges than are required for a web
application to work.
You can always change the username in the application when it is ready for testing and
deployment, by just editing the connection string in the AppName.exe.conf application configuration
file.
The connection string will be stored in the connectionStrings section and will look approximately as
follows:
123
<add name="DbModel"
connectionString="character set=UTF8; data source=localhost;
initial catalog=examples; port number=3050;
user id=sysdba; dialect=3; isolationlevel=Snapshot;
pooling=True; password=masterkey;"
providerName="FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient" />
5.6. Creating a User Interface

Our first controller will be used to display customer data and accept input for searches, inserts,
edits and deletes.
5.6.1. Creating the Controller for the Customer Interface
Figure 36. Select Add › Controller
Figure 37. Creating a controller (1)
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Figure 38. Creating a controller (2)
Once it is done, the controller CustomerController will be created, along with five views displaying:
1. the customer list
2. the customer details for one customer
3. create (add) customer form
4. edit customer form
5. delete customer form
Since the Ajax technology and the jqGrid library will be used extensively in our project, the first
view, for displaying the customer list as a table, will be enough for our purposes. The rest of the
operations will be performed with jqGrid.
Limiting Overhead
We want to be aware of ways to limit the overhead involved in passing data and connections back
and forth over the wide-area network. There are techniques that can help us with this.
Limiting Returned Data
The customer list may turn out to be quite big. The entire list from a big table is usually not
returned in web applications because it could make the process of loading the page seriously slow.
Instead, the data are usually split into pages or are dynamically loaded when the user scrolls down
to the end of the page (or grid). We will use the first option in our project.
125
Limiting Connections
Another characteristic of web applications is that they do not keep any permanent connections to
the database because the life of the page generation script is no longer than the time it takes to
generate a response to the user request. A connection to the database is actually a rather expensive
resource, so we have to save it. Of course, there is a connection pool for reducing the time it takes to
establish a connection to the database, but it is still advisable to make a connection to the database
only when it is really necessary.
Let the Browser Help You!
One of the ways to reduce the amount of interaction with the database is to do the correctness
checking on the user input in the browser. Fortunately, modern HTML5 and JavaScript libraries can
do just that. For example, you can make the browser check for the presence of a required field or
the maximum length of a string field in the input form.
5.7. Adapting the Controller to jqGrid

Now, we are going to change the CustomerController controller so that it works with jqGrid. The
code is quite lengthy, so track the comments to get a sense of the way the controller works.
public class CustomerController : Controller

{
private DbModel db = new DbModel();
// Display view
public ActionResult Index()
{
return View();
}
// Receiving data in JSON for grid

public ActionResult GetData(int? rows, int? page, string sidx, string sord,
string searchField, string searchString, string searchOper)
{
// get the page number, the number of data displayed
int pageNo = page ?? 1;
int limit = rows ?? 20;
// calculate the offset
int offset = (pageNo - 1) * limit;
// building a query for suppliers

var customersQuery =
from customer in db.CUSTOMERS
select new
{
CUSTOMER_ID = customer.CUSTOMER_ID,
NAME = customer.NAME,
ADDRESS = customer.ADDRESS,
ZIPCODE = customer.ZIPCODE,
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PHONE = customer.PHONE
};
// adding a search condition to the query, if it is produced
if (searchField != null)
{
switch (searchOper)
{
case "eq":
customersQuery = customersQuery.Where(
c => c.NAME == searchString);
break;
case "bw":
c => c.NAME.StartsWith(searchString));
break;
case "cn":
c => c.NAME.Contains(searchString));
break;
}
}
// get the total number of suppliers
int totalRows = customersQuery.Count();
// add sorting
switch (sord) {
case "asc":
customersQuery = customersQuery.OrderBy(
customer => customer.NAME);
break;
case "desc":
customersQuery = customersQuery.OrderByDescending(
customer => customer.NAME);
break;
}
// get the list of suppliers

var customers = customersQuery
.Skip(offset)
.Take(limit)
.ToList();
// calculate the total number of pages

int totalPages = totalRows / limit + 1;
// create the result for jqGrid
var result = new
{
page = pageNo,
total = totalPages,
records = totalRows,
rows = customers
};
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// convert the result to JSON

return Json(result, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
}
// Adding a new supplier

[HttpPost]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public ActionResult Create(
[Bind(Include = "NAME,ADDRESS,ZIPCODE,PHONE")] CUSTOMER customer)
{
// check the correctness of the model
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
// get a new identifier using a generator
customer.CUSTOMER_ID = db.NextValueFor("GEN_CUSTOMER_ID");
// add the model to the list
db.CUSTOMERS.Add(customer);
// save model
db.SaveChanges();
// return success in JSON format
return Json(true);
}
else {
// join model errors in one string
string messages = string.Join("; ", ModelState.Values
.SelectMany(x => x.Errors)
.Select(x => x.ErrorMessage));
// return error in JSON format
return Json(new { error = messages });
}
}
// Editing supplier
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Edit(
[Bind(Include = "CUSTOMER_ID,NAME,ADDRESS,ZIPCODE,PHONE")] CUSTOMER customer)
{
{
// mark the model as modified
db.Entry(customer).State = EntityState.Modified;
// save model
db.SaveChanges();
return Json(true);
}
else {
// join model errors in one string
128

}
}
// Deleting supplier
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Delete(int id)
{
// find supplier by id
CUSTOMER customer = db.CUSTOMERS.Find(id);
// delete supplier
db.CUSTOMERS.Remove(customer);
// save model
db.SaveChanges();
return Json(true);
}
protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)

{
if (disposing)
{
db.Dispose();
}
base.Dispose(disposing);
}
}
The Index method is used to display the Views/Customer/Index.cshtml view. The view itself will be
presented a bit later. This view is actually an html page template with markup and JavaScript for
initiating jqGrid. The data itself will be obtained asynchronously in the JSON format, using the Ajax
technology. The selected type of sorting, the page number and the search parameters will
determine the format of an HTTP request that will be handled by the GetData action. The
parameters of the HTTP request are displayed in the input parameters of the GetData method. We
generate a LINQ query based on these parameters and send the retrieved result in the JSON format.
Various libraries can assist with parsing the parameters of a query generated by
jqGrid and make it easier to build the model. We have not used them in our
 examples so the code might be somewhat cumbersome. You can always improve it,
of course.
The Create method is used to add a new customer record. The method has the [HttpPost] attribute
specified for it to indicate that the parameters of the HTTP POST request () are to be displayed on
the Customer model. Examine the following line:
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[Bind(Include = "NAME,ADDRESS,ZIPCODE,PHONE")] CUSTOMER customer
Here Bind specifies which parameters of the HTTP request are to be displayed in the properties of
the model.
5.7.1. The Attribute ValidateAntiforgeryToken
Note the ValidateAntiforgeryToken attribute. It is used to prevent forging requests between websites
by verifying the tokens when the action method is called. The presence of this attribute requires
that the HTTP request has an additional parameter named __RequestVerificationToken.
This parameter is automatically added to each form where the @Html.AntiForgeryToken() helper is
specified. However, the jqGrid library uses dynamically generated Ajax requests rather than
previously created web forms. To fix that, we need to change the shared view
Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml as follows:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>@ViewBag.Title - ASP.NET application</title>
@Styles.Render("~/Content/css")
@Scripts.Render("~/bundles/modernizr")
@Scripts.Render("~/bundles/jquery")
@Scripts.Render("~/bundles/jquery-ui")
<link href="~/Content/jquery.jqGrid/ui.jqgrid.css"
rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<link href="~/Content/jquery.jqGrid/ui.jqgrid-bootstrap.css"
<link href="~/Content/jquery.jqGrid/ui.jqgrid-bootstrap-ui.css"
<script src="~/Scripts/jquery.jqGrid.min.js"
type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="~/Scripts/i18n/grid.locale-en.js"
type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
@Html.AntiForgeryToken()
<script>
function GetAntiForgeryToken() {
var tokenField =
$("input[type='hidden'][name$='RequestVerificationToken']");
if (tokenField.length == 0) {
return null;
} else {
return {
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name: tokenField[0].name,
value: tokenField[0].value
};
}
}
// add prefilter to all ajax requests

// it will add to any POST ajax request
// AntiForgery token
$.ajaxPrefilter(
function (options, localOptions, jqXHR) {
if (options.type !== "GET") {
var token = GetAntiForgeryToken();
if (token !== null) {
if (options.data.indexOf(""X-Requested-With") === -1) {
options.data = "X-Requested-With=XMLHttpRequest"
+ ((options.data === "") ? "" : "&" + options.data);
}
options.data = options.data + "&" + token.name + '='
+ token.value;
}
}
}
);
// initialize the general properties of the jqGrid module
$.jgrid.defaults.width = 780;
$.jgrid.defaults.responsive = true;
$.jgrid.defaults.styleUI = 'Bootstrap';
</script>


<div class="navbar navbar-inverse navbar-fixed-top">
<div class="container">
<div class="navbar-header">
<button type="button" class="navbar-toggle" data-toggle="collapse"
data-target=".navbar-collapse">
<span class="icon-bar"></span>
<span class="icon-bar"7gt;</span>
</button>
</div>>
<div class="navbar-collapse collapse">
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
<li>@Html.ActionLink("Customers", "Index", "Customer")</li>
<li>@Html.ActionLink("Goods", "Index", "Product")</li>
<li>@Html.ActionLink("Invoices", "Index", "Invoice")</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
131
<div class="container body-content">

@RenderBody()
<hr />
<footer>
<p>© @DateTime.Now.Year - ASP.NET application</p>
</footer>
</div>
@Scripts.Render("~/bundles/bootstrap")
@RenderSection("scripts", required: false)
</body>
</html>
5.8. Bundles
Bundles are used to make it easier to link JavaScript scripts and CSS files. You can link CSS bundles
with the Styles.Render helper and script bundles with the Scripts.Render helper.
Bundles are registered in the BundleConfig.cs file located in the App_Start folder:
public static void RegisterBundles(BundleCollection bundles)

{
bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/bundles/jquery").Include(
"~/Scripts/jquery-{version}.js"));
bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/bundles/jqueryval").Include(
"~/Scripts/jquery.validate*"));
bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/bundles/jquery-ui").Include(
"~/Scripts/jquery-ui-{version}.js"));
bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/bundles/modernizr").Include(
"~/Scripts/modernizr-*"));
bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/bundles/bootstrap").Include(
"~/Scripts/bootstrap.js",
"~/Scripts/respond.js"));
bundles.Add(new StyleBundle("~/Content/css").Include(
"~/Content/jquery-ui.min.css",
"~/Content/themes/ui-darkness/jquery-ui.min.css",
"~/Content/themes/ui-darkness/theme.css",
"~/Content/bootstrap.min.css",
"~/Content/Site.css"
));
}
The RegisterBundles method adds all created bundles to the bundles collection. A bundle is declared
in the following way:
new ScriptBundle("~/bundles/jquery").Include("~/Scripts/jquery-{version}.js")
132
The virtual path of the bundle is passed to the ScriptBundle construct. Specific script files are
included in this bundle using the Include method.
The {version} parameter in the “~/Scripts/jquery-{version}.js” expression is a placeholder for any

string referring to the script version. It is very handy because it allows the version of the library to
be changed later without having to change anything in the code. The system will accept the new
version automatically.
The “~/Scripts/jquery.validate*” expression fills out the rest of the string with the asterisk
character as a wildcard. For example, the expression will include two files at once in the bundle:
jquery.validate.js and jquery.validate.unobtrusive.js, along with their minimized versions,
because their names both start with “jquery.validate”.
The same applies when creating CSS bundles, using the StyleBundle class.
The full versions of the scripts and cascading style sheets should be used in the
debug mode and the minimized ones in the release mode. Bundles allow you to
solve this problem. When you run the application in the debug mode, the
 web.config files have the <compilation debug="true"> parameter. When you set this
parameter to false (the Release mode), the minimized version of JavaScript
modules and CSS files will be used instead of the full ones.
5.9. Views
Since we need only the View/Customer/Index.cshtml view out of the five created for the Customer
controller, you can delete the others from the folder.
You can see that the entire view consists of the header, the jqg table and the jqg-pager block for
displaying the navigation bar. The rest is occupied by the script for initiating the grid, the
navigation bar and the dialog box for editing records.
@{
ViewBag.Title = "Index";
}
<h2>Customers</h2>
<table id="jqg"></table>
<div id="jqg-pager"></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function () {
var dbGrid = $("#jqg").jqGrid({
url: '@Url.Action("GetData")', // URL to retrieve data
datatype: "json", // data format
mtype: "GET", // http type request
// model description
colModel: [
{
label: 'Id',
133
name: 'CUSTOMER_ID', // field name

key: true,
hidden: true
},
{
label: 'Name',
name: 'NAME',
width: 250,
sortable: true,
editable: true,
edittype: "text", // field type in the editor
search: true,
searchoptions: {
sopt: ['eq', 'bw', 'cn'] // allowed search operators
},
// size and maximum length for the input field
editoptions: { size: 30, maxlength: 60 },
// mandatory field
editrules: { required: true }
},
{
label: 'Address',
name: 'ADDRESS',
width: 300,
sortable: false, // prohibit sorting
editable: true,
search: false, // prohibit searching
edittype: "textarea",
editoptions: { maxlength: 250, cols: 30, rows: 4 }
},
{
label: 'Zip Code',
name: 'ZIPCODE',
width: 30,
sortable: false,
editable: true,
search: false,
edittype: "text",
},
{
label: 'Phone',
name: 'PHONE',
width: 80,
sortable: false,
editable: true,
search: false,
edittype: "text",
}
],
134
rowNum: 500, // number of rows displayed

loadonce: false, // load only once
sortname: 'NAME', // sort by default by NAME column
sortorder: "asc",
width: window.innerWidth - 80, // grid width
height: 500, // grid height
viewrecords: true, // display the number of records
caption: "Customers",
pager: 'jqg-pager' // navigation item id
});
dbGrid.jqGrid('navGrid', '#jqg-pager', {
search: true,
add: true,
edit: true,
del: true,
view: true,
refresh: true,
// button labels
searchtext: "Find",
addtext: "Add",
edittext: "Edit",
deltext: "Delete",
viewtext: "View",
viewtitle: "Selected record",
refreshtext: "Refresh"
},
update("edit"),
update("add"),
update("del")
);
// function that returns the settings of the editor

function update(act) {
return {
closeAfterAdd: true,
closeAfterEdit: true,
width: 400, // editor width
reloadAfterSubmit: true,
drag: true,
// handler for sending the form of editing / deleting / adding
onclickSubmit: function (params, postdata) {
// get row id
var selectedRow = dbGrid.getGridParam("selrow");
// set URL depending on the operation
switch (act) {
case "add":
params.url = '@Url.Action("Create")';
break;
case "edit":
params.url = '@Url.Action("Edit")';
135
postdata.CUSTOMER_ID = selectedRow;
break;
case "del":
params.url = '@Url.Action("Delete")';
break;
}
},
// processing results of sending forms (operations)
afterSubmit: function (response, postdata) {
var responseData = response.responseJSON;
// check the result for error messages
if (responseData.hasOwnProperty("error")) {
if (responseData.error.length) {
return [false, responseData.error];
}
}
else {
// refresh grid
$(this).jqGrid(
'setGridParam',
{
datatype: 'json'
}
).trigger('reloadGrid');
}
return [true, "", 0];
}
};
};
});
</script>
It is important to configure the model properties correctly in order to display the grid properly,
position input items on the edit form, configure validation for input forms and configure the
sorting and search options. This configuration is not simple and has a lot of parameters. In the
comments I have tried to describe the parameters being used. The full description of the model
parameters can be found in the documentation for the jqGrid library in the ColModel API section.
Note that jqGrid does not automatically add hidden grid columns to the input form, though I think
it would make sense at least for key fields. Consequently, we have to add the customer identifier to
the request parameters for editing and deleting:
136
case "edit":
break;
case "del":
break;
The working page with the list of customers will look like this:
Figure 39. Customer list view
137
Figure 40. A customer selected for editing
The controller and view for the product UI are implemented in a similar way. We will not describe
them here in detail. You can either write them yourself or use the source code linked at the end of
this chapter.
5.10. Creating a UI for Secondary Modules

Our application will have only one secondary module, called “Invoices”. Unlike our primary
modules, the secondary module is likely to contain numerous records and new records are added
more frequently.
An invoice consists of a header where some general attributes are described (number, date,
customer …) and invoice detail lines with the list of products sold, their quantities, prices, etc. To
save space on the page, we will hide the detail grid and display it only in response to a click on the
icon with the '+' sign on it. Thus, our detail grid will be embedded in the main one.
5.10.1. Controllers for Invoices
The controller of the invoice module must be able to return data for both invoice headers and the
associated invoice lines. The same applies to the methods for adding, editing and deleting records.
[Authorize(Roles = "manager")]
public class InvoiceController : Controller
{
138
// display view
{
return View();
}
// Receiving data in the JSON format for the main grid

public ActionResult GetData(int? rows, int? page, string sidx, string sord,
string searchField, string searchString, string searchOper)
{
// get the page number, the number of data displayed
int pageNo = page ?? 1;
int limit = rows ?? 20;
// calculate offset
int offset = (pageNo - 1) * limit;
// building a request for receipt of invoices
var invoicesQuery =
from invoice in db.INVOICES
where (invoice.INVOICE_DATE >= AppVariables.StartDate) &&
(invoice.INVOICE_DATE <= AppVariables.FinishDate)
select new
{
INVOICE_ID = invoice.INVOICE_ID,
CUSTOMER_ID = invoice.CUSTOMER_ID,
CUSTOMER_NAME = invoice.CUSTOMER.NAME,
INVOICE_DATE = invoice.INVOICE_DATE,
TOTAL_SALE = invoice.TOTAL_SALE,
PAID = invoice.PAID
};
// adding a search condition to the query, if it is produced
// for different fields, different comparison operators
// are available when searching
if (searchField == "CUSTOMER_NAME")
{
switch (searchOper)
{
case "eq": // equal
invoicesQuery = invoicesQuery.Where(
c => c.CUSTOMER_NAME == searchString);
break;
case "bw": // starting with
c => c.CUSTOMER_NAME.StartsWith(searchString));
break;
case "cn": // containing
c => c.CUSTOMER_NAME.Contains(searchString));
break;
}
}
139
if (searchField == "INVOICE_DATE")
{
var dateValue = DateTime.Parse(searchString);
switch (searchOper)
{
case "eq": // =
c => c.INVOICE_DATE == dateValue);
break;
case "lt": // <
c => c.INVOICE_DATE < dateValue);
break;
case "le": // <=
c => c.INVOICE_DATE <= dateValue);
break;
case "gt": // >
c => c.INVOICE_DATE > dateValue);
break;
case "ge": // >=
c => c.INVOICE_DATE >= dateValue);
break;
}
}
if (searchField == "PAID")
{
int iVal = (searchString == "on") ? 1 : 0;
invoicesQuery = invoicesQuery.Where(c => c.PAID == iVal);
}
// get the total number of invoices
int totalRows = invoicesQuery.Count();
// add sorting
switch (sord)
{
case "asc":
invoicesQuery = invoicesQuery.OrderBy(
invoice => invoice.INVOICE_DATE);
break;
case "desc":
invoicesQuery = invoicesQuery.OrderByDescending(
invoice => invoice.INVOICE_DATE);
break;
}
// get invoice list
var invoices = invoicesQuery
.Skip(offset)
.Take(limit)
.ToList();
140
// calculate the total number of pages

int totalPages = totalRows / limit + 1;
var result = new
{
page = pageNo,
total = totalPages,
records = totalRows,
rows = invoices
};
}
// Receiving data in the form of JSON for the detail grid

public ActionResult GetDetailData(int? invoice_id)
{
// build a LINQ query for receiving invoice items
// filtered by invoice id
var lines =
from line in db.INVOICE_LINES
where line.INVOICE_ID == invoice_id
select new
{
INVOICE_LINE_ID = line.INVOICE_LINE_ID,
INVOICE_ID = line.INVOICE_ID,
PRODUCT_ID = line.PRODUCT_ID,
Product = line.PRODUCT.NAME,
Quantity = line.QUANTITY,
Price = line.SALE_PRICE,
Total = line.QUANTITY * line.SALE_PRICE
};
// get invoice position list
var invoices = lines
.ToList();
var result = new
{
rows = invoices
};
}
// Add new invoice

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Create(
[Bind(Include = "CUSTOMER_ID,INVOICE_DATE")] INVOICE invoice)
{
141
{
try
{
var INVOICE_ID = new FbParameter("INVOICE_ID", FbDbType.Integer);
var CUSTOMER_ID = new FbParameter("CUSTOMER_ID", FbDbType.Integer);
var INVOICE_DATE = new FbParameter("INVOICE_DATE",
FbDbType.TimeStamp);
// initialize parameters query
INVOICE_ID.Value = db.NextValueFor("GEN_INVOICE_ID");
CUSTOMER_ID.Value = invoice.CUSTOMER_ID;
INVOICE_DATE.Value = invoice.INVOICE_DATE;
db.Database.ExecuteSqlCommand(
"EXECUTE PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE(@INVOICE_ID, @CUSTOMER_ID,
@INVOICE_DATE)",
INVOICE_ID,
CUSTOMER_ID,
INVOICE_DATE);
return Json(true);
}
{
return Json(new { error = ex.Message });
}
}
else {
}
}
// Edit invoice
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Edit(
[Bind(Include = "INVOICE_ID,CUSTOMER_ID,INVOICE_DATE")] INVOICE invoice)
{
{
try
{
var CUSTOMER_ID = new FbParameter("CUSTOMER_ID", FbDbType.Integer);
var INVOICE_DATE = new FbParameter("INVOICE_DATE",
142
FbDbType.TimeStamp);
INVOICE_ID.Value = invoice.INVOICE_ID;
CUSTOMER_ID.Value = invoice.CUSTOMER_ID;
INVOICE_DATE.Value = invoice.INVOICE_DATE;
"EXECUTE PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE(@INVOICE_ID, @CUSTOMER_ID,
@INVOICE_DATE)",
INVOICE_ID,
CUSTOMER_ID,
INVOICE_DATE);
return Json(true);
}
{
}
}
else {
}
}
// Delete invoice
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Delete(int id)
{
try
{
INVOICE_ID.Value = id;
"EXECUTE PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE(@INVOICE_ID)",
INVOICE_ID);
return Json(true);
}
{
143
}
}
// Payment of invoice
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Pay(int id)
{
try
{
INVOICE_ID.Value = id;
"EXECUTE PROCEDURE SP_PAY_FOR_INOVICE(@INVOICE_ID)",
INVOICE_ID);
return Json(true);
}
{
}
}
// Add invoice position

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult CreateDetail(
[Bind(Include = "INVOICE_ID,PRODUCT_ID,QUANTITY")] INVOICE_LINE invoiceLine)
{
{
try
{
var PRODUCT_ID = new FbParameter("PRODUCT_ID", FbDbType.Integer);
var QUANTITY = new FbParameter("QUANTITY", FbDbType.Integer);
INVOICE_ID.Value = invoiceLine.INVOICE_ID;
PRODUCT_ID.Value = invoiceLine.PRODUCT_ID;
QUANTITY.Value = invoiceLine.QUANTITY;
""EXECUTE PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE(@INVOICE_ID, @PRODUCT_ID,
@QUANTITY)",
INVOICE_ID,
PRODUCT_ID,
144
QUANTITY);
return Json(true);
}
{
}
}
else {
}
}
// Edit invoice position

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult EditDetail(
[Bind(Include = "INVOICE_LINE_ID,INVOICE_ID,PRODUCT_ID,QUANTITY")]
INVOICE_LINE invoiceLine)
{
{
try
{
// Create parameters
var INVOICE_LINE_ID = new FbParameter("INVOICE_LINE_ID",
FbDbType.Integer);
var QUANTITY = new FbParameter("QUANTITY", FbDbType.Integer);
INVOICE_LINE_ID.Value = invoiceLine.INVOICE_LINE_ID;
QUANTITY.Value = invoiceLine.QUANTITY;
"EXECUTE PROCEDURE SP_EDIT_INVOICE_LINE(@INVOICE_LINE_ID, @QUANTITY)",
INVOICE_LINE_ID,
QUANTITY);
return Json(true);
}
{
}
145
}
else {
}
}
// Delete invoice position

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult DeleteDetail(int id)
{
try
{
var INVOICE_LINE_ID = new FbParameter("INVOICE_LINE_ID",
FbDbType.Integer);
INVOICE_LINE_ID.Value = id;
"EXECUTE PROCEDURE SP_DELETE_INVOICE_LINE(@INVOICE_LINE_ID)",
INVOICE_LINE_ID);
return Json(true);
}
{
}
}
protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)

{
if (disposing)
{
db.Dispose();
}
base.Dispose(disposing);
}
}
The GetDetailData method for retrieving the list of lines in an invoice lacks the code for page-by-
page navigation. Realistically, a typical invoice does not have enough lines to justify using page-by-
page navigation for them. Omitting it simplifies and speeds up the code.
146
In our project, all data modification operations are performed in stored procedures, but you could
do the same work using Entity Framework. DDL code for the stored procedures can be found in the
database creation script in an earlier chapter and also in the .zip archives of all the DDL scripts:
https://github.com/sim1984/example-db_2_5/archive/1.0.zip
or https://github.com/sim1984/example-db_3_0/archive/1.0.zip
5.10.2. Views for Invoices
As with the Customer controller, only one view, View/Invoice/Index.cshtml is needed. The others
can be deleted from this folder. The layout of the view is very simple, but the JavaScript code is
quite extensive. We will examine the js code piece-by-piece.
@{
ViewBag.Title = "Index";
}
<h2>Invoices</h2>
<table id="jqg"></table>
<div id="jpager"></div>
/**
* The code to work with jqGrid
*/
</script>
To begin with, we will take the code for working with the main grid. All we have to write into it is
the properties of the model (field types and sizes, search, sorting, visibility parameters, etc.).
// invoice grid
var dbGrid = $("#jqg").jqGrid({
url: '@Url.Action("GetData")', URL to retrieve data
datatype: "json", // format data
mtype: "GET", // type of http request
colModel: [
{
label: 'Id',
name: 'INVOICE_ID',
key: true,
hidden: true
},
{
label: 'CUSTOMER_ID',
name: 'CUSTOMER_ID',
hidden: true,
editrules: { edithidden: true, required: true },
editable: true,
147
edittype:'custom', // own type

editoptions: {
custom_element: function (value, options) {
// add hidden input
return $("<input>")
.attr('type', 'hidden')
.attr('rowid', options.rowId)
.addClass("FormElement")
.addClass("form-control")
.val(value)
.get(0);
}
}
},
{
label: 'Date',
name: 'INVOICE_DATE',
width: 60,
sortable: true,
editable: true,
search: true,
edittype: "text", // type of input
align: "right",
formatter: 'date', // formatted as date
sorttype: 'date', // sorted as date
formatoptions: { // date format
srcformat: 'd.m.Y H:i:s',
newformat: 'd.m.Y H:i:s'
},
editoptions: {
// initializing the form element for editing
dataInit: function (element) {
// create datepicker
$(element).datepicker({
id: 'invoiceDate_datePicker',
dateFormat: 'dd.mm.yy',
minDate: new Date(2000, 0, 1),
maxDate: new Date(2030, 0, 1)
});
}
},
searchoptions: {
// initializing the form element for searching
});
148
},
searchoptions: { // searching types
sopt: ['eq', 'lt', 'le', 'gt', 'ge']
},
}
},
{
label: 'Customer',
name: 'CUSTOMER_NAME',
width: 250,
editable: true,
edittype: "text",
editoptions: {
size: 50,
maxlength: 60,
readonly: true
},
editrules: { required: true },
search: true,
searchoptions: {
sopt: ['eq', 'bw', 'cn']
},
},
{
label: 'Amount',
name: 'TOTAL_SALE',
width: 60,
sortable: false,
editable: false,
search: false,
align: "right",
formatter: 'currency', // format as currency
sorttype: 'number',
searchrules: {
"required": true,
"number": true,
"minValue": 0
}
},
{
label: 'Paid',
name: 'PAID',
width: 30,
sortable: false,
editable: true,
search: true,
searchoptions: {
sopt: ['eq']
},
edittype: "checkbox",
formatter: "checkbox",
149
stype: "checkbox",
align: "center",
editoptions: {
value: "1",
offval: "0"
}
}
],
loadonce: false,
sortname: 'INVOICE_DATE', // sort by default by NAME column
sortorder: "desc",
width: window.innerWidth - 80, // grid width
height: 500, // grid height
caption: "Invoices", // grid caption
pager: '#jpager', // pagination element
subGrid: true, // show subgrid
// javascript function for displaying the parent grid
subGridRowExpanded: showChildGrid,
subGridOptions: {
// upload data only once
reloadOnExpand: false,
// load the subgrid rows only when you click on the icon "+"
selectOnExpand: true
},
});
// display the navigation bar

dbGrid.jqGrid('navGrid', '#jpager',
{
search: true,
add: true,
edit: true,
del: true,
view: false,
refresh: true,
searchtext: "Search",
addtext: "Add",
edittext: "Edit",
deltext: "Delete",
viewtext: "View",
},
update("edit"),
update("add"),
update("del")
);
150
We’ll add one more “custom” button to the main grid, for paying the invoice.
// Add a button to pay the invoice

dbGrid.navButtonAdd('#jpager',
{
buttonicon: "glyphicon-usd",
title: "Pay",
caption: "Pay",
position: "last",
onClickButton: function () {
// get the current record ID
var id = dbGrid.getGridParam("selrow");
if (id) {
var url = '@Url.Action("Pay")';
$.ajax({
url: url,
type: 'POST',
data: { id: id },
success: function (data) {
// check if an error has occurred
if (data.hasOwnProperty("error")) {
alertDialog('Error', data.error);
}
else {
// refresh grid
$("#jqg").jqGrid(
'setGridParam',
{
datatype: 'json'
}
}
}
});
}
}
});
5.10.3. Dialog Boxes for Invoices
The dialog boxes for editing secondary sets of data are much more complicated than for the
primary sets. Since they often use options selected from other modules, it will not be possible to use
the standard jqGrid methods to build these edit dialog boxes. However, this library has an option to
build dialog boxes using templates, which we will use.
To enable customer selection, we will create a read-only field with a button at its right-hand side for
opening the form displaying the customer selection grid.
// returns properties to create edit dialogs
151
function update(act) {
// editing dialog template
var template = "<div style='margin-left:15px;' id='dlgEditInvoice'>";
template += "<div>{CUSTOMER_ID} </div>";
template += "<div> Date: </div><div>{INVOICE_DATE} </div>";
// customer input field with a button
template += "<div> Customer <sup>*</sup>:</div>";
template += "<div>";
template += "<div style='float: left;'>{CUSTOMER_NAME}</div> ";
template += "<a style='margin-left: 0.2em;' class='btn'";
template += " onclick='showCustomerWindow(); return false;'>";
template += "<span class='glyphicon glyphicon-folder-open'></span>";
template += " Select</a> ";
template += "<div style='clear: both;'></div>";
template += "</div>";
template += "<div> {PAID} Paid </div>";
template += "<hr style='width: 100%;'/>";
template += "<div> {sData} {cData} </div>";
return {
top: $(".container.body-content").position().top + 150,
left: $(".container.body-content").position().left + 150,
modal: true,
drag: true,
closeOnEscape: true,
template: (act != "del") ? template : null,
// get row id
var selectedRow = dbGrid.getGridParam("selrow");
switch (act) {
case "add":
params.url = '@Url.Action("Create")';
// get customer id for current row
postdata.CUSTOMER_ID =
$('#dlgEditInvoice input[name=CUSTOMER_ID]').val();
break;
case "edit":
postdata.INVOICE_ID = selectedRow;
// get customer id for current row
postdata.CUSTOMER_ID =
$('#dlgEditInvoice input[name=CUSTOMER_ID]').val();
break;
case "del":
postdata.INVOICE_ID = selectedRow;
break;
}
152
},
}
}
else {
// refresh grid
$(this).jqGrid(
'setGridParam',
{
datatype: 'json'
}
}
}
};
};
}
Now we will write a function for opening the customer module that invokes the Bootstrap library to
create a dialog box containing the grid from which a customer can be selected. It is actually the
same grid we used earlier but, this time, it is enclosed by a dialog box. A click on the OK button will
place the customer identifier and the customer name into the input fields of the parent dialog box
for editing invoices.
/**
* Display a window for selecting a customer
*/
function showCustomerWindow() {
// the main block of the dialog
var dlg = $('<div>')
.attr('id', 'dlgChooseCustomer')
.attr('aria-hidden', 'true')
.attr('role', 'dialog')
.attr('data-backdrop', 'static')
.css("z-index", '2000')
.addClass('modal')
.appendTo($('body'));
// block with the contents of the dialog

var dlgContent = $("<div>")
.addClass("modal-content")
.css('width', '730px')
.appendTo($('<div>')
.addClass('modal-dialog')
153
.appendTo(dlg));
// block with dialogue header

var dlgHeader = $('<div>').addClass("modal-header").appendTo(dlgContent);
// button "X" for closing

$("<button>")
.addClass("close")
.attr('type', 'button')
.attr('data-dismiss', 'modal')
.html("&asmp;times;")
.appendTo(dlgHeader);
// title
$("<h5>").addClass("modal-title")
.html("Select customer")
// body of dialogue
var dlgBody = $('<div>')
.addClass("modal-body")
.appendTo(dlgContent);
// footer of the dialogue

var dlgFooter = $('<div>').addClass("modal-footer").appendTo(dlgContent);
// button "OK"
$("<button>")
.addClass('btn')
.html('OK')
.on('click', function () {
var rowId = $("#jqgCustomer").jqGrid("getGridParam", "selrow");
var row = $("#jqgCustomer").jqGrid("getRowData", rowId);
// To save the identifier and customer name
// to the input elements of the parent form
$('#dlgEditInvoice input[name=CUSTOMER_ID]').val(rowId);
$('#dlgEditInvoice input[name=CUSTOMER_NAME]').val(row["NAME"]);
dlg.modal('hide');
})
.appendTo(dlgFooter);
// button "Cancel"
$("<button>")
.addClass('btn')
.html('Cancel')
.on('click', function () { dlg.modal('hide'); })
154
// add a table to display the customers in the body of the dialog

$('<table>')
.attr('id', 'jqgCustomer')
.appendTo(dlgBody);
// add the navigation bar

$('<div>')
.attr('id', 'jqgCustomerPager')
.appendTo(dlgBody);
dlg.on('hidden.bs.modal', function () {
dlg.remove();
});
// show dialog
dlg.modal();
// create and initialize jqGrid

var dbGrid = $("#jqgCustomer").jqGrid({
url: '@Url.Action("GetData", "Customer")', // URL to retrieve data
mtype: "GET", // http type of request
page: 1,
width: '100%',
// view description
colModel: [
{
label: 'Id',
key: true,
hidden: true
},
{
label: 'Name',
name: 'NAME',
width: 250,
sortable: true,
editable: true,
edittype: "text", // input type
search: true,
searchoptions: {
sopt: ['eq', 'bw', 'cn'] // allowed search operators
},
// required input
},
{
label: 'Address',
name: 'ADDRESS',
155
width: 300,
sortable: false,
editable: true,
search: false,
edittype: "textarea",
editoptions: { maxlength: 250, cols: 30, rows: 4 }
},
{
label: 'Zip Code',
name: 'ZIPCODE',
width: 60,
sortable: false,
editable: true,
search: false,
edittype: "text",
},
{
label: 'Phone',
name: 'PHONE',
width: 85,
sortable: false,
editable: true,
search: false,
edittype: "text",
}
],
loadonce: false,
pager: '#jqgCustomerPager',
sortname: 'NAME', // sort by default by NAME column
sortorder: "asc",
height: 500
});
dbGrid.jqGrid('navGrid', '#jqgCustomerPager',
{
search: true,
add: false,
edit: false,
del: false,
view: false,
refresh: true,
viewtext: "View",
}
);
}
156
All that is left to write for the invoice module is the showChildGrid function that enables the invoice
lines to be displayed and edited. Our function will create a grid with invoice lines dynamically after
a click on the '+' button to show the details.
Loading data for the lines requires passing the primary key from the selected invoice header.
// handler of the event of opening the parent grid

// takes two parameters: the identifier of the parent record
// and the value of the primary key
function showChildGrid(parentRowID, parentRowKey) {
var childGridID = parentRowID + "_table";
var childGridPagerID = parentRowID + "_pager";
// send the primary key of the parent record
// to filter the entries of the invoice items
var childGridURL = '@Url.Action("GetDetailData")';
childGridURL = childGridURL + "?invoice_id="
+ encodeURIComponent(parentRowKey)
// add HTML elements to display the table and page navigation

// as children for the selected row in the master grid
$('<table>')
.attr('id', childGridID)
.appendTo($('#' + parentRowID));
$('<div>')
.attr('id', childGridPagerID)
.addClass('scroll')
// create and initialize the child grid

var detailGrid = $("#" + childGridID).jqGrid({
url: childGridURL,
mtype: "GET",
datatype: "json",
page: 1,
colModel: [
{
label: 'Invoice Line ID',
name: 'INVOICE_LINE_ID',
key: true,
hidden: true
},
{
label: 'Invoice ID',
name: 'INVOICE_ID',
hidden: true,
editable: true,
edittype: 'custom',
editoptions: {
157

// create hidden input
return $("<input>")
.val(parentRowKey)
.get(0);
}
}
},
{
label: 'Product ID',
name: 'PRODUCT_ID',
hidden: true,
editable: true,
edittype: 'custom',
editoptions: {
return $("<input>")
.val(value)
.get(0);
}
}
},
{
label: 'Product',
name: 'Product',
width: 300,
editable: true,
edittype: "text",
editoptions: {
size: 50,
maxlength: 60,
readonly: true
},
},
{
label: 'Price',
name: 'Price',
formatter: 'currency',
editable: true,
editoptions: {
158
readonly: true
},
align: "right",
width: 100
},
{
label: 'Quantity',
name: 'Quantity',
align: "right",
width: 100,
editable: true,
editrules: { required: true, number: true, minValue: 1 },
editoptions: {
dataEvents: [
{
type: 'change',
fn: function (e) {
var quantity = $(this).val() - 0;
var price =
$('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=Price]').val() - 0;
$('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=Total]').val(quantity * price);
}
}
],
defaultValue: 1
}
},
{
label: 'Total',
name: 'Total',
align: "right",
width: 100,
editable: true,
editoptions: {
readonly: true
}
}
],
loadonce: false,
width: '100%',
height: '100%',
pager: "#" + childGridPagerID
});
// displaying the toolbar

$("#" + childGridID).jqGrid('navGrid', '#' + childGridPagerID,
{
search: false,
add: true,
edit: true,
159
del: true,
refresh: true
},
updateDetail("edit"),
updateDetail("add"),
updateDetail("del")
);
// function that returns settings for the editing dialog

function updateDetail(act) {
// editing dialog template
var template = "<div style='margin-left:15px;' id='dlgEditInvoiceLine'>";
template += "<div>{INVOICE_ID} </div>";
template += "<div>{PRODUCT_ID} </div>";
// input field for goods with a button
template += "<div> Product <sup>*</sup>:</div>";
template += "<div style='float: left;'>{Product}</div> ";
template += "<a style='margin-left: 0.2em;' class='btn' ";
template += "onclick='showProductWindow(); return false;'>";
template += "<span class='glyphicon glyphicon-folder-open'></span>";
template += " ???????</a> ";
template += "<div> Quantity: </div><div>{Quantity} </div>";
template += "<div> Price: </div><div>{Price} </div>";
template += "<div> Total: </div><div>{Total} </div>";
return {
modal: true,
drag: true,
template: (act != "del") ? template : null,
var selectedRow = detailGrid.getGridParam("selrow");
switch (act) {
case "add":
params.url = '@Url.Action("CreateDetail")';
// get invoice id
postdata.INVOICE_ID =
$('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=INVOICE_ID]').val();
// get the product ID for the current record
postdata.PRODUCT_ID =
$('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=PRODUCT_ID]').val();
160
break;
case "edit":
params.url = '@Url.Action("EditDetail")';
// get current record id
postdata.INVOICE_LINE_ID = selectedRow;
break;
case "del":
params.url = '@Url.Action("DeleteDetail")';
// get current record id
postdata.INVOICE_LINE_ID = selectedRow;
break;
}
},
}
}
else {
// refresh grid
$(this).jqGrid(
'setGridParam',
{
datatype: 'json'
}
}
}
};
};
}
Now we are done with creating the invoice module. Although the showProductWindow function that is
used to select a product from the list while filling out invoice lines is not examined here, it is totally
similar to the showCustomerWindow function that we examined earlier to implement the selection of
customers from the customer module.
An observant reader might have noticed that the functions for displaying the selection from the
module and for displaying the module itself were almost identical. Something you could do yourself
to improve the code is to move these functions into separate .js script files.
5.11. Authentication
The ASP.NET technology has a powerful mechanism for managing authentication in .NET
applications called ASP.NET Identity. The infrastructure of OWIN and AspNet Identity make it
161
possible to perform both standard authentication and authentication via external services through
accounts in Google, Twitter, Facebook, et al.
The description of the ASP.NET Identity technology is quite comprehensive and goes beyond the
scope of this publication but you can read about it at https://www.asp.net/identity.
For our application, we will take a less complicated approach based on form authentication.
Enabling form authentication entails some changes in the web.config configuration file. Find the
<system.web> section and insert the following subsection inside it:
<authentication mode="Forms">
<forms name="cookies" timeout="2880" loginUrl="~/Account/Login"
defaultUrl="~/Invoice/Index"/>
</authentication>
Setting mode="Forms" enables form authentication. Some parameters need to follow it. The following
list of parameters is available:
cookieless
specifies whether cookie sets are used and how they are used. It can take the following values:
UseCookies
specifies that the cookie sets will always be used, regardless of the device
UseUri
cookies sets are never used
AutoDetect
if the device supports cookie sets, they are used, otherwise, they are not used; a test
determining their support is run for this setting.
UseDeviceProfile
if the device supports cookie sets, they are used, otherwise, they are not used; no detection
test is run. Used by default.
defaultUrl
specifies the URL to redirect to after authentication
domain
specifies cookie sets for the entire domain, allowing for the same cookie sets to be used for the
main domain and its sub-domains. By default, its value is an empty string.
loginUrl
the URL for user authentication. The default value is "~/Account/Login".
name
specifies the name for the cookie set. The default value is ".ASPXAUTH".
162
path
specifies the path for the cookie set. The default value is "/".
requireSSL
specifies whether an SSL connection is required for sending cookie sets. The default value is
false
timeout
specifies the timeout for cookies in minutes.
In our application, we will store authentication data in the same database that stores all other data
to avoid the need for an additional connection string.
5.11.1. Infrastructure for Authentication
Now we need to create all the infrastructure required for authentication — models, controllers and
views. The WebUser model describes the user:
[Table("Firebird.WEBUSER")]
public partial class WEBUSER
{
"CA2214:DoNotCallOverridableMethodsInConstructors")]
public WEBUSER()
{
WEBUSERINROLES = new HashSet<WEBUSERINROLE>();
}
[Key]
public int WEBUSER_ID { get; set; }
[Required]
[StringLength(63)]
public string EMAIL { get; set; }
[Required]
[StringLength(63)]
public string PASSWD { get; set; }
"CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
public virtual ICollection<WEBUSERINROLE> WEBUSERINROLES { get; set; }
}
We’ll add two more models: one for the description of roles (WEBROLE) and another one for
binding the roles to users (WEBUSERINROLE).
163
[Table("Firebird.WEBROLE")]
public partial class WEBROLE
{
[Key]
public int WEBROLE_ID { get; set; }
[Required]
[StringLength(63)]
public string NAME { get; set; }
}
[Table("Firebird.WEBUSERINROLE")]
public partial class WEBUSERINROLE
{
[Key]
public int ID { get; set; }
[Required]
public int WEBUSER_ID { get; set; }
[Required]
public int WEBROLE_ID { get; set; }
public virtual WEBUSER WEBUSER { get; set; }
public virtual WEBROLE WEBROLE { get; set; }

}
We will use the Fluent API to specify relations between WEBUSER and WEBUSERINROLE in the DbModel
class.
…
public virtual DbSet<WEBUSER> WEBUSERS { get; set; }
public virtual DbSet<WEBROLE> WEBROLES { get; set; }
public virtual DbSet<WEBUSERINROLE> WEBUSERINROLES { get; set; }
…
protected override void OnModelCreating(DbModelBuilder modelBuilder)
{
modelBuilder.Entity<WEBUSER>()
.HasMany(e => e.WEBUSERINROLES)
.WithRequired(e => e.WEBUSER)
…
}
…
164
Since we use the Database First technology, tables in the database can be created automatically. I
prefer to control the process so here is a script for creating the additional tables:
RECREATE TABLE WEBUSER (

WEBUSER_ID INT NOT NULL,
EMAIL VARCHAR(63) NOT NULL,
PASSWD VARCHAR(63) NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT PK_WEBUSER PRIMARY KEY(WEBUSER_ID),
CONSTRAINT UNQ_WEBUSER UNIQUE(EMAIL)
);
RECREATE TABLE WEBROLE (

WEBROLE_ID INT NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT PK_WEBROLE PRIMARY KEY(WEBROLE_ID),
CONSTRAINT UNQ_WEBROLE UNIQUE(NAME)
);
RECREATE TABLE WEBUSERINROLE (

ID INT NOT NULL,
WEBUSER_ID INT NOT NULL,
WEBROLE_ID INT NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT PK_WEBUSERINROLE PRIMARY KEY(ID)
);
ALTER TABLE WEBUSERINROLE

ADD CONSTRAINT FK_WEBUSERINROLE_USER
FOREIGN KEY (WEBUSER_ID) REFERENCES WEBUSER (WEBUSER_ID);
ALTER TABLE WEBUSERINROLE

ADD CONSTRAINT FK_WEBUSERINROLE_ROLE
FOREIGN KEY (WEBROLE_ID) REFERENCES WEBROLE (WEBROLE_ID);
RECREATE SEQUENCE SEQ_WEBUSER;

RECREATE SEQUENCE SEQ_WEBROLE;
RECREATE SEQUENCE SEQ_WEBUSERINROLE;
SET TERM ^;
RECREATE TRIGGER TBI_WEBUSER

FOR WEBUSER
ACTIVE BEFORE INSERT
AS
BEGIN
IF (NEW.WEBUSER_ID IS NULL) THEN
NEW.WEBUSER_ID = NEXT VALUE FOR SEQ_WEBUSER;
END^
RECREATE TRIGGER TBI_WEBROLE

FOR WEBROLE
165

AS
BEGIN
IF (NEW.WEBROLE_ID IS NULL) THEN
NEW.WEBROLE_ID = NEXT VALUE FOR SEQ_WEBROLE;
END^
RECREATE TRIGGER TBI_WEBUSERINROLE

FOR WEBUSERINROLE
AS
BEGIN
IF (NEW.ID IS NULL) THEN
NEW.ID = NEXT VALUE FOR SEQ_WEBUSERINROLE;
END^
SET TERM ;^
To test it, we’ll add two users and two roles:
INSERT INTO WEBUSER (EMAIL, PASSWD) VALUES ('john', '12345');

INSERT INTO WEBUSER (EMAIL, PASSWD) VALUES ('alex', '123');
COMMIT;
INSERT INTO WEBROLE (NAME) VALUES ('admin');

INSERT INTO WEBROLE (NAME) VALUES ('manager');
COMMIT;
-- Link users and roles

INSERT INTO WEBUSERINROLE(WEBUSER_ID, WEBROLE_ID) VALUES(1, 1);
COMMIT;
Comment about passwords

Usually, some hash from the password, rather than the actual password, is stored
 in an open form, using the PBKDF2 algorithm, for example. For our example, we
have simplified authentication somewhat.
Our code will not interact directly with the WebUser model during registration and authentication.
Instead, we will add some special models to the project:
166
namespace FBMVCExample.Models
{
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.Schema;
using System.Data.Entity.Spatial;
// Login model
public class LoginModel
{
[Required]
public string Name { get; set; }
[Required]
[DataType(DataType.Password)]
public string Password { get; set; }
}
// Model for registering a new user

public class RegisterModel
{
[Required]
public string Name { get; set; }
[Required]
public string Password { get; set; }
[Required]
[Compare("Password", ErrorMessage = " Passwords do not match ")]
public string ConfirmPassword { get; set; }
}
}
These models will be used for the authentication and registration views, respectively. The
authentication view is coded as follows:
@model FBMVCExample.Models.LoginModel
@{
ViewBag.Title = "Login";
}
<h2>Login</h2>
@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
167
<div class="form-horizontal">
@Html.ValidationSummary(true)
<div class="form-group">
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.Name,

new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
<div class="col-md-10">
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Name)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Name)
</div>
</div>
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.Password,
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Password)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Password)
</div>
</div>
<div class="col-md-offset-2 col-md-10">
<input type="submit" value="Logon" class="btn btn-default" />
</div>
</div>
</div>
}
@section Scripts {
@Scripts.Render("~/bundles/jqueryval")
}
The registration view, in turn, is coded as follows:

@model FBMVCExample.Models.RegisterModel
@{
ViewBag.Title = "Registration";
}
<h2>???????????</h2>
@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
<div class="form-horizontal">
@Html.ValidationSummary(true)
168
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.Name,

@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Name)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Name)
</div>
</div>
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.Password,
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Password)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Password)
</div>
</div>
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.ConfirmPassword,
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.ConfirmPassword)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.ConfirmPassword)
</div>
</div>
<div class="col-md-offset-2 col-md-10">
<input type="submit" value="Register"
class="btn btn-default" />
</div>
</div>
</div>
}
@section Scripts {
@Scripts.Render("~/bundles/jqueryval")
}
Comment about users

The model, views and controllers for user authentication and registration are
 made as simple as possible in this example. A user usually has a lot more
attributes than just a username and a password.
Now let us add one more controller — AccountController — with the following contents:
169
using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Security;
using FBMVCExample.Models;
namespace FBMVCExample.Controllers
{
public class AccountController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Login()
{
return View();
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Login(LoginModel model)
{
{
// search user in db
WEBUSER user = null;
using (DbModel db = new DbModel())
{
user = db.WEBUSERS.FirstOrDefault(
u => u.EMAIL == model.Name &&
u.PASSWD == model.Password);
}
// if you find a user with a login and password,
// then remember it and do a redirect to the start page
if (user != null)
{
FormsAuthentication.SetAuthCookie(model.Name, true);
return RedirectToAction("Index", "Invoice");
}
else
{
ModelState.AddModelError("",
" A user with such a username and password does not exist ");
}
}
return View(model);
}
[Authorize(Roles = "admin")]
public ActionResult Register()
{
return View();
170
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Register(RegisterModel model)
{
{
WEBUSER user = null;
{
user = db.WEBUSERS.FirstOrDefault(u => u.EMAIL == model.Name);
}
if (user == null)
{
// create a new user
{
// get a new identifier using a sequence
int userId = db.NextValueFor("SEQ_WEBUSER");
db.WEBUSERS.Add(new WEBUSER {
WEBUSER_ID = userId,
EMAIL = model.Name,
PASSWD = model.Password
});
db.SaveChanges();
user = db.WEBUSERS.Where(u => u.WEBUSER_ID == userId)
.FirstOrDefault();
// find the role of manager
// This role will be the default role, i.e.
// will be issued automatically upon registration
var defaultRole =
db.WEBROLES
.Where(r => r.NAME == "manager")
.FirstOrDefault();
// Assign the default role to the newly added user
if (user != null && defaultRole != null)
{
db.WEBUSERINROLES.Add(new WEBUSERINROLE
{
WEBUSER_ID = user.WEBUSER_ID,
WEBROLE_ID = defaultRole.WEBROLE_ID
});
db.SaveChanges();
}
}
// if the user is successfully added to the database
if (user != null)
{
return RedirectToAction("Login", "Account");
171
}
}
else
{
ModelState.AddModelError("",
"User with such login already exists");
}
}
return View(model);
}
public ActionResult Logoff()

{
FormsAuthentication.SignOut();
return RedirectToAction("Login", "Account");
}
}
}
Note the attribute [Authorize(Roles = "admin")] to stipulate that only a user with the admin role
can perform the user registration operation. This mechanism is called an authentication filter. We
will get back to it a bit later.
Adding a New User
We add a new user to the database during registration and check during authentication as to
whether that user exists. If the user is found, we use form authentication to set a cookie, as follows:
All information about a user in Asp.Net MVC is stored in the proprty HttpContext.User that
implements the IPrincipal interface defined in the System.Security.Principal namespace.
The IPrincipal interface defines the Identity property that stores the object of the IIdentity
interface describing the current user.
The IIdentity interface has the following properties:
AuthenticationType
authentication type
IsAuthenticated
returns true if the user is logged in
Name
the username in the system
To determine whether a user is logged in, ASP.NET MVC receives cookies from the browser and if
the user is logged in, the property IIdentity.IsAuthenticated is set to true and the Name property
172
gets the username as its value.
Next, we will add authentication items using the universal providers mechanism.
Universal Providers
Universal providers offer a ready-made authentication functionality. At the same time, these
providers are flexible enough that we can redefine them to work in whatever way we need them to.
It is not necessary to redefine and use all four providers. That is handy if we do not need all of the
fancy ASP.NET Identity features, but just a very simple authentication system.
So, our next step is to redefine the role provider. To do this, we need to add the
Microsoft.AspNet.Providers package using NuGet.
Defining the Role Provider
To define the role provider, first we add the Providers folder to the project and then add a new
MyRoleProvider class to it:
using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Security;
using FBMVCExample.Models;
namespace FBMVCExample.Providers
{
public class MyRoleProvider : RoleProvider
{
/// <summary>
/// Returns the list of user roles
/// </summary>
/// <param name="username">Username</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public override string[] GetRolesForUser(string username)
{
string[] roles = new string[] { };
{
// Get the user
WEBUSER user = db.WEBUSERS.FirstOrDefault(
u => u.EMAIL == username);
if (user != null)
{
// fill in an array of available roles
int i = 0;
roles = new string[user.WEBUSERINROLES.Count];
foreach (var rolesInUser in user.WEBUSERINROLES)
{
roles[i] = rolesInUser.WEBROLE.NAME;
173
i++;
}
}
}
return roles;
}
/// <summary>
/// Creating a new role
/// </summary>
/// <param name="roleName">Role name</param>
public override void CreateRole(string roleName)
{
{
WEBROLE newRole = new WEBROLE() { NAME = roleName };
db.WEBROLES.Add(newRole);
db.SaveChanges();
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Returns whether the user role is present
/// </summary>
/// <param name="username">User name</param>
/// <param name="roleName">Role name</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public override bool IsUserInRole(string username, string roleName)
{
bool outputResult = false;
{
var userInRole =
from ur in db.WEBUSERINROLES
where ur.WEBUSER.EMAIL == username &&
ur.WEBROLE.NAME == roleName
select new { id = ur.ID };
outputResult = userInRole.Count() > 0;
}
return outputResult;
}
public override void AddUsersToRoles(string[] usernames,

string[] roleNames)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
public override string ApplicationName

{
get { throw new NotImplementedException(); }
174
set { throw new NotImplementedException(); }

}
public override bool DeleteRole(string roleName,

bool throwOnPopulatedRole)
{
}
public override string[] FindUsersInRole(string roleName,

string usernameToMatch)
{
}
public override string[] GetAllRoles()

{
}
public override string[] GetUsersInRole(string roleName)

{
}
public override void RemoveUsersFromRoles(string[] usernames,

string[] roleNames)
{
}
public override bool RoleExists(string roleName)

{
}
}
}
For the purpose of illustration, three methods are redefined:
GetRolesForUser
for obtaining a set of roles for a specified user
CreateRole
for creating a role
IsUserInRole
determines whether the user has a specified role in the system
175
Configuring the Role Provider for Use
To use the role provider in the application, we need to add its definition to the configuration file.
Open the web.config file and remove the definition of providers added automatically during the
installation of the Microsoft.AspNet.Providers package.
Next, we insert our provider within the system.web section:
<system.web>
<authentication mode="Forms">
<forms name="cookies" timeout="2880" loginUrl="~/Account/Login"
defaultUrl="~/Invoice/Index"/>
</authentication>
<roleManager enabled="true" defaultProvider="MyRoleProvider">
<providers>
<add name="MyRoleProvider"
type="FBMVCExample.Providers.MyRoleProvider" />
</providers>
</roleManager>
</system.web>
5.12. Authorizing Access to Controller Methods

Now we can limit (filter) access to the methods of various controllers using the Authorize attribute.
We have already seen how it is used in the AccountController controller:
[Authorize(Roles = "admin")]
public ActionResult Register()
{…
This filter can be used at two levels: on a controller as a whole and on an individual operation of a
controller. We will set different rights for our main controllers: CustomerController,
InvoiceController and ProductController. In our project, a user with the MANAGER role can view and
edit data in all three tables. Setting a filter for the InvoiceController controller would be coded as
follows:
176
[Authorize(Roles = "manager")]
public class InvoiceController : Controller
{
// Show view
{
return View();
}
…
Setting filters in the other controllers can be implemented in a similar manner.
5.13. Source Code

The source code for the sample application can be obtained from FBMVCExample.zip.
177
Chapter 6. Developing Web Applications with PHP and Firebird
Chapter 6. Developing Web Applications with

PHP and Firebird
In this chapter, we are going to create a web application using the PHP language with Firebird as
the back-end. It is assumed that you have a web server, such as Apache HTTP Server or Nginx with
PHP installed and active and a Firebird server available in the stack and running. A lightweight,
stand-alone package such as QuickPHP would be enough for testing and debugging your project
locally.
If your server supports PHP, you just create your .php files, put them in your web directory and the
server will automatically parse them for you. PHP-enabled files are simply HTML files with a whole
language of custom tags embedded in them. There is nothing to compile.
6.1. Interfacing PHP and Firebird

To communicate with a Firebird database, you will need a driver.
6.1.1. PHP Drivers for Firebird
Two free, downloadable drivers are available for interfacing with Firebird:
• The Firebird/Interbase extension (ibase_ functions)
• The PDO driver for Firebird
Firebird Client Library
Both drivers require that you have the fbclient.dll client library installed (fbclient.so for POSIX
systems). Make sure it is for the correct CPU register width (32-bit or 64-bit) to match that of your
web server/PHP installation. For example, if you have a 64-bit machine running 64-bit Firebird and
32-bit Apache/PHP then you need the 32-bit driver.
Note to Win32/Win64 users

For the drivers to work with the Windows PATH system variable, the fbclient.dll
DLL file must be available. Copying the DLL file from the PHP directory or a
 Firebird installation to the Windows system folder would work, because the
system directory is in the PATH variable by default. However, it is not
recommended. The more robust way to do it is to prepend the file path to the PATH
variable explicitly yourself, using the Windows advanced administration tool.
Make sure you have the matching release version of the Firebird client for your Firebird server.
The Firebird/InterBase Extension
The Firebird/Interbase (“Fb/IB”) extension predates the PDO driver and is regarded as the more
proven solution of the two.
To install the extension, uncomment this line in the php.ini configuration file:
178
extension=php_interbase.dll
or this line on Linux and other POSIX systems:
extension=php_interbase.so
Installing the Fb/IB Extension on Linux
In Linux, one of the following commands should work. The one you use depends on the distribution
package and the versions it supports:
apt-get install php5-firebird
rpm -ihv php5-firebird
yum install php70w-interbase
zypper install php5-firebird
You might need to enable third party repositories if you find you have
 unresolvable dependency problems.
Programming Style
The Firebird/InterBase extension uses a procedural approach to developing programs. Functions

with the ibase_ prefix can return or accept the identifier (ID) of a connection, transaction, prepared
query or cursor (the result of the SELECT query) as one of their parameters. This identifier is a
server-allocated resource which, like all allocated resources, should be released immediately it is
no longer needed.
The PHP functions will not be described in detail here. You can study their descriptions at
https://php.net/ibase. Several small examples with comments will be provided instead.
179
<?php
$db = 'localhost:example';
$username = 'SYSDBA';
$password = 'masterkey';
// Connect to database
$dbh = ibase_connect($db, $username, $password);
$sql = 'SELECT login, email FROM users';
// Execute query
$rc = ibase_query($dbh, $sql);
// Get the result row by row as object
while ($row = ibase_fetch_object($rc)) {
echo $row->email, "\n";
}
// Release the handle associated with the result of the query
ibase_free_result($rc);
// Release the handle associated with the connection
ibase_close($dbh);
The ibase_ Connect Functions
The ibase_pconnect function, that creates so-called “persistent connections”, could be used instead
of ibase_connect. A call to ibase_close on this style of connection does not close it but all resources
allocated to it will be released. The default transaction is committed, while any others are rolled
back. This type of connection can be re-used in another session if the connection parameters match.
Persistent connections can increase the performance of a web application, sometimes considerably.
It is especially noticeable if establishing a connection involves a lot of traffic. They allow a child
process to use the same connection throughout its entire lifetime instead of creating a connection
every time a page interacts with the Firebird server. Persistent connections are not unlike working
with a connection pool.
You can find more details about persistent connections at https://php.net/persistent-connections.
Need to know
Many ibase_ functions cannot accommodate the identifier of a connection,
transaction or prepared query. Those functions use the identifier of the last
 established connection or last started transaction instead of the relevant identifier.
It is not a recommended practice, especially if your web application can use more
than one connection.
ibase_query
The ibase_query function executes an SQL query and returns the identifier of the result or True if
the query returns no data set. Along with the connection or transaction ID and the text of the SQL
query, this function can accept a variable number of parameters to populate the SQL query
parameters. For example,
180
// …
$sql = 'SELECT login, email FROM users WHERE id=?';
$id = 1;
// Execute query
$rc = ibase_query($dbh, $sql, $id);
if ($row = ibase_fetch_object($rc)) {
}
// …
Parameterized queries are typically used multiple times with fresh sets of parameter values each
time. Prepared queries are recommended for this style of usage. The identifier of a query is
returned by the function ibase_prepare and then the prepared query is executed using the function
ibase_execute.
// …
$sql = 'SELECT login, email FROM users WHERE id=?';
// Prepare statement
$sth = ibase_prepare($dbh, $sql);
$id = 1;
// Execute statement
$rc = ibase_execute($sth, $id);
if ($row = ibase_fetch_object($rc)) {
}
// Release the prepared statement
ibase_free_query($sth);
Prepared queries are very often used when a large amount of data input is anticipated.
181
// …
$sql = 'INSERT INTO users(login, email) VALUES(?, ?)';
$users = [["user1", "[email protected]"], ["user2", "[email protected]"]];
foreach ($users as $user)) {
ibase_execute($sth, $user[0], $user[1]);
}
// …
It is actually a disadvantage of this extension that functions can take a variable number of
parameters. It less than ideal for parameterized queries, as the last example demonstrates. It is
especially noticeable if you try to write a universal class for executing any query. It would be much
more useful to be able to send parameters in one array.
This would be one way to get around it:
function fb_execute ($stmt, $data)

{
if (!is_array($data))
return ibase_execute($stmt, $data);
array_unshift($data, $stmt);
$rc = call_user_func_array('ibase_execute', $data);
return $rc;
}
The Fb/IB extension does not support named parameters in queries.
ibase_trans
By default, the Fb/IB extension commits the transaction automatically after executing each SQL
query, making it necessary to start a transaction with the function ibase_trans if you need to
control transactions explicitly. An explicit transaction is started with the following parameters if
none are provided: IBASE_WRITE | IBASE_CONCURRENCY | IBASE_WAIT. You can find the description of
predefined constants for specifying the parameters of a transaction here. A transaction must be
completed by either ibase_commit or ibase_rollback.
This extension supports the COMMIT RETAIN and ROLLBACK RETAIN parameters directly if you use the
functions ibase_commit_ret or ibase_rollback_ret, respectively, instead.
182
The default transaction parameters are good for most cases and it is really rarely
that you need to change them. A connection to the database, along with all
resources allocated to it, exists for no longer than it takes for the PHP script to
complete. Even if you use persistent connections, all allocated resources will be
released after the ibase_close function is called. Even so, I strongly recommend
releasing all allocated resources explicitly by calling the corresponding ibase_
 functions.
I advise strongly against using the ibase_commit_ret and ibase_rollback_ret

functions because they have no place in a web application. The purpose of COMMIT
RETAIN and ROLLBACK RETAIN is to keep cursors open in desktop applications when a
transaction ends.

$users = [["user1", "[email protected]"], ["user2", "[email protected]"]];
$trh = ibase_trans($dbh, IBASE_WRITE | IBASE_CONCURRENCY | IBASE_WAIT);
try {
$r = ibase_execute($sth, $user[0], $user[1]);
// If an error occurs, throw an exception
if ($r === false)
throw new \Exception(ibase_errmsg());
}
ibase_commit($trh);
}
catch(\Exception $e) {
ibase_rollback($trh);
echo $e->getMessage();
}
ibase_ functions raise no exception if an error occurs, although an error will cause
some to return False. Note that it is essential to use the === strict relational
operator to compare the result to False. Calling any ibase function could result in
 an error.
The function ibase_errmsg is available to discover an error message and the

function ibase_errcode can provide the error code.
Services API Calls
The Fb/IB extension can interact with the Firebird server by way of functions that wrap calls to the
Services API: ibase_service_attach, ibase_service_detach, ibase_server_info, ibase_maintain_db,
ibase_db_info, ibase_backup, ibase_restore. They can return information about the Firebird server,
183
initiate a backup or restore or get statistics. We are not examining them in detail, since they are
required mainly to administer a database, a topic that is outside the scope of this project.
Firebird Events
The Firebird/Interbase extension also supports working with Firebird events by means of a set of
functions: ibase_set_event_handler, ibase_free_event_handler, ibase_wait_event.
The PDO (Firebird Driver)
The PDO extension is a common interface for accessing various types of databases. Each database
driver that implements this interface can provide database-specific features in the form of standard
extension functions.
PDO and all basic drivers are built into PHP as extensions. To use them, just enable them by editing
the php.ini file as follows:
extension=php_pdo.dll
This step is optional for PHP versions 5.3 and higher because DLLs are no longer
 needed for PDO to work.
Firebird-specific Library
The other requirement is for database-specific DLLs to be configured; or else loaded during
execution by means of the dl() function; or else included in php.ini following php_pdo.dll. For
example:
extension=php_pdo.dll
extension=php_pdo_firebird.dll
These DLLs must be in the directory extension_dir.
In Linux, one of the following commands should work. The one you use depends on the distribution
package and the versions it supports:
apt-get install php5-firebird
rpm -ihv php5-firebird
yum install php70w-firebird
zypper install php5-firebird
Programming Style
PDO uses an object-oriented approach to developing programs. The DSN (Data Source Name), a.k.a.
184
connection string, determines which specific driver will be used in PDO. The DSN consists of a
prefix that determines the database type and a set of parameters in the form of <key>=<value>
separated by semicolons. The valid set of parameters depends on the database type.
To be able to work with Firebird, the connection string must start with the firebird: prefix and
conform to the format described in the PDO_FIREBIRD DSN section of the documentation.
Making Connections
Connections are established automatically during creation of the PDO from its abstract class. The
class constructor accepts parameters to specify the data source (DSN) and also the optional
username and password, if any. A fourth parameter can be used to pass an array of driver-specific
connection settings in the key=value format.
$dsn = 'firebird:dbname=localhost:example;charset=utf8;';
try {
$dbh = new \PDO($dsn, $username, $password,
[\PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => \PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION]);
$sql = 'SELECT login, email FROM users';
// Execute query
$query = $dbh->query($sql);
while ($row = $query->fetch(\PDO::FETCH_OBJ)) {
}
$query->closeCursor();
} catch (\PDOException $e) {
}
Persistent connections
 For PDO to use persistent connections, the array of attributes must be passed to the
PDO constructor with PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT ⇒ true.
Exception Handling
The PDO driver is much more friendly than the Firebird/InterBase extension with respect to
exception handling. Setting the \PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE attribute to the value \PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION
specifies a mode in which any error, including a database connection error, will raise the exception
\PDOException.
This is superior to the laborious procedure of checking whether an error has occurred each time an
ibase_ function is called.
185
Querying
The query method executes an SQL query and returns the result set in the form of a \PDOStatement
object. A fetch to this method can return the result in more than one form: it could be a column, an
instance of the specified class, an object.
The various ways of calling query can be found in the documentation.
Queries with No Data Set
For executing an SQL query that returns no data set, you can use the exec method that returns the
number of affected rows.
Executing prepared queries is not supported by exec.
Parameterized Queries
If there are parameters in the query, prepared queries must be used. For this, the prepare method is
called instead of the query method. The prepare method returns an object of the \PDOStatement class
that encapsulates methods for working with prepared queries and their results. Executing the
query requires calling the execute method that can accept as its parameter an array of named or
unnamed parameters.
The result of executing a SELECT query can be obtained with one the following methods: fetch,
fetchAll, fetchColumn, fetchObject. The fetch and fetchAll methods can return results in various
forms: an associative array, an object or an instance of a particular class. The class instance option
is quite often used in the MVC pattern during work with models.
try {
$users = [
["user1", "[email protected]"],
["user2", "[email protected]"]
];
$query = $dbh->prepare($sql);
$query->execute($user);
}
}
186
An example using named parameters:
try {
$sql = 'INSERT INTO users(login, email) VALUES(:login, :email)';
$users = [
[":login" => "user1", ":email" => "[email protected]"],
[":login" => "user2", ":email" => "[email protected]"]
];
$query->execute($user);
}
}
In order to support named parameters, PDO preprocesses the query and replaces
parameters of the :paramname type with ‘?’, retaining the array of correspondence
between the parameter names and their left-to-right positions in the query. For
 that reason, the EXECUTE BLOCK statement will not work if there are colon-prefixed
variables. Currently, PDO offers no workaround to support a parameterized
EXECUTE BLOCK statement, such as by specifying an alternative prefix for parameters
as has been implemented in some access components.
Another Way to Do It
An alternative way to pass parameters to a query is by using “binding”. The bindValue method binds
a value to a named or unnamed parameter. The bindParam method binds a variable to a named or
unnamed parameter. The bindParam method is especially useful for stored procedures that return a
value via the OUT or IN OUT parameter, which is different to the mechanism for returning values
from stored procedures in Firebird.
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try {
$sql = 'INSERT INTO users(login, email) VALUES(:login, :email)';
$users = [
];
$query->bindValue(":login", $user[0]);
$query->bindValue(":email", $user[1]);
$query->execute();
}
}
Caution
 The numbers associated with unnamed parameters for the bindParam and
bindValue methods start from 1.
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try {
$users = [
];
$query->bindValue(1, $user[0]);
$query->bindValue(2, $user[1]);
$query->execute();
}
}
Transactions
By default, PDO commits the transaction automatically after executing each SQL query. If you want
to control transactions explicitly, you need to start a transaction with the method
\PDO::beginTransaction. By default, a transaction is started with the following parameters:
CONCURRENCY | WAIT | READ_WRITE. A transaction can be ended with the \PDO::commit or
\PDO::rollback method.
189
try {
// Start the transaction to ensure consistency between statements
$dbh->beginTransaction();
// Get users from one table
$users_stmt = $dbh->prepare('SELECT login, email FROM old_users');
$users_stmt->execute();
$users = $users_stmt->fetchAll(\PDO::FETCH_OBJECT);
$users_stmt->closeCursor();
// And insert into another table
// Prepapre statemenet
// Execute statememt
$query->bindValue(1, $user->LOGIN);
$query->bindValue(2, $user->EMAIL]);
$query->execute();
}
// Commit transaction
$dbh->commit();
// Rollback transaction
if ($dbh && $dbh->inTransaction())
$dbh->rollback();
}
Changing Transaction Parameters
Unfortunately, the beginTransaction method does not permit transaction parameters to be changed,
but you can do the trick by specifying transaction parameters in the SQL statement SET TRANSACTION.
$dbh = new \PDO($dsn, $username, $password);

$dbh->setAttribute(\PDO::ATTR_AUTOCOMMIT, false);
$dbh->exec("SET TRANSACTION READ ONLY ISOLATION LEVEL READ COMMITTED NO WAIT");
// Perform actions in the transaction
// …
$dbh->exec("COMMIT");
$dbh->setAttribute(\PDO::ATTR_AUTOCOMMIT, true);
6.1.2. Comparing the Drivers
The following table summarises the capabilities offered by the two drivers for working with
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Firebird.
Table 7. Comparing the Firebird/InterBase and PDO Drivers
Capability Fb/IB Extension PDO Extension
Programming paradigm Procedural Object-oriented
Supported database engines Firebird and InterBase; or Any database engine for which
clones of either there is a PDO driver, including
Firebird
Handling query parameters Only unnamed parameters, not Can work with both named and
very convenient because the unnamed parameters. Very
functions used allow the convenient although some
number of parameters to be Firebird features (the EXECUTE
variable BLOCK statement) do not work.
Error handling Requires checking the results of An optional mode is provided to

the ibase_errmsg, ibase_errcode raise exceptions on any error
functions. An error may occur
after any ibase_ function call
without raising any exception.
Transaction management Allows transaction parameters Does not allow transaction

to be specified parameters to be specified.
Workaround: execute the SQL
statement SET TRANSACTION.
Firebird-specific features Supports work with the Does not support any database-
Services API (backup, restore, specific feature that cannot be
statistics, etc.) and with implemented directly using an
database events SQL statement
From these comparisons we can conclude that PDO is better equipped than the FB/IB extension for
most frameworks.
6.2. Choosing a Framework for Building a Web

Application
Small websites can be developed without using the MVC pattern. However, the larger your website
gets, the more complicated it becomes to maintain, especially if more than one person is working
on it. Hence, this is the pattern we are going to use for developing our web application.
Having decided to use the MVC pattern, we do have a few issues to think about. Development of an
application modeled on this pattern is not so easy as it may seem, especially if we do not use third-
party libraries. If you write everything on your own, you will have to solve a lot of problems:
automatically loading .php files enabling the definition of classes, routing, and so on.
Several frameworks have been created for solving these problems, such as Yii, Laravel, Symphony,
Kohana and many more. My personal preference is Laravel, so the development of the application
described here is going to use this framework.
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6.3. Installing Laravel

Before installing Laravel, make sure that your system environment meets the requirements.
• PHP >= 5.5.9
• PDO extension
• MCrypt extension
• OpenSSL extension
• Mbstring extension
• Tokenizer extension
6.3.1. Installing Composer
Laravel uses Composer to manage dependencies. Install Composer first and then install Laravel.
The easiest way to install Composer on Windows is by downloading and running the installation
file: Composer-Setup.exe. The installation wizard will install Composer and configure PATH so that
you can run Composer from the command line in any directory.
If you need to install Composer manually, go to https://getcomposer.org/download/ and pick up a

fresh installation script that will do as follows:
• Downloads the installation file to the current directory
• Checks the installation file using SHA-384
• Runs the installation script
• Removes the installation script
Caution
 Because this script changes with each new version of the installer, you will always
need to have the latest version when reinstalling.
After you run the script, the composer.phar file will appear. The .phar extension marks an archive
but, actually, it is a PHP script that can understand only a few commands (install, update, …) and
can download and unpack libraries.
Windows
If you are working in Windows, you can make it easier to work with Composer by
creating the composer.bat file. Run the following command:
 echo @php "%~dp0composer.phar" %*>composer.bat
Then set up your PATH so that you can just call composer from any directory in your
command shell.
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More details about installing Composer are available here.
6.3.2. Installing Laravel
Now, to install Laravel:
composer global require "laravel/installer"

If the installation is successful, we can carry on with creating the project framework. Enter:
laravel new fbexample
Wait until it finishes creating the project framework. A description of the directory structure can be
found in the Laravel documentation.
6.4.1. Our Project’s Structure
These are the directories we are most interested in:
app
The main directory of our application. Models will be located in the root directory. The Http
subdirectory contains everything that is related to working with the browser. The
Http/Controllers subdirectory contains our controllers.
config
The directory with configuration files. You will discover more details about the configuration
process later.
public
The root directory of the web application (DocumentRoot). It contains static files: css, js, images,
etc.
resources
Contains views, localization files and, if any, LESS files, SASS and js applications on such
frameworks as ReactJS, AngularJS or Ember that are later put together into the public folder
with an external tool.
The root directory of our application contains the composer.json file that describes the packages our
application will need besides those that are already present in Laravel.
We will need two such packages: zofe/rapyd-laravel for building a quick interface with grids and
edit dialog boxes, and sim1984/laravel-firebird, an extension for working with Firebird databases.
The sim1984/laravel-firebird package is the author’s fork of the jacquestvanzuydam/laravel-

firebird package. Its installation is a bit different. A description of how the package differs from the
193
original is available in the article Package for working with the Firebird DBMS in Laravel if you can
read Russian. An English-language description of the packages and the changes from the original
can be found in the readme.md document at this URL: https://github.com/sim1984/laravel-firebird.
Caution
Remember to set the minimum-stability parameter to 'dev' because the package is
 not stable enough to publish at https://packagist.org. You will need to modify the
composer.json file (see below) to add a reference to the gitHub repository.
In the file composer.json:
"repositories": [
{
"type": "package",
"package": {
"version": "dev-master",
"name": "sim1984/laravel-firebird",
"source": {
"url": "https://github.com/sim1984/laravel-firebird",
"type": "git",
"reference": "master"
},
"autoload": {
"classmap": [""]
}
}
}
],
Use the require section to add the required packages in the following way:
"zofe/rapyd": "2.2.*",
"sim1984/laravel-firebird": "dev-master"
Now you can start updating the packages with the following command, which must be started in
the root directory of the web application:
composer update
On completion of that command, the new packages will be installed in your application.
6.4.2. Configuration
Now we can get down to configuration. To get it started, execute the following command to create
additional configuration files for the zofe/rapyd package:
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php artisan vendor:publish
We add two new providers to the file config/app.php by adding two new entries to the providers
key:
Zofe\Rapyd\RapydServiceProvider::class,
Firebird\FirebirdServiceProvider::class,
We proceed to the file config/databases.conf (not to be confused with databases.conf in your

Firebird server root!) that contains the database connection settings. Add the following lines to the
connections key:
'firebird' => [
'driver' => 'firebird',
'host' => env('DB_HOST', 'localhost'),
'port' => env('DB_PORT', '3050'),
'database' => env('DB_DATABASE', 'examples'),
'username' => env('DB_USERNAME', 'SYSDBA'),
'password' => env('DB_PASSWORD', 'masterkey'),
'charset' => env('DB_CHARSET', 'UTF8'),
'engine_version' => '3.0.0',
],
Since we will use our connection as the default connection, specify the following:
'default' => env('DB_CONNECTION', 'firebird'),
Pay attention to the env function that is used to read the environment variables of the application
from the special .env file located in the root directory of the project. Correct the following lines in
the .env file:
DB_CONNECTION=firebird
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=3050
DB_DATABASE=examples
DB_USERNAME=SYSDBA
DB_PASSWORD=masterkey
Edit the config/rapyd.php configuration file to change the date and time formats to match those
used in your locale:
195
'fields' => [
'attributes' => ['class' => 'form-control'],
'date' => [
'format' => 'Y-m-d',
],
'datetime' => [
'format' => 'Y-m-d H:i:s',
'store_as' => 'Y-m-d H:i:s',
],
],
That completes the initial configuration. Now we can start building the logic of the web application.
6.5. Creating Models

The Laravel framework supports the Eloquent ORM, an elegant and simple implementation of the
ActiveRecord pattern for working with a database. Each table has a corresponding class model that
works with it. Models enable the application to read data from tables and write data to a table. The
model we are going to work with complies fully with the one illustrated earlier, at the beginning of
the Database chapter.
6.5.1. A Tool for Model-making
To create a model for our customer entity, Laravel offers the artisan command that makes it
relatively easy. This is the command for creating a model template:
php artisan make:model Customer
We want to change the model so that it looks like this:
196
namespace App;
use Firebird\Eloquent\Model;
class Customer extends Model

{
/**
* Table associated with the model
*
* @var string
*/
protected $table = 'CUSTOMER';
/**
* Primary key of the model
*
* @var string
*/
protected $primaryKey = 'CUSTOMER_ID';
/**
* Our model does not have a timestamp
*
* @var bool
*/
public $timestamps = false;
/**
* The name of the sequence for generating the primary key
*
* @var string
*/
protected $sequence = 'GEN_CUSTOMER_ID';
}
Notice that we use the modified Firebird\Eloquent\Model model from the sim1984/laravel-firebird
package as the basis. It allows us to use the sequence specified in the $sequence attribute to generate
values for the primary key ID.
We create a model for products — Product — in the same way.
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namespace App;
class Product extends Model

{
/**
*
* @var string
*/
protected $table = 'PRODUCT';
/**
*
* @var string
*/
protected $primaryKey = 'PRODUCT_ID';
/**
*
* @var bool
*/
/**
*
* @var string
*/
protected $sequence = 'GEN_PRODUCT_ID';
}
Now, a model for the invoice header:
namespace App;
class Invoice extends Model {
/**
*
* @var string
*/
protected $table = 'INVOICE';
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/**
*
* @var string
*/
protected $primaryKey = 'INVOICE_ID';
/**
*
* @var bool
*/
/**
*
* @var string
*/
protected $sequence = 'GEN_INVOICE_ID';
/**
* Customer
*
* @return \App\Customer
*/
public function customer() {
return $this->belongsTo('App\Customer', 'CUSTOMER_ID');
}
/**
* Invoice lines
* @return \App\InvoiceLine[]
*/
public function lines() {
return $this->hasMany('App\InvoiceLine', 'INVOICE_ID');
}
/**
* Payed
*/
public function pay() {
$connection = $this->getConnection();
$attributes = $this->attributes;
$connection->executeProcedure('SP_PAY_FOR_INOVICE',
[$attributes['INVOICE_ID']]);
}
}
You’ll observe some additional functions in this model. The customer function returns the customer
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that relates to the invoice header via the CUSTOMER_ID field. The belongsTo method is used for
establishing this relation. The name of the model class and the name of the relation field are passed
to this method.
The function lines returns items from the invoice that are represented by a collection of
InvoiceLine models, described later. To establish the one-to-many relation in the lines function, the
name of the class model and the relation field are passed to the hasMany method.
You can find more details about specifying relations between entities in the Relationships section of
the Laravel documentation.
The pay function performs payment of an invoice by calling the stored procedure
SP_PAY_FOR_INVOICE, passing the identifier of the invoice header. The value of any field (model
attribute) can be obtained from the attribute attribute. The executeProcedure method calls the
stored procedure.
This method is available only when the sim1984/laravel-firebird extension is

 used.
6.5.2. Invoice Items Model
Now we are going to create a model for items in an invoice:
namespace App;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;
class InvoiceLine extends Model {
/**
*
* @var string
*/
protected $table = 'INVOICE_LINE';
/**
*
* @var string
*/
protected $primaryKey = 'INVOICE_LINE_ID';
/**
*
* @var bool
*/
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/**
*
* @var string
*/
protected $sequence = 'GEN_INVOICE_LINE_ID';
/**
* Array of names of computed fields
*
* @var array
*/
protected $appends = ['SUM_PRICE'];
/**
* Product
*
* @return \App\Product
*/
public function product() {
return $this->belongsTo('App\Product', 'PRODUCT_ID');
}
/**
* Amount by item
*
* @return double
*/
public function getSumPriceAttribute() {
return $this->SALE_PRICE * $this->QUANTITY;
}
/**
* Adding a model object to the database
* Override this method, because in this case, we work with a stored procedure
*
* @param \Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder $query
* @param array $options
* @return bool
*/
protected function performInsert(Builder $query, array $options = []) {
if ($this->fireModelEvent('creating') === false) {
return false;
}
$connection->executeProcedure('SP_ADD_INVOICE_LINE', [
$attributes['INVOICE_ID'],
$attributes['PRODUCT_ID'],
$attributes['QUANTITY']
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]);
// We will go ahead and set the exists property to true,
// so that it is set when the created event is fired, just in case
// the developer tries to update it during the event. This will allow
// them to do so and run an update here.
$this->exists = true;
$this->wasRecentlyCreated = true;
$this->fireModelEvent('created', false);
return true;
}
/**
* Saving changes to the current model instance in the database
*
* @param \Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder $query
* @param array $options
* @return bool
*/
protected function performUpdate(Builder $query, array $options = []) {
$dirty = $this->getDirty();
if (count($dirty) > 0) {
// If the updating event returns false, we will cancel
// the update operation so developers can hook Validation systems
// into their models and cancel this operation if the model does
// not pass validation. Otherwise, we update.
if ($this->fireModelEvent('updating') === false) {
return false;
}
$connection->executeProcedure('SP_EDIT_INVOICE_LINE', [
$attributes['INVOICE_LINE_ID'],
$attributes['QUANTITY']
]);
$this->fireModelEvent('updated', false);
}
}
/**
* Deleting the current model instance from the database
*
* @return void
*/
protected function performDeleteOnModel() {
$connection->executeProcedure('SP_DELETE_INVOICE_LINE',
[$attributes['INVOICE_LINE_ID']]);
}
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The product function in this model returns the product, actually the App/Product model that was
specified as the invoice item. The relation is established through the PRODUCT_ID field by the
belongsTo method.
The SumPrice is a calculated field, calculated by the function getSumPriceAttribute. For a calculated
field to be available in the model, its name must be specified in the $appends array that stores the
names of calculated fields.
Operations
In this model, we redefined the insert, update and delete operations so that they are performed
through stored procedures. Along with performing the insert, update and delete operations, these
stored procedures recalculate the total in the invoice header. We could have avoided doing that, but
then we would have had to modify several models in one transaction. Later, we will examine how
to do it that way.
6.5.3. How Laravel Manages Data
Now let us talk a bit about how to work in Laravel with models for retrieving, inserting, updating
and deleting data. Laravel uses the query constructor to manage data. The full description of the
syntax and capabilities of this constructor is available at https://laravel.com/docs/5.2/queries. For
example, you can execute the following query to retrieve all supplier rows:
$customers = DB::table('CUSTOMER')->get();
This query constructor is quite a powerful tool for building and executing SQL queries. You can also
direct it to filter, sort and merge tables. For example:
DB::table('users')
->join('contacts', function ($join) {
$join->on('users.id', '=', 'contacts.user_id')->orOn(...);
})
->get()
Nevertheless, models are more convenient to work with. You can find the description of Eloquent
ORM models and the syntax for querying them at https://laravel.com/docs/5.2/eloquent.
As an example, to retrieve all elements from the collection of customers would require executing
the following query:
$customers = Customer::all();
This query will return the first 20 customers sorted alphabetically:
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$customers = App\Customer::select()
->orderBy('name')
->take(20)
->get();
Complex Models
When a model is more complex, its relationships or relationship collections can be retrieved via
dynamic attributes. The following query, for example, returns the items of the invoice that has the
identifier 1:
$lines = Invoice::find(1)->lines;
Records are added by creating an instance of the model, initiating its attributes and saving the
model using the save method:
$flight = new Flight;

$flight->name = $request->name;
$flight->save();
Updating a record involves finding it, accepting changes to the appropriate attributes and saving it
with the save method:
$flight = App\Flight::find(1);
$flight->name = 'New Flight Name';
$flight->save();
To delete a record, involves finding it and calling the delete method.
$flight = App\Flight::find(1);
$flight->delete();
The destroy method allows a record to be deleted more rapidly by its key value, without needing to
retrieve its instance:
App\Flight::destroy(1);
There are other ways of deleting records, for instance, “soft” deletion. You can read more about
deletion methods at https://laravel.com/docs/5.2/eloquent#deleting-models.
6.6. Transactions
Now let us talk a little about transactions. Without going into the fine detail, I will demonstrate how
transactions and the Eloquent ORM can be used together.
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DB::transaction(function () {
// Create a new position in the invoice
$line = new App\InvoiceLine();
$line->CUSTOMER_ID = 45;
$line->PRODUCT_ID = 342;
$line->QUANTITY = 10;
$line->COST = 12.45;
$line->save();
// add the sum of the line item to the amount of the invoice
$invoice = App\Invoice::find($line->CUSTOMER_ID);
$invoice->INVOICE_SUM += $line->SUM_PRICE;
$invoice->save();
});
Every parameter of the transaction method that is located inside the callback function is executed
within one transaction.
6.7. Creating Controllers and Configuring Routing

The Laravel framework has a powerful routing subsystem. You can display your routes both for
simple callback functions and for the controller methods. The simplest sample routes look like this:
Route::get('/', function () {
return 'Hello World';
});
Route::post('foo/bar', function () {
});
In the first example, we register the handler of the GET request for the website root for the POST
request with the route /foo/bar in the second.
You can register a route for several types of HTTP requests. For example:
Route::match(['get', 'post'], 'foo/bar', function () {

});
You can extract some part of the URL from the route for use as a parameter in the handling
function:
Route::get('posts/{post}/comments/{comment}', function ($postId, $commentId) {

//
});
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The parameters of a route are always enclosed in braces.
You can find more details about routing configuration in the Routing chapter of the documentation.
Routes are configured in the app/Http/routes.php file in Laravel 5.2 and in the routes/wep.php file in
Laravel 5.3.
6.7.1. Using Controllers to Route Requests
Instead of directing the processing of all requests from a single routing file, we can use Controller
classes to group related request handlers into separate classes. Controllers are stored in the
app/Http/Controllers folder.
All Laravel controllers must extend the basic class of the controller
App\Http\Controllers\Controller that exists in Laravel by default. You can read more details about
writing controllers at https://laravel.com/docs/5.2/controllers.
6.7.2. A Customer Controller
First, we’ll write our Customer controller.
<?php
/*
* Customer controller
*/
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
use App\Customer;
class CustomerController extends Controller

{
/**
* Show customer list
*
* @return Response
*/
public function showCustomers()
{
// get the first 20 customers
// sorted alphabetically
$customers = Customer::select()
->orderBy('NAME')
->take(20)
->get();
var_dump($customers);
}
}
Now we have to link the controller methods to the route. For this, add the following line to
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routes.php (web.php):
Route::get('/customers', 'CustomerController@showCustomers');
The controller name is separated from the method name with the @ character.
To build a quick interface with grids and edit dialog boxes, we will use the zofe/rapyd package that
was enabled earlier. Classes from the zofe/rapyd package take up the role of building standard
queries to Eloquent ORM models. We will change the customer controller so that it shows data on
the grid, allows filtering and record insertions, updates and deletes by way of the edit dialog boxes.
<?php
/*
* Customer Controller
*/
use App\Customer;
class CustomerController extends Controller {
/**
* Displays the list of customers
*
* @return Response
*/
public function showCustomers() {
// Connect widget for search
$filter = \DataFilter::source(new Customer);
// Search will be by the name of the supplier
$filter->add('NAME', 'Name', 'text');
// Set capture for search button
$filter->submit('Search');
// Add the filter reset button and assign it caption
$filter->reset('Reset');
// Create a grid to display the filtered data
$grid = \DataGrid::source($filter);
// output columns
// Field, label, sorted
$grid->add('NAME', 'Name', true);
$grid->add('ADDRESS', 'Address');
$grid->add('ZIPCODE', 'Zip Code');
$grid->add('PHONE', 'Phone');
// Add buttons to view, edit and delete records
$grid->edit('/customer/edit', 'Edit', 'show|modify|delete');
// Add the Add Customer button
$grid->link('/customer/edit', "Add customer", "TR");
$grid->orderBy('NAME', 'asc');
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// set the number of records per page

$grid->paginate(10);
// display the customer template and pass the filter and grid to it
return view('customer', compact('filter', 'grid'));
}
/**
* Add, edit and delete a customer
*
* @return Response
*/
public function editCustomer() {
if (\Input::get('do_delete') == 1)
return "not the first";
// create an editor
$edit = \DataEdit::source(new Customer());
// Set title of the dialog, depending on the type of operation
switch ($edit->status) {
case 'create':
$edit->label('Add customer');
break;
case 'modify':
$edit->label('Edit customer');
break;
case 'do_delete':
$edit->label('Delete customer');
break;
case 'show':
$edit->label("Customer's card");
// add a link to go back to the list of customers
$edit->link('customers', 'Back', 'TR');
break;
}
// set that after the operations of adding, editing and deleting,
// you need to return to the list of customers
$edit->back('insert|update|do_delete', 'customers');
// We add editors of a certain type, assign them a label and
// associate them with the attributes of the model
$edit->add('NAME', 'Name', 'text')->rule('required|max:60');
$edit->add('ADDRESS', 'Address', 'textarea')
->attributes(['rows' => 3])
->rule('max:250');
$edit->add('ZIPCODE', 'Zip code', 'text')->rule('max:10');
$edit->add('PHONE', 'Phone', 'text')->rule('max:14');
// display the template customer_edit and pass it to the editor
return $edit->view('customer_edit', compact('edit'));
}
}
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blade Templates
By default, Laravel uses the blade template engine. The view function finds the necessary template in
the resources/views directory, makes the necessary changes to it and returns the text of the HTML
page, at the same time passing to it any variables that are supplied in the template. You can find the
description of the blade template syntax at https://laravel.com/docs/5.2/blade.
The Template for Displaying Customers
The template for displaying customers looks like this:
@extends('example')
@section('title', 'Customers')
@section('body')
<h1>Customers</h1>
<p>
{!! $filter !!}
{!! $grid !!}
</p>
@stop
This template is inherited from the example template and redefines its body section. The $filter
and $grid variables contain the HTML code for filtering and displaying data on the grid. The
example template is common for all pages.
@extends('master')
@section('title', 'Example of working with Firebird')
@section('body')
<h1>??????</h1>
@if(Session::has('message'))
<div class="alert alert-success">
{!! Session::get('message') !!}
</div>
@endif
<p>Example of working with Firebird.<br/>
</p>
@stop
@section('content')
@include('menu')
@yield('body')
@stop
This template is itself inherited from the master template and also enables the menu template. The
209
menu is quite simple and consists of three items: Customers, Products and Invoices.
<nav class="navbar main">

<div class="navbar-header">
<button type="button" class="navbar-toggle"
data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".main-collapse">
<span class="sr-only"></span>
</button>
</div>
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse main-collapse">
<ul class="nav nav-tabs">
<li @if (Request::is('customer*'))
class="active"@endif>{!! link_to("customers", "Customers") !!}</li>
<li @if (Request::is('product*'))
class="active"@endif>{!! link_to("products", "Products") !!}</li>
<li @if (Request::is('invoice*'))
class="active"@endif>{!! link_to("invoices", "Invoices") !!}</li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
The master template enables css styles and JavaScript files with libraries.
210
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>@yield('title', 'An example of a Web application on Firebird')</title>
<meta name="description" content="@yield('description',
'An example of a Web application on Firebird')" />
@section('meta', '')
<link href="http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Bitter" rel="stylesheet"
type="text/css" />
<link href="//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.2.0/css/bootstrap.min.css"
rel="stylesheet">
<link href="//maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.1.0/css/font-awesome.min.css"
rel="stylesheet">
{!! Rapyd::styles(true) !!}
</head>
<body>
<div id="wrap">
<br />
<div class="row">
<div class="col-sm-12">
@yield('content')
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="footer">
</div>
<script src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js">
</script>
<script src="//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.2.0/js/bootstrap.min.js">
</script>
<script
src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery.pjax/1.9.6/jquery.pjax.min.js"></sc
ript>
<script
src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/riot/2.2.4/riot+compiler.min.js"></script>
{!! Rapyd::scripts() !!}
</body>
</html>
The customer_edit template:
211
@extends('example')
@section('title', 'Edit customer')
@section('body')
<p>
{!! $edit !!}
</p>
@stop
6.7.3. A Product Controller
Implementation of the product controller is similar to what we did for the customer controller:
<?php
/*
* Product Controller
*/
use App\Product;
class ProductController extends Controller {
/**
* Displays a list of products
*
* @return Response
*/
public function showProducts() {
// Connect widget for search
$filter = \DataFilter::source(new Product);
// The search will be by product name
$filter->add('NAME', 'Name', 'text');
// output grid columns
// Field, label, sorting
$grid->add('NAME', 'Name', true);
// Set the format with 2 decimal places
$grid->add('PRICE|number_format[2,., ]', 'Price');
$grid->row(function($row) {
// Press the money values to the right
$row->cell('PRICE')->style("text-align: right");
});
$grid->edit('/product/edit', 'Edit', 'show|modify|delete');
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// Add the Add product button

$grid->link('/product/edit', "?????????? ??????", "TR");
// set sorting
$grid->orderBy('NAME', 'asc');
return view('product', compact('filter', 'grid'));
}
/**
* Add, edit and delete products
*
* @return Response
*/
public function editProduct() {
// create editor
$edit = \DataEdit::source(new Product());
// Set the title of the dialog, depending on the type of operation
case 'create':
$edit->label('Add product');
break;
case 'modify':
$edit->label('Edit product');
break;
case 'do_delete':
$edit->label('Delete product');
break;
case 'show':
$edit->label("Product's card");
$edit->link('products', 'Back', 'TR');
break;
}
// you need to return to the list of products
$edit->back('insert|update|do_delete', 'products');
// We add editors of a certain type, assign them a label and
// associate them with the attributes of the model
$edit->add('NAME', 'Name', 'text')->rule('required|max:100');
$edit->add('PRICE', 'Price', 'text')->rule('max:19');
$edit->add('DESCRIPTION', 'Description', 'textarea')
->attributes(['rows' => 8])
->rule('max:8192');
// display the template product_edit and pass it to the editor
return $edit->view('product_edit', compact('edit'));
}
}
213
6.7.4. A Controller for Invoices
The invoice controller is more complex and includes an additional function to pay an invoice. Paid
invoices are highlighted in a different color. While viewing an invoice, you can also see its items.
While editing an invoice, you can edit its items as well. Here is the code for the controller with
detailed comments.
<?php
/*
* Invoice controller
*/
use App\Invoice;
use App\Customer;
use App\Product;
use App\InvoiceLine;
class InvoiceController extends Controller {
/**
* Show invoice list
*
* @return Response
*/
public function showInvoices() {
// The invoice model will also select the related suppliers
$invoices = Invoice::with('customer');
// Add a widget for search.
$filter = \DataFilter::source($invoices);
// Let's filter by date range
$filter->add('INVOICE_DATE', 'Date', 'daterange');
// and filter by customer name
$filter->add('customer.NAME', 'Customer', 'text');
// Field, caption, sorted
// For the date we set an additional function that converts
// the date into a string
$grid->add('INVOICE_DATE|strtotime|date[Y-m-d H:i:s]', 'Date', true);
// for money we will set a format with two decimal places
$grid->add('TOTAL_SALE|number_format[2,., ]', 'Amount');
$grid->add('customer.NAME', 'Customer');
// Boolean printed as Yes/No
$grid->add('PAID', 'Paid')
->cell(function( $value, $row) {
214
return $value ? 'Yes' : 'No';

});
// set the function of processing each row
// The monetary values are pressed to the right
$row->cell('TOTAL_SALE')->style("text-align: right");
// paint the paid waybills in a different color
if ($row->cell('PAID')->value == 'Yes') {
$row->style("background-color: #ddffee;");
}
});
$grid->edit('/invoice/edit', '??????????????', 'show|modify|delete');
// Add the button for adding invoices
$grid->link('/invoice/edit', "?????????? ?????", "TR");
$grid->orderBy('INVOICE_DATE', 'desc');
return view('invoice', compact('filter', 'grid'));
}
/**
* Add, edit and delete invoice
*
* @return Response
*/
public function editInvoice() {
// get the text of the saved error, if it was
$error_msg = \Request::old('error_msg');
// create an invoice invoice editor
$edit = \DataEdit::source(new Invoice());
// if the invoice is paid, then we generate an error when trying to edit it
if (($edit->model->PAID) && ($edit->status === 'modify')) {
$edit->status = 'show';
$error_msg = 'Editing is not possible. The account has already been paid.';
}
// if the invoice is paid, then we generate an error when trying to delete it
if (($edit->model->PAID) && ($edit->status === 'delete')) {
$edit->status = 'show';
$error_msg = 'Deleting is not possible. The account has already been paid.';
}
// Set the label of the dialog, depending on the type of operation
case 'create':
$edit->label('Add invoice');
break;
case 'modify':
$edit->label('Edit invoice');
215
break;
case 'do_delete':
$edit->label('Delete invoice');
break;
case 'show':
$edit->label('Invoice');
$edit->link('invoices', 'Back', 'TR');
// If the invoice is not paid, we show the pay button
if (!$edit->model->PAID)
$edit->link('invoice/pay/' . $edit->model->INVOICE_ID,
'Pay', 'BL');
break;
}
// we return to the list of invoices
$edit->back('insert|update|do_delete', 'invoices');
// set the "date" field, that it is mandatory
// The default is the current date
$edit->add('INVOICE_DATE', '????', 'datetime')
->rule('required')
->insertValue(date('Y-m-d H:i:s'));
// add a field for entering the customer. When typing a customer name,
// a list of prompts will be displayed
$edit->add('customer.NAME', 'Customer', 'autocomplete')
->rule('required')
->options(Customer::lists('NAME', 'CUSTOMER_ID')
->all());
// add a field that will display the invoice amount, read-only
$edit->add('TOTAL_SALE', 'Amount', 'text')
->mode('readonly')
->insertValue('0.00');
// add paid checkbox
$paidCheckbox = $edit->add('PAID', 'Paid', 'checkbox')
->insertValue('0')
->mode('readonly');
$paidCheckbox->checked_output = 'Yes';
$paidCheckbox->unchecked_output = 'No';
// create a grid to display the invoice line rows
$grid = $this->getInvoiceLineGrid($edit->model, $edit->status);
// we display the invoice_edit template and pass the editor and grid to
// it to display the invoice invoice items
return $edit->view('invoice_edit', compact('edit', 'grid', 'error_msg'));
}
/**
* Payment of invoice
*
* @return Response
*/
216
public function payInvoice($id) {

try {
// find the invoice by ID
$invoice = Invoice::findOrFail($id);
// call the payment procedure
$invoice->pay();
} catch (\Illuminate\Database\QueryException $e) {
// if an error occurs, select the exclusion text
$pos = strpos($e->getMessage(), 'E_INVOICE_ALREADY_PAYED');
if ($pos !== false) {
// redirect to the editor page and display the error there
return redirect('invoice/edit?show=' . $id)
->withInput(['error_msg' => 'Invoice already paid']);
} else
throw $e;
}
// redirect to the editor page
return redirect('invoice/edit?show=' . $id);
}
/**
* Returns the grid for the invoice item
* @param \App\Invoice $invoice
* @param string $mode
* @return \DataGrid
*/
private function getInvoiceLineGrid(Invoice $invoice, $mode) {
// Get invoice items
// For each ivoice item, the associated product will be initialized
$lines = InvoiceLine::with('product')
->where('INVOICE_ID', $invoice->INVOICE_ID);
// Create a grid for displaying invoice items
$grid = \DataGrid::source($lines);
// Field, caption, sorted
$grid->add('product.NAME', 'Name');
$grid->add('QUANTITY', 'Quantity');
$grid->add('SALE_PRICE|number_format[2,., ]', 'Price')
->style('min-width: 8em;');
$grid->add('SUM_PRICE|number_format[2,., ]', 'Amount')
->style('min-width: 8em;');
// set the function of processing each row
$row->cell('QUANTITY')->style("text-align: right");
// The monetary values are pressed to the right
$row->cell('SALE_PRICE')->style("text-align: right");
$row->cell('SUM_PRICE')->style("text-align: right");
});
if ($mode == 'modify') {
$grid->edit('/invoice/editline', '??????????????', 'modify|delete');
217
// Add a button to add an invoice item

$grid->link('/invoice/editline?invoice_id=' . $invoice->INVOICE_ID,
"Add item", "TR");
}
return $grid;
}
/**
* Add, edit and delete invoice items
*
* @return Response
*/
public function editInvoiceLine() {
$invoice_id = null;
// create the editor of the invoice item
$edit = \DataEdit::source(new InvoiceLine());
// Set the label of the dialog, depending on the type of operation
case 'create':
$edit->label('Add invoice item');
$invoice_id = \Input::get('invoice_id');
break;
case 'modify':
$edit->label('Edit invoice item');
$invoice_id = $edit->model->INVOICE_ID;
break;
case 'delete':
break;
case 'do_delete':
$edit->label('Delete invoice item');
break;
}
// make url to go back
$base = str_replace(\Request::path(), '', strtok(\Request::fullUrl(), '?'));
$back_url = $base . 'invoice/edit?modify=' . $invoice_id;
// set the page to go back
$edit->back('insert|update|do_delete', $back_url);
$edit->back_url = $back_url;
// add a hidden field with an invoice code
$edit->add('INVOICE_ID', '', 'hidden')
->rule('required')
->insertValue($invoice_id)
->updateValue($invoice_id);
// Add a field for entering the goods. When you type the product name,
218
// a list of prompts is displayed.

$edit->add('product.NAME', 'Name', 'autocomplete')
->rule('required')
->options(Product::lists('NAME', 'PRODUCT_ID')->all());
// Field for input quantity
$edit->add('QUANTITY', 'Quantity', 'text')
->rule('required');
// display the template invoice_line_edit and pass it to the editor
return $edit->view('invoice_line_edit', compact('edit'));
}
}
The Invoice Editor
The invoice editor has a view that is not standard for zofe/rapyd because we want to display a grid
with invoice items. To do that, we change the invoice_edit template as follows:
@extends('example')
@section('title','Edit invoice')
@section('body')
{!! $edit->header !!}
@if($error_msg)
<div class="alert alert-danger">
<strong>??????!</strong> {{ $error_msg }}
</div>
@endif
{!! $edit->message !!}
@if(!$edit->message)
<div class="row">
<div class="col-sm-4">
{!! $edit->render('INVOICE_DATE') !!}
{!! $edit->render('customer.NAME') !!}
{!! $edit->render('TOTAL_SALE') !!}
{!! $edit->render('PAID') !!}
</div>
</div>
{!! $grid !!}
@endif
{!! $edit->footer !!}
</div>
@stop
6.7.5. Changing the Routes
Now that all controllers are written, we are going to change the routes so that our website opens
the list of invoices on the start page. Be aware that routes are configured in the file
219
app/Http/routes.php in Laravel 5.2 and in routes/wep.php in Laravel 5.3.
Route::get('/', 'InvoiceController@showInvoices');
Route::get('/customers', 'CustomerController@showCustomers');
Route::any('/customer/edit', 'CustomerController@editCustomer');
Route::get('/products', 'ProductController@showProducts');
Route::any('/product/edit', 'ProductController@editProduct');
Route::get('/invoices', 'InvoiceController@showInvoices');
Route::any('/invoice/edit', 'InvoiceController@editInvoice');
Route::any('/invoice/pay/{id}', 'InvoiceController@payInvoice');
Route::any('/invoice/editline', 'InvoiceController@editInvoiceLine');
Here the /invoice/pay/{id} route picks up the invoice identifier from the URL and sends it to the
payInvoice method. The rest of the routes should be self-explanatory.
6.8. The Result

Some screenshots from the web application we developed in this project.
Figure 41. Invoices display
220
Figure 42. Invoice editor
6.8.1. Source Code
You can download the source code for this project from phpfbexample.zip
221
Chapter 7. Creating an Application with jOOQ and Spring MVC
Chapter 7. Creating an Application with jOOQ

and Spring MVC
This chapter describes how to create a web application in the Java language using the Spring MVC
framework, the jOOQ library and a Firebird sample database.
To make development easier, you can use one of the popular IDEs for Java (NetBeans, IntelliJ IDEA,
Eclipse, JDeveloper and others). I used NetBeans.
For testing and debugging purposes, we will also need to install one of the web servers or
application servers (Apache Tomcat or GlassFish). We are basing our project on the Maven web
application templates.
7.1. Organising the Folder Structure

After a template-based project has been created, its folder structure will need to be rearranged to
suit Spring 4. In the NetBeans 8.2 environment, the steps would be as follows:
1. Delete the index.html file
2. Create the WEB-INF folder inside the Web Pages folder
3. Create the jsp, jspf and resources folders inside the WEB-INF folder
4. Create the js and CSS folders inside the resources folder
5. Create the index.jsp file inside the jsp folder
The new structure of the folders should look like this:
222
Figure 43. Folder structure for the template-based project
The WEB-INF/jsp folder will contain jsp pages and the jspf folder will contain page fragments that
will be added to other pages using the following directive:
<%@ include file ="<filename>" %>
The resources folder is used to store static web resources — the WEB-INF/resources/css folder for
cascading style sheet files, the WEB-INF/resources/fonts folder for font files, the WEB-INF/resources/js
folder for JavaScript files and third-party JavaScript libraries.
Now, we modify the pom.xml file and add the general properties of the application, dependencies on
library packages (Spring MVC, Jaybird, JDBC pool, JOOQ) and the properties of the JDBC connection.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0
http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<groupId>ru.ibase</groupId>
223
<artifactId>fbjavaex</artifactId>
<version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
<packaging>war</packaging>
<name>Firebird Java Example</name>
<properties>
<endorsed.dir>${project.build.directory}/endorsed</endorsed.dir>
<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
<spring.version>4.3.20.RELEASE</spring.version>
<jackson.version>2.9.7</jackson.version>
<jooq.version>3.9.2</jooq.version>
<jstl.version>1.2</jstl.version>
<javax.servlet.version>3.0.1</javax.servlet.version>
<jaybird.version>3.0.5</jaybird.version>
<db.url>jdbc:firebirdsql://localhost/examples</db.url>
<db.driver>org.firebirdsql.jdbc.FBDriver</db.driver>
<db.username>SYSDBA</db.username>
<db.password>masterkey</db.password>
</properties>
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>javax</groupId>
<artifactId>javaee-web-api</artifactId>
<version>7.0</version>
<scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
<artifactId>javax.servlet-api</artifactId>
<version>${javax.servlet.version}</version>
<scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>jstl</groupId>
<artifactId>jstl</artifactId>
<version>${jstl.version}</version>
</dependency>


<dependency>
<groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
<artifactId>jackson-core</artifactId>
<version>${jackson.version}</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
224
<artifactId>jackson-annotations</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
</dependency>

<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>
<version>${spring.version}</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<artifactId>spring-web</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<artifactId>spring-webmvc</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<artifactId>spring-context</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<artifactId>spring-jdbc</artifactId>
</dependency>

<dependency>
<groupId>org.firebirdsql.jdbc</groupId>
<artifactId>jaybird-jdk18</artifactId>
<version>${jaybird.version}</version>
</dependency>
225

<dependency>
<groupId>commons-dbcp</groupId>
<artifactId>commons-dbcp</artifactId>
</dependency>

<dependency>
<groupId>org.jooq</groupId>
<artifactId>jooq</artifactId>
<version>${jooq.version}</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<artifactId>jooq-meta</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<artifactId>jooq-codegen</artifactId>
</dependency>


<dependency>
<groupId>junit</groupId>
<artifactId>junit</artifactId>
<type>jar</type>
<scope>test</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<artifactId>spring-test</artifactId>
<scope>test</scope>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.eclipse.jetty</groupId>
226
<artifactId>jetty-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>9.4.12.v20180830</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.8.0</version>
<configuration>
<source>1.8</source>
<target>1.8</target>
<compilerArguments>
<endorseddirs>${endorsed.dir}</endorseddirs>
</compilerArguments>
</configuration>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
<configuration>
<failOnMissingWebXml>false</failOnMissingWebXml>
</configuration>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
<execution>
<phase>validate</phase>
<goals>
<goal>copy</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<outputDirectory>${endorsed.dir}</outputDirectory>
<silent>true</silent>
<artifactItems>
<artifactItem>
<groupId>javax</groupId>
<artifactId>javaee-endorsed-api</artifactId>
<type>jar</type>
</artifactItem>
</artifactItems>
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
</project>
227
What is a POM?
A Project Object Model or POM is the fundamental unit of work in Maven. It is an
 XML file that contains information about the project and configuration details
used by Maven to build the project. More details can be found at
https://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-the-pom.
After all the necessary dependencies have been fulfilled, a reload of the POM is recommended, to
load all the necessary libraries and avoid errors that might otherwise occur while you are working
on the project. This is how it is done in NetBeans:
228
Figure 44. Reloading the POM from NetBeans
7.2. Coding the Configuration

We use this configuration class to specify the locations of web resources and JSP views. The
configureMessageConverters method directs that dates must be serialized to strings, overriding the
default that serializes them to a numeric representation of a timestamp.
I am creating Java configuration classes here as I am not a big fan of doing configuration in XML.
229
package ru.ibase.fbjavaex.config;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.ComponentScan;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.EnableWebMvc;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.ResourceHandlerRegistry;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.WebMvcConfigurerAdapter;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.view.JstlView;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.view.UrlBasedViewResolver;
import org.springframework.http.converter.json.MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter;
import org.springframework.http.converter.HttpMessageConverter;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializationFeature;
import java.util.List;
@Configuration
@ComponentScan("ru.ibase.fbjavaex")
@EnableWebMvc
public class WebAppConfig extends WebMvcConfigurerAdapter {
@Override
public void configureMessageConverters(
List<HttpMessageConverter<?>> httpMessageConverters) {
MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter jsonConverter =
new MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter();
ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
objectMapper.configure(SerializationFeature.WRITE_DATES_AS_TIMESTAMPS,
false);
jsonConverter.setObjectMapper(objectMapper);
httpMessageConverters.add(jsonConverter);
}
@Bean
public UrlBasedViewResolver setupViewResolver() {
UrlBasedViewResolver resolver = new UrlBasedViewResolver();
resolver.setPrefix("/WEB-INF/jsp/");
resolver.setSuffix(".jsp");
resolver.setViewClass(JstlView.class);
return resolver;
}
@Override
public void addResourceHandlers(ResourceHandlerRegistry registry) {
registry.addResourceHandler("/resources/**")
.addResourceLocations("/WEB-INF/resources/");
}
}
230
7.3. Start-up Code — WebInitializer

Now we’ll get rid of the Web.xml file and create the WebInitializer class in its place:
import javax.servlet.ServletContext;
import javax.servlet.ServletException;
import javax.servlet.ServletRegistration.Dynamic;
import org.springframework.web.WebApplicationInitializer;
import org.springframework.web.context.support.AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet;
public class WebInitializer implements WebApplicationInitializer {
@Override
public void onStartup(ServletContext servletContext) throws ServletException {
AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext ctx =
new AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext();
ctx.register(WebAppConfig.class);
ctx.setServletContext(servletContext);
Dynamic servlet = servletContext.addServlet("dispatcher",
new DispatcherServlet(ctx));
servlet.addMapping("/");
servlet.setLoadOnStartup(1);
}
All that is left to configure is IoC containers for injecting dependencies, a step we will return to
later. We proceed next to generating classes for working with the database via Java Object-Oriented
Querying (jOOQ).
7.4. Generating classes for jOOQ

Work with the database will be carried out using the jOOQ library. jOOQ builds SQL queries from
jOOQ objects and code (similarly to LINQ). jOOQ is more closely integrated with the database than
ORM, enabling more database features to be utilized, rather than just the simple CRUD SQL queries
used in Active Record. jOOQ can work with stored procedures and functions, sequences, and use
window functions and other Firebird-specific features.
You can find the full documentation for jOOQ at https://www.jooq.org/doc/3.9/manual-single-page/.
7.4.1. jOOQ Classes
jOOQ classes for working with the database are generated on the basis of the database schema
described in the earlier chapter, The examples.fdb Database.
231
To generate jOOQ classes for working with our database, you will need to download these binary
files at https://www.jooq.org/download or via the maven repository:
• jooq-3.9.2.jar — The main library included in our application for working with jOOQ
• jooq-meta-3.9.2.jar — The tool included in your build for navigating the database schema via
generated objects
• jooq-codegen-3.9.2.jar — The tool included in your build for generating the database schema
Along with those, of course, you will need to download the Jaybird driver for connecting to the
Firebird database via JDBC: jaybird-full-3.0.5.jar.
Configuration for Database Schema Classes
For generating the classes for the database schema, we create the configuration file example.xml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

<configuration xmlns="http://www.jooq.org/xsd/jooq-codegen-3.8.0.xsd">

<jdbc>
<driver>org.firebirdsql.jdbc.FBDriver</driver>
<url>jdbc:firebirdsql://localhost:3050/examples</url>
<user>SYSDBA</user>
<password>masterkey</password>
<properties>
<property>
<key>charSet</key>
<value>utf-8</value>
</property>
</properties>
</jdbc>
<generator>
<name>org.jooq.util.JavaGenerator</name>
<database>

<name>org.jooq.util.firebird.FirebirdDatabase</name>
<inputSchema></inputSchema>

<includes>.*</includes>

<excludes>
RDB\$.*
| MON\$.*
| SEC\$.*
</excludes>
</database>
<target>

<packageName>ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb</packageName>

<directory>e:/OpenServer/domains/localhost/fbjavaex/src/main/java/</directory>
</target>
</generator>
</configuration>
Generating the Schema Classes
In the command shell, execute the following command to create the classes needed for writing
queries to database objects in Java:
java -cp jooq-3.9.2.jar;jooq-meta-3.9.2.jar;jooq-codegen-3.9.2.jar;jaybird-full-

3.0.0.jar;. org.jooq.util.GenerationTool example.xml
You can find more details about the process of generating classes at https://www.jooq.org/doc/3.9/
manual-single-page/#code-generation.
7.5. Dependency Injection

Dependency injection is a process whereby objects define their dependencies, that is, the other
objects they work with. It is done only through constructor arguments, arguments to a factory
method, or properties set or returned using a factory method. The container then injects those
dependencies when it creates the bean. You can find more details about dependency injection at
https://docs.spring.io/spring/docs/current/spring-framework-reference/core.html#beans.
7.5.1. Configuring IoC Containers for Dependency Injection
In Spring, dependency injection (DI) is carried out through the Spring IoC (Inversion of Control)
container.
As before, we will avoid xml configuration and base our approach on annotations and Java
configuration.
233
The main attributes and parts of the Java configuration of an IoC container are classes with the
@Configuration annotation and methods with the @Bean annotation.
The @Bean Annotation
The @Bean annotation is used to define a method’s activity in creating, configuring and initializing a
new object controlled by the Spring IoC container. Methods so defined can be used the same way as
classes with the @Configuration annotation.
Our IoC container will return
• the connection pool
• the transaction manager
• the exception translator that translates SQLException exceptions into Spring-specific

DataAccessException exceptions
• the DSL context that is the starting point for building all queries using the Fluent API
• managers for implementing the business logic
• grids for displaying data
/**
* IoC container configuration
* to implement dependency injection.
*/
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import javax.sql.DataSource;
import org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource;
import org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.DataSourceTransactionManager;
import org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.TransactionAwareDataSourceProxy;
import org.jooq.impl.DataSourceConnectionProvider;
import org.jooq.DSLContext;
import org.jooq.impl.DefaultDSLContext;
import org.jooq.impl.DefaultConfiguration;
import org.jooq.SQLDialect;
import org.jooq.impl.DefaultExecuteListenerProvider;
import ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exception.ExceptionTranslator;
import ru.ibase.fbjavaex.managers.*;
import ru.ibase.fbjavaex.jqgrid.*;
/**
* The Spring IoC configuration class of the container
*/
234
@Configuration
public class JooqConfig {
/**
* Return connection pool
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "dataSource")
public DataSource getDataSource() {
BasicDataSource dataSource = new BasicDataSource();
// ?????????? ???????????? ???????????
dataSource.setUrl("jdbc:firebirdsql://localhost:3050/examples");
dataSource.setDriverClassName("org.firebirdsql.jdbc.FBDriver");
dataSource.setUsername("SYSDBA");
dataSource.setPassword("masterkey");
dataSource.setConnectionProperties("charSet=utf-8");
return dataSource;
}
/**
* Return transaction manager
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "transactionManager")
public DataSourceTransactionManager getTransactionManager() {
return new DataSourceTransactionManager(getDataSource());
}
@Bean(name = "transactionAwareDataSource")
public TransactionAwareDataSourceProxy getTransactionAwareDataSource() {
return new TransactionAwareDataSourceProxy(getDataSource());
}
/**
* Return connection provider
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "connectionProvider")
public DataSourceConnectionProvider getConnectionProvider() {
return new DataSourceConnectionProvider(getTransactionAwareDataSource());
}
/**
* Return exception translator
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "exceptionTranslator")
235
public ExceptionTranslator getExceptionTranslator() {

return new ExceptionTranslator();
}
/**
* Returns the DSL context configuration
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "dslConfig")
public org.jooq.Configuration getDslConfig() {
DefaultConfiguration config = new DefaultConfiguration();
// ?????????? ??????? SQL ???? Firebird
config.setSQLDialect(SQLDialect.FIREBIRD);
config.setConnectionProvider(getConnectionProvider());
DefaultExecuteListenerProvider listenerProvider =
new DefaultExecuteListenerProvider(getExceptionTranslator());
config.setExecuteListenerProvider(listenerProvider);
return config;
}
/**
* Return DSL context
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "dsl")
public DSLContext getDsl() {
org.jooq.Configuration config = this.getDslConfig();
return new DefaultDSLContext(config);
}
/**
* Return customer manager
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "customerManager")
public CustomerManager getCustomerManager() {
return new CustomerManager();
}
/**
* Return customer grid
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "customerGrid")
public JqGridCustomer getCustomerGrid() {
return new JqGridCustomer();
}
236
/**
* Return product manager
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "productManager")
public ProductManager getProductManager() {
return new ProductManager();
}
/**
* Return product grid
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "productGrid")
public JqGridProduct getProductGrid() {
return new JqGridProduct();
}
/**
* Return invoice manager
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "invoiceManager")
public InvoiceManager getInvoiceManager() {
return new InvoiceManager();
}
/**
* Return invoice grid
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "invoiceGrid")
public JqGridInvoice getInvoiceGrid() {
return new JqGridInvoice();
}
/**
* Return invoice items grid
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "invoiceLineGrid")
public JqGridInvoiceLine getInvoiceLineGrid() {
return new JqGridInvoiceLine();
}
237
/**
* Return working period
*
* @return
*/
@Bean(name = "workingPeriod")
public WorkingPeriod getWorkingPeriod() {
return new WorkingPeriod();
}
7.6. Creating SQL Queries Using jOOQ

Before we move on to the implementation of managers and grids, we will examine briefly how to
work with the database via jOOQ. You can find the full documentation on this issue in the SQL-
building section of the jOOQ documentation.
The org.jooq.impl.DSL class is the main one from which jOOQ objects are created. It acts as a static
factory for table expressions, column (or field) expressions, conditional expressions and many
other parts of a query.
DSLContext references the org.jooq.Configuration object that configures the behavior of jOOQ
during the execution of queries. Unlike with static DSL, with DSLContext you can to create SQL
statements that are already “configured” and ready for execution.
In our application, DSLContext is created in the getDsl method of the JooqConfig configuration class.
Configuration for DSLContext is returned by the getDslConfig method. In this method we specify the
Firebird dialect that we will use, the connection provider that determines how we get a connection
via JDBC and the SQL query execution listener.
7.6.1. The jOOQ DSL
jOOQ comes with its own DSL (for Domain Specific Language) that emulates SQL in Java. It allows
you to write SQL statements almost as though Java actually supported them. Its effect is similar to
what .NET in C# does with LINQ to SQL.
jOOQ uses an informal BNF notation modelling a unified SQL dialect suitable for most database
engines. Unlike other, simpler frameworks that use the Fluent API or the chain method, the jOOQ-
based BNF interface does not permit bad query syntax.
A simple SQL query:
238
SELECT *
FROM author a
JOIN book b ON a.id = b.author_id
WHERE a.year_of_birth > 1920
AND a.first_name = 'Paulo'
ORDER BY b.title
In jOOQ it looks like this:
Result<Record> result =
dsl.select()
.from(AUTHOR.as("a"))
.join(BOOK.as("b")).on(a.ID.equal(b.AUTHOR_ID))
.where(a.YEAR_OF_BIRTH.greaterThan(1920)
.and(a.FIRST_NAME.equal("Paulo")))
.orderBy(b.TITLE)
.fetch();
The AUTHOR and BOOK classes describing the corresponding tables must be generated beforehand. The
process of generating jOOQ classes according to the specified database schema was described
earlier.
We specified table aliases for the AUTHOR and BOOK tables using the AS clause. Here is the same query
in DSL without aliases:
Result<Record> result =
dsl.select()
.from(AUTHOR)
.join(BOOK).on(AUTHOR.ID.equal(BOOK.AUTHOR_ID))
.where(AUTHOR.YEAR_OF_BIRTH.greaterThan(1920)
.and(AUTHOR.FIRST_NAME.equal("Paulo")))
.orderBy(BOOK.TITLE)
.fetch();
Now we take a more complex query with aggregate functions and grouping:
SELECT AUTHOR.FIRST_NAME, AUTHOR.LAST_NAME, COUNT(*)

FROM AUTHOR
JOIN BOOK ON AUTHOR.ID = BOOK.AUTHOR_ID
WHERE BOOK.LANGUAGE = 'DE'
AND BOOK.PUBLISHED > '2008-01-01'
GROUP BY AUTHOR.FIRST_NAME, AUTHOR.LAST_NAME
HAVING COUNT(*) > 5
ORDER BY AUTHOR.LAST_NAME ASC NULLS FIRST
OFFSET 1 ROWS
FETCH FIRST 2 ROWS ONLY
239
In jOOQ:
dsl.select(AUTHOR.FIRST_NAME, AUTHOR.LAST_NAME, count())

.from(AUTHOR)
.join(BOOK).on(BOOK.AUTHOR_ID.equal(AUTHOR.ID))
.where(BOOK.LANGUAGE.equal("DE"))
.and(BOOK.PUBLISHED.greaterThan("2008-01-01"))
.groupBy(AUTHOR.FIRST_NAME, AUTHOR.LAST_NAME)
.having(count().greaterThan(5))
.orderBy(AUTHOR.LAST_NAME.asc().nullsFirst())
.limit(2)
.offset(1)
.fetch();
'Dialect' in the jOOQ context represents not just the SQL dialect of the database but
also the major version number of the database engine. The field 'limit', limiting the
number of records returned, will be generated according to the SQL syntax
 available to the database engine. The example above used FIREBIRD_3_0, which
supports OFFSET … FETCH. If we had specified the FIREBIRD_2_5 or just the FIREBIRD
dialect, the ROWS clause would have been used instead.
You can build a query in parts. This will allow you to change it dynamically, to change the sort
order or to add additional filter conditions.
240
SelectFinalStep<?> select
= dsl.select()
.from(PRODUCT);
SelectQuery<?> query = select.getQuery();

switch (searchOper) {
case "eq":
query.addConditions(PRODUCT.NAME.eq(searchString));
break;
case "bw":
query.addConditions(PRODUCT.NAME.startsWith(searchString));
break;
case "cn":
query.addConditions(PRODUCT.NAME.contains(searchString));
break;
}
switch (sOrd) {
case "asc":
query.addOrderBy(PRODUCT.NAME.asc());
break;
case "desc":
query.addOrderBy(PRODUCT.NAME.desc());
break;
}
return query.fetchMaps();
7.6.2. Named and Unnamed Parameters
By default, any time you present a query containing a parameter that is string literal, a date, a
number literal or an external variable, jOOQ uses unnamed parameters to bind that variable or
literal. To illustrate, the following expression in Java:
dsl.select()
.from(BOOK)
.where(BOOK.ID.equal(5))
.and(BOOK.TITLE.equal("Animal Farm"))
.fetch();
is equivalent to the full form:
dsl.select()
.from(BOOK)
.where(BOOK.ID.equal(val(5)))
.and(BOOK.TITLE.equal(val("Animal Farm")))
.fetch();
and is converted into the SQL query:
241
SELECT *
FROM BOOK
WHERE BOOK.ID = ?
AND BOOK.TITLE = ?
You need not concern yourself with the index position of the field value that corresponds to a
parameter, as the values will be bound to the appropriate parameter automatically. The index of
the parameter list is 1-based. If you need to change the value of a parameter, you just select it by its
index number.
Select<?> select =
dsl.select()
.from(BOOK)
.where(BOOK.ID.equal(5))
.and(BOOK.TITLE.equal("Animal Farm"));
Param<?> param = select.getParam("2");
Param.setValue("Animals as Leaders");
Another way to assign a new value to a parameter is to call the bind method:
Query query1 =
dsl.select()
.from(AUTHOR)
.where(LAST_NAME.equal("Poe"));
query1.bind(1, "Orwell");
jOOQ supports named parameters, too. They need to be created explicitly using org.jooq.Param:
// Create a query with a named parameter. You can then use that name for
// accessing the parameter again
Query query1 =
dsl.select()
.from(AUTHOR)
.where(LAST_NAME.equal(param("lastName", "Poe")));
Param<?> param1 = query.getParam("lastName");
// Or, keep a reference to the typed parameter in order

// not to lose the <T> type information:
Param<String> param2 = param("lastName", "Poe");
Query query2 =
dsl.select()
.from(AUTHOR)
.where(LAST_NAME.equal(param2));
// You can now change the bind value directly on the Param reference:
param2.setValue("Orwell");
242
Another way to assign a new value to a parameter is to call the bind method:
// Or, with named parameters

Query query2 =
dsl.select()
.from(AUTHOR)
.where(LAST_NAME.equal(param("lastName", "Poe")));
query2.bind("lastName", "Orwell");
7.6.3. Returning Values from SELECT Queries
jOOQ offers several methods for fetching data from SQL queries. We are not covering all of them
here but you can find more details about them in the Fetching section of the jOOQ documentation.
For our example, we will return the data to a map list (the fetchMaps method) which is handy to use
for serializing a result for JSON.
7.6.4. Other Types of Queries
We’ll take a look at other types of queries. This query inserts a record:
INSERT INTO AUTHOR

(ID, FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME)
VALUES (100, 'Hermann', 'Hesse');
In jOOQ:
dsl.insertInto(AUTHOR,
AUTHOR.ID, AUTHOR.FIRST_NAME, AUTHOR.LAST_NAME)
.values(100, "Hermann", "Hesse")
.execute();
A query to update a record:
UPDATE AUTHOR
SET FIRST_NAME = 'Hermann',
LAST_NAME = 'Hesse'
WHERE ID = 3;
In jOOQ:
243
dsl.update(AUTHOR)
.set(AUTHOR.FIRST_NAME, "Hermann")
.set(AUTHOR.LAST_NAME, "Hesse")
.where(AUTHOR.ID.equal(3))
.execute();
A query to delete a record:
DELETE FROM AUTHOR

WHERE ID = 100;
In jOOQ:
dsl.delete(AUTHOR)
.where(AUTHOR.ID.equal(100))
.execute();
More complex update queries can be built in jOOQ, such as a MERGE query, for example.
7.6.5. Stored Procedures with jOOQ
A great benefit of jOOQ is its support for working with stored procedures. Stored procedures are
extracted to the *.Routines.* package. From there, you can work with them easily. For instance, the
following code in Java:
int invoiceId = dsl.nextval(GEN_INVOICE_ID).intValue();
spAddInvoice(dsl.configuration(),
invoiceId,
customerId,
invoiceDate);
is equivalent to getting the next value of the generator using the following SQL query:
SELECT NEXT VALUE FOR GEN_INVOICE_ID

FROM RDB$DATABASE
and calling the stored procedure after that:
EXECUTE PROCEDURE SP_ADD_INVOICE (

:INVOICE_ID, :CUSTOMER_ID, :INVOICE_DATE );
jOOQ also provides tools to build simple DDL queries, but we do not cover them here.
244

By default, jOOQ runs in a mode that commits transactions automatically. It starts a new
transaction for each SQL statement and commits the transaction if there are no errors in the
execution of the statement. The transaction is rolled back if an error occurs.
The default transaction has the following parameters: READ_WRITE | READ_COMMITTED | REC_VERSION |
WAIT, the same parameters that are used by the JDBC driver. You can change the default isolation
mode using the parameters of the connection pool — see
BasicDataSource.setDefaultTransactionIsolation in the getDataSource method of the JooqConfig
configuration class.
7.7.1. Explicit Transactions
In jOOQ you have several ways to control transactions explicitly. Since we are going to develop our
application using the Spring Framework, we will use the transaction manager specified in the
configuration (JooqConfig). You can get the transaction manager by declaring the txMgr property in
the class as follows:
@Autowired
private DataSourceTransactionManager txMgr;
The standard scenario for using this technique with a transaction would be coded like this:
TransactionStatus tx = txMgr.getTransaction(new DefaultTransactionDefinition());

try {
// actions in the context of a transaction
for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++)
dsl.insertInto(BOOK)
.set(BOOK.ID, 5)
.set(BOOK.AUTHOR_ID, 1)
.set(BOOK.TITLE, "Book 5")
.execute();
// transaction commit
txMgr.commit(tx);
}
catch (DataAccessException e) {
// transaction rollback
txMgr.rolback(tx);
}
However, Spring enables that scenario to be implemented much more easily using the
@Transactional annotation specified before the method of the class. Thereby, all actions performed
by the method will be wrapped in the transaction.
245
/**
* Delete customer
*
* @param customerId
*/
@Transactional(propagation = Propagation.REQUIRED,
isolation = Isolation.REPEATABLE_READ)
public void delete(int customerId) {
this.dsl.deleteFrom(CUSTOMER)
.where(CUSTOMER.CUSTOMER_ID.eq(customerId))
.execute();
}
Transaction Parameters
Propagation
The propagation parameter defines how to work with transactions if our method is called from
an external transaction.
Propagation.REQUIRED
execute in the existing transaction if there is one. Otherwise, create a new one.
Propagation.MANDATORY
execute in the existing transaction if there is one. Otherwise, raise an exception.
Propagation.SUPPORTS
execute in the existing transaction if there is one. Otherwise, execute outside the transaction.
Propagation.NOT_SUPPORTED
always execute outside the transaction. If there is an existing one, it will be suspended.
Propagation.REQUIRES_NEW
always execute in a new independent transaction. If there is an existing one, it will be
suspended until the new transaction is ended.
Propagation.NESTED
if there is an existing transaction, execute in a new so-called “nested” transaction. If the
nested transaction is rolled back, it will not affect the external transaction; if the external
transaction is rolled back, the nested one will be rolled back as well. If there is no existing
transaction, a new one is simply created.
Propagation.NEVER
always execute outside the transaction. Raise an exception if there is an existing one.
Isolation Level
The isolation parameter defines the isolation level. Five values are supported: DEFAULT,
READ_UNCOMMITTED, READ_COMMITTED, REPEATABLE_READ, SERIALIZABLE. If the DEFAULT value of the
isolation parameter is specified, that level will be used.
246
The other isolation levels are taken from the SQL standard, not all of them supported exactly by
Firebird. Only the READ_COMMITED level corresponds in all of the criteria, so JDBC READ_COMMITTED is
mapped into read_committed in Firebird. REPEATABLE_READ is mapped into concurrency (SNAPSHOT)
and SERIALIZABLE is mapped into consistency (SNAPSHOT TABLE STABILITY).
Firebird supports additional transaction parameters besides isolation level, viz. NO

RECORD_VERSION/RECORD_VERSION (applicable only to a transaction with READ COMMITTED isolation)
and WAIT/NO WAIT. The standard isolation levels can be mapped to Firebird transaction
parameters by specifying the properties of the JDBC connection (see more details in the Using
Transactions chapter of Jaybird 2.1 JDBC driver Java Programmer’s Manual).
If your transaction works with more than one query, it is recommended to use the
REPEATABLE_READ isolation level to maintain data consistency.
Read Mode
By default, a transaction is in the read-write mode. The readOnly property in the @Transactional
annotation can be used to specify that it is to be read-only.
7.8. Writing the Application Code

We will display the data of our application using the JavaScript component jqGrid. Currently, jqGrid
is distributed under a commercial licence, but it is free for non-commercial purposes. You can use
the free-jqGrid fork instead.
To display data and page-by-page navigation elements in this grid, we need to return data in the
JSON format, the structure of which looks like this:
{
total: 100,
page: 3,
records: 3000,
rows: [
{id: 1, name: "Ada"},
{id: 2, name: "Smith"},
…
]
}
where
total the total number of pages
page the number of the current page
records the total number of records
247
rows the count of records on the current page array
The following code creates a class demonstrating this structure:
package ru.ibase.fbjavaex.jqgrid;
import java.util.Map;
/**
* A class describing the structure that is used in jqGrid
* Designed for JSON serialization
*
* @author Simonov Denis
*/
public class JqGridData {
/**
* Total number of pages
*/
private final int total;
/**
* The current page number
*/
private final int page;
/**
* Total number of records
*/
private final int records;
/**
* The actual data
*/
private final List<Map<String, Object>> rows;
/**
* Constructor
*
* @param total
* @param page
* @param records
* @param rows
*/
public JqGridData(int total, int page, int records,
List<Map<String, Object>> rows) {
this.total = total;
this.page = page;
this.records = records;
248
this.rows = rows;
}
/**
* Returns the total number of pages
*
* @return
*/
public int getTotal() {
return total;
}
/**
* Returns the current page
*
* @return
*/
public int getPage() {
return page;
}
/**
* Returns the total number of records
*
* @return
*/
public int getRecords() {
return records;
}
/**
* Return list of map
* This is an array of data to display in the grid
*
* @return
*/
public List<Map<String, Object>> getRows() {
return rows;
}
}
Now we will write an abstract class that will return that structure depending on the search and
sorting conditions. It will be a parent class for the entity-specific classes that return similar
structures.
/*
* Abstract class for working with JqGrid
*/
249
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
/**
* Working with JqGrid
*
*/
public abstract class JqGrid {
@Autowired(required = true)
protected DSLContext dsl;
protected String searchField = "";

protected String searchString = "";
protected String searchOper = "eq";
protected Boolean searchFlag = false;
protected int pageNo = 0;
protected int limit = 0;
protected int offset = 0;
protected String sIdx = "";
protected String sOrd = "asc";
/**
*
* @return
*/
public abstract int getCountRecord();
/**
* Returns the structure for JSON serialization
*
* @return
*/
public JqGridData getJqGridData() {
int recordCount = this.getCountRecord();
List<Map<String, Object>> records = this.getRecords();
int total = 0;
if (this.limit > 0) {
total = recordCount / this.limit + 1;
}
JqGridData jqGridData = new JqGridData(

total,
this.pageNo,
recordCount,
records);
250
return jqGridData;
}
/**
* Returns the number of records per page
*
* @return
*/
public int getLimit() {
return this.limit;
}
/**
* Returns the offset to retrieve the first record on the page
*
* @return
*/
public int getOffset() {
return this.offset;
}
/**
* Returns field name for sorting
*
* @return
*/
public String getIdx() {
return this.sIdx;
}
/**
* Returns the sort order
*
* @return
*/
public String getOrd() {
return this.sOrd;
}
/**
* Returns the current page number
*
* @return
*/
public int getPageNo() {
return this.pageNo;
}
/**
* Returns an array of records as a list of maps
251
*
* @return
*/
public abstract List<Map<String, Object>> getRecords();
/**
* Returns field name for search
*
* @return
*/
public String getSearchField() {
return this.searchField;
}
/**
* Returns value for search
*
* @return
*/
public String getSearchString() {
return this.searchString;
}
/**
* Returns the search operation
*
* @return
*/
public String getSearchOper() {
return this.searchOper;
}
/**
* Sets the limit on the number of display records
*
* @param limit
*/
public void setLimit(int limit) {
this.limit = limit;
}
/**
* Sets the number of records to skip
*
* @param offset
*/
public void setOffset(int offset) {
this.offset = offset;
}
/**
252
* Sets the sorting

*
* @param sIdx
* @param sOrd
*/
public void setOrderBy(String sIdx, String sOrd) {
this.sIdx = sIdx;
this.sOrd = sOrd;
}
/**
* Sets the current page number
*
* @param pageNo
*/
public void setPageNo(int pageNo) {
this.pageNo = pageNo;
this.offset = (pageNo - 1) * this.limit;
}
/**
* Sets the search condition
*
* @param searchField
* @param searchString
* @param searchOper
*/
public void setSearchCondition(String searchField, String searchString,
String searchOper) {
this.searchFlag = true;
this.searchField = searchField;
this.searchString = searchString;
this.searchOper = searchOper;
}
}
Notice that this class contains the DSLContext dsl property that will be used to
 build jOOQ queries for retrieving data.
7.9. Creating the Primary Modules

Now we can start creating modules. The process of creating modules is described here, using the
customer module as an example. Creating the product module is similar and, if you are interested,
you can examine its source code in the .zip download linked at the end of this chapter.
First, we implement a class for working with jqGrid, inheriting it from our abstract class
ru.ibase.fbjavaex.jqgrid.JqGrid. It will be able to search and sort by the NAME field in reversing
order. Track the source code below for explanatory comments.
253
import org.jooq.*;
import static ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb.Tables.CUSTOMER;
/**
* Customer grid
*
*/
public class JqGridCustomer extends JqGrid {
/**
* Adding a search condition
*
* @param query
*/
private void makeSearchCondition(SelectQuery<?> query) {
switch (this.searchOper) {
case "eq":
// CUSTOMER.NAME = ?
query.addConditions(CUSTOMER.NAME.eq(this.searchString));
break;
case "bw":
// CUSTOMER.NAME STARTING WITH ?
query.addConditions(CUSTOMER.NAME.startsWith(this.searchString));
break;
case "cn":
// CUSTOMER.NAME CONTAINING ?
query.addConditions(CUSTOMER.NAME.contains(this.searchString));
break;
}
}
/**
*
* @return
*/
@Override
public int getCountRecord() {
// query that returns the number of records
= dsl.selectCount()
.from(CUSTOMER);

// if perform a search, then add the search condition
254
if (this.searchFlag) {
makeSearchCondition(query);
}
return (int) query.fetch().getValue(0, 0);

}
/**
* Returns the grid records
*
* @return
*/
@Override
public List<Map<String, Object>> getRecords() {
// Basic selection query
SelectFinalStep<?> select =
dsl.select()
.from(CUSTOMER);

// if perform a search, then add the search condition
}
// set the sort order
switch (this.sOrd) {
case "asc":
query.addOrderBy(CUSTOMER.NAME.asc());
break;
case "desc":
query.addOrderBy(CUSTOMER.NAME.desc());
break;
}
// limit the number of records
if (this.limit != 0) {
query.addLimit(this.limit);
}
if (this.offset != 0) {
query.addOffset(this.offset);
}
// return an array of maps
}
}
7.9.1. CustomerManager Class
The CustomerManager class that is defined next is a kind of business layer between the corresponding
controller and the database. We will use it for adding, editing and deleting a customer. All
255
operations in this layer will be performed in a SNAPSHOT-level transaction.
package ru.ibase.fbjavaex.managers;
import org.springframework.transaction.annotation.Transactional;
import org.springframework.transaction.annotation.Propagation;
import org.springframework.transaction.annotation.Isolation;

import static ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb.Sequences.GEN_CUSTOMER_ID;
/**
* Customer manager
*
*/
public class CustomerManager {
private DSLContext dsl;
/**
* Adding a customer
*
* @param name
* @param address
* @param zipcode
* @param phone
*/
public void create(String name, String address, String zipcode, String phone) {
if (zipcode != null) {
if (zipcode.trim().isEmpty()) {
zipcode = null;
}
}
int customerId = this.dsl.nextval(GEN_CUSTOMER_ID).intValue();
this.dsl
.insertInto(CUSTOMER,
CUSTOMER.CUSTOMER_ID,
CUSTOMER.NAME,
CUSTOMER.ADDRESS,
CUSTOMER.ZIPCODE,
CUSTOMER.PHONE)
.values(
256
customerId,
name,
address,
zipcode,
phone
)
.execute();
}
/**
* Editing a customer
*
* @param customerId
* @param name
* @param address
* @param zipcode
* @param phone
*/
public void edit(int customerId, String name, String address,
String zipcode, String phone) {
if (zipcode != null) {
if (zipcode.trim().isEmpty()) {
zipcode = null;
}
}
this.dsl.update(CUSTOMER)
.set(CUSTOMER.NAME, name)
.set(CUSTOMER.ADDRESS, address)
.set(CUSTOMER.ZIPCODE, zipcode)
.set(CUSTOMER.PHONE, phone)
.execute();
}
/**
* Deleting a customer
*
* @param customerId
*/
public void delete(int customerId) {
this.dsl.deleteFrom(CUSTOMER)
.execute();
}
}
257
7.9.2. Customer Controller Class
Controller classes start with the @Controller annotation. The @RequestMapping annotation preceding
the method is necessary for directing the actions of the controller, for specifying the path that will
be used to call the action.
• The path is specified in the value attribute
• The method attribute specifies the HTTP request method (PUT, GET, POST, DELETE)
• The index method will be the input point of our controller. It is responsible for displaying the
JSP page (view) that contains the layout for displaying the grid, the tool bar and the navigation
bar.
Data for display are loaded asynchronously by the jqGrid component. The path is
/customer/getdata, to which the getData method is connected.
getData Method
The getData method contains the additional @ResponseBody annotation for indicating that our
method returns the object for serialization into a specific format. The annotation @RequestMapping
contains the attribute produces = MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON, directing that the returned object be
serialized into the JSON format.
It is in the getData method that we work with the JqGridCustomer class described earlier. The
@RequestParam annotation enables the value of the parameter to be retrieved from the HTTP request.
This class method works with GET requests.
• The value attribute in the @RequestParam annotation defines the name of the parameter to be
retrieved from the HTTP request.
• The Required attribute can designate the HTTP request parameter as mandatory.
• The defaultValue attribute supplies the value that is to be used if the HTTP parameter is not
specified.
Customer Action Methods
The addCustomer method is used to add a new customer. It is connected with the /customer/create
path and, unlike the previous method, it works with the POST request. The method returns {success:
true} if the customer is added successfully. If an error occurs, it returns an object with the error
message. The addCustomer method works with the CustomerManager business layer method.
The editCustomer method is connected with the /customer/edit path. The deleteCustomer method is
connected with the /customer/delete path. Both methods operate on existing customer records.
package ru.ibase.fbjavaex.controllers;
import java.util.HashMap;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.ui.ModelMap;
258
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMethod;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ResponseBody;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;
import javax.ws.rs.core.MediaType;
import ru.ibase.fbjavaex.managers.CustomerManager;
import ru.ibase.fbjavaex.jqgrid.JqGridCustomer;
import ru.ibase.fbjavaex.jqgrid.JqGridData;
/**
* Customer Controller
*
*/
@Controller
public class CustomerController {
private JqGridCustomer customerGrid;
private CustomerManager customerManager;
/**
* Default action
* Returns the JSP name of the page (view) to display
*
* @param map
* @return name of JSP template
*/
@RequestMapping(value = "/customer/", method = RequestMethod.GET)
public String index(ModelMap map) {
return "customer";
}
/**
* Returns JSON data for jqGrid
*
* @param rows number of entries per page
* @param page page number
* @param sIdx sorting field
* @param sOrd sorting order
* @param search should the search be performed
* @param searchField search field
* @param searchString value for searching
* @param searchOper search operation
* @return JSON data for jqGrid
259
*/
@RequestMapping(value = "/customer/getdata",
method = RequestMethod.GET,
produces = MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON)
@ResponseBody
public JqGridData getData(
// number of entries per page
@RequestParam(value = "rows", required = false,
defaultValue = "20") int rows,
// page number
@RequestParam(value = "page", required = false,
defaultValue = "1") int page,
// sorting field
@RequestParam(value = "sidx", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String sIdx,
// sorting order
@RequestParam(value = "sord", required = false,
defaultValue = "asc") String sOrd,
// should the search be performed
@RequestParam(value = "_search", required = false,
defaultValue = "false") Boolean search,
// search field
@RequestParam(value = "searchField", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String searchField,
// value for searching
@RequestParam(value = "searchString", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String searchString,
// search operation
@RequestParam(value = "searchOper", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String searchOper,
// filters
@RequestParam(value="filters", required=false,
defaultValue="") String filters) {
customerGrid.setLimit(rows);
customerGrid.setPageNo(page);
customerGrid.setOrderBy(sIdx, sOrd);
if (search) {
customerGrid.setSearchCondition(searchField, searchString, searchOper);
}
return customerGrid.getJqGridData();
}
@RequestMapping(value = "/customer/create",
method = RequestMethod.POST,
@ResponseBody
public Map<String, Object> addCustomer(
@RequestParam(value = "NAME", required = true,
defaultValue = "") String name,
@RequestParam(value = "ADDRESS", required = false,
260
defaultValue = "") String address,

@RequestParam(value = "ZIPCODE", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String zipcode,
@RequestParam(value = "PHONE", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String phone) {
Map<String, Object> map = new HashMap<>();
try {
customerManager.create(name, address, zipcode, phone);
map.put("success", true);
} catch (Exception ex) {
map.put("error", ex.getMessage());
}
return map;
}
@RequestMapping(value = "/customer/edit",
@ResponseBody
public Map<String, Object> editCustomer(
@RequestParam(value = "CUSTOMER_ID", required = true,
defaultValue = "0") int customerId,
@RequestParam(value = "NAME", required = true,
defaultValue = "") String name,
@RequestParam(value = "ADDRESS", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String address,
@RequestParam(value = "ZIPCODE", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String zipcode,
@RequestParam(value = "PHONE", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String phone) {
try {
customerManager.edit(customerId, name, address, zipcode, phone);
}
return map;
}
@RequestMapping(value = "/customer/delete",
@ResponseBody
public Map<String, Object> deleteCustomer(
defaultValue = "0") int customerId) {
try {
customerManager.delete(customerId);
261

}
return map;
}
}
Customer Display
The JSP page for displaying the customer module contains nothing special: the layout with the main
parts of the page, the table for displaying the grid and the block for displaying the navigation bar.
JSP templates are fairly unsophisticated. If you wish, you can replace them with other template
systems that support inheritance.
The ../jspf/head.jspf file contains common scripts and styles for all website pages and the
../jspf/menu.jspf file contains the website’s main menu. Their code is not reproduced here: it is
quite simple and you can examine it in the project’s source if you are curious.
262
<%@page contentType="text/html" pageEncoding="UTF-8"%>

<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" prefix="c" %>
<c:set var="cp" value="${pageContext.request.servletContext.contextPath}"
scope="request" />
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<title>An example of a Spring MVC application using Firebird
and jOOQ</title>


<%@ include file="../jspf/head.jspf" %>
<script src="${cp}/resources/js/jqGridCustomer.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<%@ include file="../jspf/menu.jspf" %>
<h2>Customers</h2>
<table id="jqGridCustomer"></table>
<div id="jqPagerCustomer"></div>
<hr/>
<footer>
<p>© 2016 - An example of a Spring MVC application
using Firebird and jOOQ</p>
</footer>
</div>
JqGridCustomer({
baseAddress: '${cp}'
});
});
</script>
</body>
</html>
The basic logic on the client side is concentrated in the /resources/js/jqGridCustomer.js JavaScript
module.
var JqGridCustomer = (function ($) {
263
return function (options) {

var jqGridCustomer = {
dbGrid: null,
options: $.extend({
baseAddress: null,
showEditorPanel: true
}, options),
// return model description
getColModel: function () {
return [
{
label: 'Id',
name: 'CUSTOMER_ID', // field name
key: true,
hidden: true
},
{
label: 'Name',
name: 'NAME',
width: 240,
sortable: true,
editable: true,
edittype: "text", // input field type in the editor
search: true,
searchoptions: {
// allowed search operators
},
editoptions: {size: 30, maxlength: 60},
editrules: {required: true}
},
{
label: 'Address',
name: 'ADDRESS',
width: 300,
sortable: false, // prohibit sorting
editable: true,
search: false, // prohibit search
edittype: "textarea", // Memo field
editoptions: {maxlength: 250, cols: 30, rows: 4}
},
{
label: 'Zip Code',
name: 'ZIPCODE',
width: 30,
sortable: false,
editable: true,
search: false,
edittype: "text",
264
editoptions: {size: 30, maxlength: 10}

},
{
label: 'Phone',
name: 'PHONE',
width: 80,
sortable: false,
editable: true,
search: false,
edittype: "text",
editoptions: {size: 30, maxlength: 14}
}
];
},
// grid initialization
initGrid: function () {
// url to retrieve data
var url = jqGridCustomer.options.baseAddress
+ '/customer/getdata';
jqGridCustomer.dbGrid = $("#jqGridCustomer").jqGrid({
url: url,
mtype: "GET", // request type
colModel: jqGridCustomer.getColModel(),
sortname: 'NAME', // Sorting by NAME by default
sortorder: "asc",
width: window.innerWidth - 80,
height: 500,
guiStyle: "bootstrap",
iconSet: "fontAwesome",
caption: "Customers",
// navigation item
pager: 'jqPagerCustomer'
});
},
// editing options
getEditOptions: function () {
return {
url: jqGridCustomer.options.baseAddress + '/customer/edit',
drag: true,
width: 400,
afterSubmit: jqGridCustomer.afterSubmit,
editData: {
// In addition to the values from the form, pass the key field
CUSTOMER_ID: function () {
265
// get the current row

var selectedRow = jqGridCustomer.dbGrid.getGridParam("selrow");
// get the value of the field CUSTOMER_ID
var value = jqGridCustomer.dbGrid.getCell(selectedRow,
'CUSTOMER_ID');
return value;
}
}
};
},
// Add options
getAddOptions: function () {
return {
url: jqGridCustomer.options.baseAddress + '/customer/create',
drag: true,
width: 400,
afterSubmit: jqGridCustomer.afterSubmit
};
},
// Edit options
getDeleteOptions: function () {
return {
url: jqGridCustomer.options.baseAddress + '/customer/delete',
closeAfterDelete: true,
drag: true,
msg: "Delete the selected customer?",
afterSubmit: jqGridCustomer.afterSubmit,
delData: {
// pass the key field
var selectedRow = jqGridCustomer.dbGrid.getGridParam("selrow");
var value = jqGridCustomer.dbGrid.getCell(selectedRow,
'CUSTOMER_ID');
return value;
}
}
};
},
// initializing the navigation bar with editing dialogs
initPagerWithEditors: function () {
jqGridCustomer.dbGrid.jqGrid('navGrid', '#jqPagerCustomer',
{
// buttons
search: true,
add: true,
edit: true,
266
del: true,
view: true,
refresh: true,
// button captions
addtext: "Add",
edittext: "Edit",
deltext: "Delete",
viewtext: "View",
},
jqGridCustomer.getEditOptions(),
jqGridCustomer.getAddOptions(),
jqGridCustomer.getDeleteOptions()
);
},
// initialize the navigation bar without editing dialogs
initPagerWithoutEditors: function () {
jqGridCustomer.dbGrid.jqGrid('navGrid', '#jqPagerCustomer',
{
// buttons
search: true,
add: false,
edit: false,
del: false,
view: false,
refresh: true,
// button captions
viewtext: "View",
}
);
},
// initialize the navigation bar
initPager: function () {
if (jqGridCustomer.options.showEditorPanel) {
jqGridCustomer.initPagerWithEditors();
} else {
jqGridCustomer.initPagerWithoutEditors();
}
},
// initialize
init: function () {
jqGridCustomer.initGrid();
jqGridCustomer.initPager();
},
// processor of the results of processing forms (operations)
267

}
} else {
// if an error was not returned, refresh the grid
$(this).jqGrid(
'setGridParam',
{
datatype: 'json'
}
}
}
};
jqGridCustomer.init();
return jqGridCustomer;
};
})(jQuery);
Visual Elements
The jqGrid grid

is created in the initGrid method and is bound to the html element with the jqGridCustomer
identifier. The grid column desciptions are returned by the getColModel method.
Each column in jqGrid has a number of properties available. The source code contains
comments explaining column properties. You can read more details about configuring the model
of jqGrid columns in the ColModel API section of the documentation for the jqGrid project.
The navigation bar

can be created either with edit buttons or without them, using the initPagerWithEditors and
initPagerWithoutEditors methods, respectively. The bar constructor binds it to the element with
the jqPagerCustomer identifier. The options for creating the navigation bar are described in the
Navigator section of the jqGrid documentation.
Functions and Settings for Options

The getEditOptions, getAddOptions, getDeleteOptions functions return the options for the edit, add
and delete dialog boxes, respectively.
The url property defines the URL to which the data will be submitted after the OK button in
clicked in the dialog box.
The afterSubmit property marks the event that occurs after the data have been sent to the server
and a response has been received back.
The afterSubmit method checks whether the controller returns an error. The grid is updated if
268
no error is returned; otherwise, the error is shown to the user.
The editData property allows you to specify the values of additional fields that
are not shown in the edit dialog box. Edit dialog boxes do not show the values
 of hidden fields and it is rather tedious if you want to display automatically
generated keys.
7.10. Creating Secondary Modules

A secondary module typically contains many more records than a primary one and new records
are added frequently. Most secondary tables contain a field with the record creation date. In order
to reduce the amount of retrieved data, the notion of a work period is often incorporated to limit
the range of data sent to the client. A work period is a range of dates for which the records are
required. The work period is described by the WorkingPeriod class, defined via the workingPeriod
bean in the ru.ibase.fbjavaex.config.JooqConfig configuration class.
import java.sql.Timestamp;
import java.time.LocalDateTime;
/**
* Working period
*
*/
public class WorkingPeriod {
private Timestamp beginDate;

private Timestamp endDate;
/**
* Constructor
*/
WorkingPeriod() {
// in real applications is calculated from the current date
this.beginDate = Timestamp.valueOf("2015-06-01 00:00:00");
this.endDate = Timestamp.valueOf(LocalDateTime.now().plusDays(1));
}
/**
* Returns the start date of the work period
*
* @return
*/
public Timestamp getBeginDate() {
return this.beginDate;
}
269
/**
* Returns the end date of the work period
*
* @return
*/
public Timestamp getEndDate() {
return this.endDate;
}
/**
* Setting the start date of the work period
*
* @param value
*/
public void setBeginDate(Timestamp value) {
this.beginDate = value;
}
/**
* Setting the end date of the work period
*
* @param value
*/
public void setEndDate(Timestamp value) {
this.endDate = value;
}
/**
* Setting the working period
*
* @param beginDate
* @param endDate
*/
public void setRangeDate(Timestamp beginDate, Timestamp endDate) {
this.beginDate = beginDate;
this.endDate = endDate;
}
}
In our project we have only one secondary module called "Invoices". An invoice consists of a
header where some general attributes are described (number, date, customer …) and one or more
invoice items (product name, quantity, price, etc.). The invoice header is displayed in the main grid
while items can be viewed in a detail grid that is opened with a click on the "+" icon of the selected
document.
We implement a class, inherited from the ru.ibase.fbjavaex.jqgrid.JqGrid abstract class described

earlier, for viewing the invoice headers via jqGrid. Searching can be by customer name or invoice
date and reversible date order is supported, too.
270
import java.sql.*;
import org.jooq.*;
import ru.ibase.fbjavaex.config.WorkingPeriod;
import static ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb.Tables.INVOICE;

/**
* Grid handler for the invoice journal
*
*/
public class JqGridInvoice extends JqGrid {
private WorkingPeriod workingPeriod;
/**
* Adding a search condition
*
* @param query
*/
private void makeSearchCondition(SelectQuery<?> query) {
// adding a search condition to the query,
// if it is produced for different fields,
// different comparison operators are available when searching.
if (this.searchString.isEmpty()) {
return;
}
if (this.searchField.equals("CUSTOMER_NAME")) {
case "eq": // equal
query.addConditions(CUSTOMER.NAME.eq(this.searchString));
break;
case "bw": // starting with
query.addConditions(CUSTOMER.NAME.startsWith(this.searchString));
break;
case "cn": // containing
query.addConditions(CUSTOMER.NAME.contains(this.searchString));
break;
}
}
if (this.searchField.equals("INVOICE_DATE")) {
Timestamp dateValue = Timestamp.valueOf(this.searchString);
271
case "eq": // =
query.addConditions(INVOICE.INVOICE_DATE.eq(dateValue));
break;
case "lt": // <
query.addConditions(INVOICE.INVOICE_DATE.lt(dateValue));
break;
case "le": // <=
query.addConditions(INVOICE.INVOICE_DATE.le(dateValue));
break;
case "gt": // >
query.addConditions(INVOICE.INVOICE_DATE.gt(dateValue));
break;
case "ge": // >=
query.addConditions(INVOICE.INVOICE_DATE.ge(dateValue));
break;
}
}
}
/**
*
* @return
*/
@Override
= dsl.selectCount()
.from(INVOICE)
.where(INVOICE.INVOICE_DATE.between(
this.workingPeriod.getBeginDate(),
this.workingPeriod.getEndDate()));
}

}
/**
* Returns the list of invoices
*
* @return
*/
@Override
SelectFinalStep<?> select = dsl.select(
272
INVOICE.INVOICE_ID,
INVOICE.CUSTOMER_ID,
CUSTOMER.NAME.as("CUSTOMER_NAME"),
INVOICE.INVOICE_DATE,
INVOICE.PAID,
INVOICE.TOTAL_SALE)
.from(INVOICE)
.innerJoin(CUSTOMER).on(CUSTOMER.CUSTOMER_ID.eq(INVOICE.CUSTOMER_ID))
.where(INVOICE.INVOICE_DATE.between(
this.workingPeriod.getBeginDate(),
this.workingPeriod.getEndDate()));

// add a search condition
}
// add sorting
if (this.sIdx.equals("INVOICE_DATE")) {
switch (this.sOrd) {
case "asc":
query.addOrderBy(INVOICE.INVOICE_DATE.asc());
break;
case "desc":
query.addOrderBy(INVOICE.INVOICE_DATE.desc());
break;
}
}
// limit the number of records and add an offset
if (this.limit != 0) {
query.addLimit(this.limit);
}
if (this.offset != 0) {
query.addOffset(this.offset);
}
}
}
7.10.1. Invoice Items
We make the class for viewing the invoice items via jqGrid a little simpler. Its records are filtered
by invoice header code and user-driven search and sort options are not implemented.
import org.jooq.*;
273
import static ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb.Tables.INVOICE_LINE;

import static ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb.Tables.PRODUCT;
/**
* The grid handler for the invoice items
*
*/
public class JqGridInvoiceLine extends JqGrid {
private int invoiceId;
public int getInvoiceId() {

return this.invoiceId;
}
public void setInvoiceId(int invoiceId) {

this.invoiceId = invoiceId;
}
/**
*
* @return
*/
@Override
= dsl.selectCount()
.from(INVOICE_LINE)
.where(INVOICE_LINE.INVOICE_ID.eq(this.invoiceId));

}
/**
* Returns invoice items
*
* @return
*/
@Override
SelectFinalStep<?> select = dsl.select(
INVOICE_LINE.INVOICE_LINE_ID,
INVOICE_LINE.INVOICE_ID,
INVOICE_LINE.PRODUCT_ID,
PRODUCT.NAME.as("PRODUCT_NAME"),
274
INVOICE_LINE.QUANTITY,
INVOICE_LINE.SALE_PRICE,
INVOICE_LINE.SALE_PRICE.mul(INVOICE_LINE.QUANTITY).as("TOTAL"))
.from(INVOICE_LINE)
.innerJoin(PRODUCT).on(PRODUCT.PRODUCT_ID.eq(INVOICE_LINE.PRODUCT_ID))
.where(INVOICE_LINE.INVOICE_ID.eq(this.invoiceId));

}
}
7.10.2. InvoiceManager Class
The ru.ibase.fbjavaex.managers.InvoiceManager class is a kind of business layer that will be used to

direct adding, editing and deleting invoices and their items, along with invoice payment. All
operations in this layer will be performed in a SNAPSHOT transaction. We have chosen to have our
application perform all of the invoice management options in this class by calling stored
procedures. It is not mandatory to do it this way, of course. It is just one option.
package ru.ibase.fbjavaex.managers;
import org.springframework.transaction.annotation.Transactional;
import org.springframework.transaction.annotation.Propagation;
import org.springframework.transaction.annotation.Isolation;
import static ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb.Sequences.GEN_INVOICE_ID;

import static ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb.Routines.spAddInvoice;
import static ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb.Routines.spEditInvoice;
import static ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb.Routines.spPayForInovice;
import static ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb.Routines.spDeleteInvoice;
import static ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb.Routines.spAddInvoiceLine;
import static ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb.Routines.spEditInvoiceLine;
import static ru.ibase.fbjavaex.exampledb.Routines.spDeleteInvoiceLine;
/**
* Invoice manager
*
*/
public class InvoiceManager {
private DSLContext dsl;
/**
275
* Add invoice
*
* @param customerId
* @param invoiceDate
*/
public void create(Integer customerId,
Timestamp invoiceDate) {
int invoiceId = this.dsl.nextval(GEN_INVOICE_ID).intValue();
spAddInvoice(this.dsl.configuration(),
invoiceId,
customerId,
invoiceDate);
}
/**
* Edit invoice
*
* @param invoiceId
* @param customerId
* @param invoiceDate
*/
public void edit(Integer invoiceId,
Integer customerId,
Timestamp invoiceDate) {
spEditInvoice(this.dsl.configuration(),
invoiceId,
customerId,
invoiceDate);
}
/**
* Payment of invoices
*
* @param invoiceId
*/
public void pay(Integer invoiceId) {
spPayForInovice(this.dsl.configuration(),
invoiceId);
}
/**
* Delete invoice
*
* @param invoiceId
276
*/
public void delete(Integer invoiceId) {
spDeleteInvoice(this.dsl.configuration(),
invoiceId);
}
/**
* Add invoice item
*
* @param invoiceId
* @param productId
* @param quantity
*/
public void addInvoiceLine(Integer invoiceId,
Integer productId,
Integer quantity) {
spAddInvoiceLine(this.dsl.configuration(),
invoiceId,
productId,
quantity);
}
/**
* Edit invoice item
*
* @param invoiceLineId
* @param quantity
*/
public void editInvoiceLine(Integer invoiceLineId,
Integer quantity) {
spEditInvoiceLine(this.dsl.configuration(),
invoiceLineId,
quantity);
}
/**
* Delete invoice item
*
* @param invoiceLineId
*/
public void deleteInvoiceLine(Integer invoiceLineId) {
spDeleteInvoiceLine(this.dsl.configuration(),
invoiceLineId);
277
}
}
7.10.3. Invoice Controller Class
Now we move on to writing the controller. The input point of our controller will be the index
method, that is responsible for displaying the JSP page (view). This page contains the layout for
displaying the grid and the tool and navigation bars.
Data for displaying invoice headers are loaded asynchronously by the jqGrid component (the path
is /invoice/getdata). The getData method is connected with this path, similarly to the primary
modules. Invoice items are returned by the getDetailData method (the path is
/invoice/getdetaildata). The primary key of the invoice whose detail grid is currently open is
passed to this method.
The methods implemented are addInvoice, editInvoice, deleteInvoice, payInvoice for invoice
headers and addInvoiceLine, editInvoiceLine, deleteInvoiceLine for invoice line items.
package ru.ibase.fbjavaex.controllers;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Date;
import java.text.ParseException;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.beans.PropertyEditorSupport;
import javax.ws.rs.core.MediaType;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.ui.ModelMap;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMethod;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ResponseBody;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.InitBinder;
import org.springframework.web.bind.WebDataBinder;
import ru.ibase.fbjavaex.jqgrid.JqGridInvoice;
import ru.ibase.fbjavaex.jqgrid.JqGridInvoiceLine;
import ru.ibase.fbjavaex.managers.InvoiceManager;
import ru.ibase.fbjavaex.jqgrid.JqGridData;
/**
* Invoice controller
*
278
*/
@Controller
public class InvoiceController {
private JqGridInvoice invoiceGrid;
private JqGridInvoiceLine invoiceLineGrid;
private InvoiceManager invoiceManager;
/**
* Describe how a string is converted to a date
* from the input parameters of the HTTP request
*
* @param binder
*/
@InitBinder
public void initBinder(WebDataBinder binder) {
binder.registerCustomEditor(Timestamp.class,
new PropertyEditorSupport() {
@Override
public void setAsText(String value) {
try {
if ((value == null) || (value.isEmpty())) {
setValue(null);
} else {
Date parsedDate = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss")
.parse(value);
setValue(new Timestamp(parsedDate.getTime()));
}
} catch (ParseException e) {
throw new java.lang.IllegalArgumentException(value);
}
}
});
}
/**
* Default action
* Returns the JSP name of the page (view) to display
*
* @param map
* @return JSP page name
*/
@RequestMapping(value = "/invoice/", method = RequestMethod.GET)
public String index(ModelMap map) {
return "invoice";
279
}
/**
* Returns a list of invoices in JSON format for jqGrid
*
* @param rows number of entries per page
* @param page current page number
* @param sIdx sort field
* @param sOrd sorting order
* @param search search flag
* @param searchField search field
* @param searchString search value
* @param searchOper comparison operation
* @param filters filter
* @return
*/
@RequestMapping(value = "/invoice/getdata",
@ResponseBody
public JqGridData getData(
@RequestParam(value = "rows", required = false,
defaultValue = "20") int rows,
@RequestParam(value = "page", required = false,
defaultValue = "1") int page,
@RequestParam(value = "sidx", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String sIdx,
@RequestParam(value = "sord", required = false,
defaultValue = "asc") String sOrd,
@RequestParam(value = "_search", required = false,
defaultValue = "false") Boolean search,
@RequestParam(value = "searchField", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String searchField,
@RequestParam(value = "searchString", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String searchString,
@RequestParam(value = "searchOper", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String searchOper,
@RequestParam(value = "filters", required = false,
defaultValue = "") String filters) {
if (search) {
invoiceGrid.setSearchCondition(searchField, searchString, searchOper);
}
invoiceGrid.setLimit(rows);
invoiceGrid.setPageNo(page);
invoiceGrid.setOrderBy(sIdx, sOrd);
return invoiceGrid.getJqGridData();
}
280
/**
* Add invoice
*
* @param customerId customer id
* @param invoiceDate invoice date
* @return
*/
@RequestMapping(value = "/invoice/create",
@ResponseBody
public Map<String, Object> addInvoice(
defaultValue = "0") Integer customerId,
@RequestParam(value = "INVOICE_DATE", required = false,
defaultValue = "") Timestamp invoiceDate) {
try {
invoiceManager.create(customerId, invoiceDate);
}
return map;
}
/**
* Edit invoice
*
* @param invoiceId invoice id
* @param customerId customer id
* @param invoiceDate invoice date
* @return
*/
@RequestMapping(value = "/invoice/edit",
@ResponseBody
public Map<String, Object> editInvoice(
@RequestParam(value = "INVOICE_ID", required = true,
defaultValue = "0") Integer invoiceId,
defaultValue = "0") Integer customerId,
@RequestParam(value = "INVOICE_DATE", required = false,
defaultValue = "") Timestamp invoiceDate) {
try {
invoiceManager.edit(invoiceId, customerId, invoiceDate);
281
}
return map;
}
/**
* Pays an invoice
*
* @return
*/
@RequestMapping(value = "/invoice/pay",
@ResponseBody
public Map<String, Object> payInvoice(
defaultValue = "0") Integer invoiceId) {
try {
invoiceManager.pay(invoiceId);
}
return map;
}
/**
* Delete invoice
*
* @return
*/
@RequestMapping(value = "/invoice/delete",
@ResponseBody
public Map<String, Object> deleteInvoice(
defaultValue = "0") Integer invoiceId) {
try {
invoiceManager.delete(invoiceId);
}
return map;
}
/**
282
* Returns invoice item

*
* @param invoice_id invoice id
* @return
*/
@RequestMapping(value = "/invoice/getdetaildata",
@ResponseBody
public JqGridData getDetailData(
@RequestParam(value = "INVOICE_ID", required = true) int invoice_id) {
invoiceLineGrid.setInvoiceId(invoice_id);
return invoiceLineGrid.getJqGridData();
}
/**
* Add invoice item
*
* @param productId product id
* @param quantity quantity of products
* @return
*/
@RequestMapping(value = "/invoice/createdetail",
@ResponseBody
public Map<String, Object> addInvoiceLine(
defaultValue = "0") Integer invoiceId,
@RequestParam(value = "PRODUCT_ID", required = true,
defaultValue = "0") Integer productId,
@RequestParam(value = "QUANTITY", required = true,
defaultValue = "0") Integer quantity) {
try {
invoiceManager.addInvoiceLine(invoiceId, productId, quantity);
}
return map;
}
/**
* Edit invoice item
*
* @param invoiceLineId invoice item id
* @param quantity quantity of products
283
* @return
*/
@RequestMapping(value = "/invoice/editdetail",
@ResponseBody
public Map<String, Object> editInvoiceLine(
@RequestParam(value = "INVOICE_LINE_ID", required = true,
defaultValue = "0") Integer invoiceLineId,
@RequestParam(value = "QUANTITY", required = true,
defaultValue = "0") Integer quantity) {
try {
invoiceManager.editInvoiceLine(invoiceLineId, quantity);
}
return map;
}
/**
* Delete invoice item
*
* @param invoiceLineId invoice item id
* @return
*/
@RequestMapping(value = "/invoice/deletedetail",
@ResponseBody
public Map<String, Object> deleteInvoiceLine(
@RequestParam(value = "INVOICE_LINE_ID", required = true,
defaultValue = "0") Integer invoiceLineId) {
try {
invoiceManager.deleteInvoiceLine(invoiceLineId);
}
return map;
}
}
The invoice controller is very similar to the primary module controllers except for two things:
1. The controller displays and works with the data of both the main grid and the detail grid
2. Invoices are filtered by the date field so that only those invoices that are included in the work
period are displayed
284
Working with Dates in Java
Working with dates in Java throws up a few quirks.
The java.sql.Timestamp type in Java supports precision up to nanoseconds whereas the maximum
precision of the TIMESTAMP type in Firebird is one ten-thousandth of a second. That is not really a
significant problem.
Date and time types in Java support working with time zones. Firebird does not currently support
the TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE type. Java works on the assumption that dates in the database are
stored in the time zone of the server. However, time will be converted to UTC during serialization
into JSON. It must be taken into account when processing time data in JavaScript.
Attention!
Java takes the time offset from its own time zone database, not from the operating
 system. This practice considerably increases the need to keep up with the latest
version of JDK. If you have some old version of JDK installed, working with date
and time may be incorrect.
By default, a date is serialized into JSON in as the number of nanoseconds since January 1, 1970,
which is not always what is wanted. A date can be serialized into a text representation, by setting to
False the date conversion configuration property SerializationFeature.WRITE_DATES_AS_TIMESTAMPS
date conversion in the configureMessageConverters method of the WebAppConfig class.
We will return to date processing a little later.
@Configuration
@ComponentScan("ru.ibase.fbjavaex")
@EnableWebMvc
public class WebAppConfig extends WebMvcConfigurerAdapter {
@Override
public void configureMessageConverters(
List<HttpMessageConverter<?>> httpMessageConverters) {
MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter jsonConverter =
new MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter();
ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
objectMapper.configure(SerializationFeature.WRITE_DATES_AS_TIMESTAMPS,
false);
jsonConverter.setObjectMapper(objectMapper);
httpMessageConverters.add(jsonConverter);
}
…
}
The initBinder method of the InvoiceController controller describes how the text representation of
a date sent by the browser is converted into a value of type Timestamp.
285
7.10.4. Displaying the Invoices
The JSP page contains the layout for displaying the grid with invoice headers and the navigation
bar. Invoice items are displayed as a drop-down grid when the header of the selected invoice is
clicked.
286
<%@page contentType="text/html" pageEncoding="UTF-8"%>

<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" prefix="c" %>
<c:set var="cp" value="${pageContext.request.servletContext.contextPath}"
scope="request" />
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<title>An example of a Spring MVC application using Firebird and jOOQ</title>


<%@ include file="../jspf/head.jspf" %>
<script src="${cp}/resources/js/jqGridProduct.js"></script>
<script src="${cp}/resources/js/jqGridCustomer.js"></script>
<script src="${cp}/resources/js/jqGridInvoice.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<%@ include file="../jspf/menu.jspf" %>
<h2>Invoices</h2>
<table id="jqGridInvoice"></table>
<div id="jqPagerInvoice"></div>
<hr />
<footer>
<p>© 2016 - An example of a Spring MVC application using
Firebird and jOOQ</p>
</footer>
</div>
var invoiceGrid = null;
invoiceGrid = JqGridInvoice({
baseAddress: '${cp}'
});
});
</script>
</body>
</html>
The basic logic on the client side is concentrated in the /resources/js/jqGridInvoice.js JavaScript
module.
287
var JqGridInvoice = (function ($, jqGridProductFactory, jqGridCustomerFactory) {
return function (options) {

var jqGridInvoice = {
dbGrid: null,
detailGrid: null,
options: $.extend({
baseAddress: null
}, options),
// return invoice model description
getInvoiceColModel: function () {
return [
{
label: 'Id',
name: 'INVOICE_ID', // field name
key: true,
hidden: true
},
{
label: 'Customer Id'
hidden: true,
editrules: {edithidden: true, required: true},
editable: true,
edittype: 'custom', // custom type
editoptions: {
// add hidden input
return $("<input>")
.val(value)
.get(0);
}
}
},
{
label: 'Date',
name: 'INVOICE_DATE',
width: 60,
sortable: true,
editable: true,
search: true,
edittype: "text", // input type
align: "right",
// format as date
formatter: jqGridInvoice.dateTimeFormatter,
sorttype: 'date', // sort as date
formatoptions: {
288
srcformat: 'Y-m-d\TH:i:s', // input format

newformat: 'Y-m-d H:i:s' // output format
},
editoptions: {
// initializing the form element for editing
// creating datepicker
});
}
},
searchoptions: {
// initializing the form element for searching
});
},
searchoptions: { // search types
sopt: ['eq', 'lt', 'le', 'gt', 'ge']
}
}
},
{
label: 'Customer',
name: 'CUSTOMER_NAME',
width: 250,
editable: true,
edittype: "text",
editoptions: {
size: 50,
maxlength: 60,
readonly: true
},
editrules: {required: true},
search: true,
searchoptions: {
}
},
{
label: 'Amount',
name: 'TOTAL_SALE',
289
width: 60,
sortable: false,
editable: false,
search: false,
align: "right",
// foramt as currency
sorttype: 'number',
searchrules: {
"required": true,
"number": true,
"minValue": 0
}
},
{
label: 'Paid',
name: 'PAID',
width: 30,
sortable: false,
editable: true,
search: true,
searchoptions: {
sopt: ['eq']
},
edittype: "checkbox",
formatter: "checkbox",
stype: "checkbox",
align: "center",
editoptions: {
value: "1",
offval: "0"
}
}
];
},
initGrid: function () {
// url to retrieve data
var url = jqGridInvoice.options.baseAddress + '/invoice/getdata';
jqGridInvoice.dbGrid = $("#jqGridInvoice").jqGrid({
url: url,
mtype: "GET", // http request type
colModel: jqGridInvoice.getInvoiceColModel(),
// default sort by INVOICE_DATE column
sortname: 'INVOICE_DATE',
sortorder: "desc", // sorting order
width: window.innerWidth - 80,
height: 500,
290
viewrecords: true, // display the number of entries

caption: "Invoices",
// pagination element
pager: '#jqPagerInvoice',
subGrid: true, // show subGrid
// javascript function to display the child grid
subGridRowExpanded: jqGridInvoice.showChildGrid,
subGridOptions: {
// load only once
reloadOnExpand: false,
// load the subgrid string only when you click on the "+"
selectOnExpand: true
}
});
},
// date format function
dateTimeFormatter: function(cellvalue, options, rowObject) {
var date = new Date(cellvalue);
return date.toLocaleString().replace(",", "");
},
// returns a template for the editing dialog
getTemplate: function () {
var template = "<div style='margin-left:15px;' id='dlgEditInvoice'>";
template += "<div>{CUSTOMER_ID} </div>";
template += "<div> Date: </div><div>{INVOICE_DATE}</div>";
// customer input field with a button
template += "<div> Customer <sup>*</sup>:</div>";
template += "<div style='float: left;'>{CUSTOMER_NAME}</div> ";
template += "onclick='invoiceGrid.showCustomerWindow(); ";
template += "return false;'>";
template += "<span class='glyphicon glyphicon-folder-open'>";
template += "</span>Select</a> ";
template += "<div> {PAID} Paid </div>";
return template;
},
// date conversion in UTC
convertToUTC: function(datetime) {
if (datetime) {
var dateParts = datetime.split('.');
var date = dateParts[2].substring(0, 4) + '-' +
dateParts[1] + '-' + dateParts[0];
var time = dateParts[2].substring(5);
291
if (!time) {
time = '00:00:00';
}
var dt = Date.parse(date + 'T' + time);
var s = dt.getUTCFullYear() + '-' +
dt.getUTCMonth() + '-' +
dt.getUTCDay() + 'T' +
dt.getUTCHour() + ':' +
dt.getUTCMinute() + ':' +
dt.getUTCSecond() + ' GMT';
return s;
} else
return null;
},
// returns the options for editing invoices
getEditInvoiceOptions: function () {
return {
url: jqGridInvoice.options.baseAddress + '/invoice/edit',
drag: true,
modal: true,
template: jqGridInvoice.getTemplate(),
afterSubmit: jqGridInvoice.afterSubmit,
editData: {
INVOICE_ID: function () {
var selectedRow = jqGridInvoice.dbGrid.getGridParam("selrow");
var value = jqGridInvoice.dbGrid
.getCell(selectedRow, 'INVOICE_ID');
return value;
},
return $('#dlgEditInvoice input[name=CUSTOMER_ID]').val();
},
INVOICE_DATE: function () {
var datetime = $('#dlgEditInvoice input[name=INVOICE_DATE]')
.val();
return jqGridInvoice.convertToUTC(datetime);
}
}
};
},
// returns options for adding invoices
getAddInvoiceOptions: function () {
return {
url: jqGridInvoice.options.baseAddress + '/invoice/create',
292
drag: true,
modal: true,
template: jqGridInvoice.getTemplate(),
editData: {
return $('#dlgEditInvoice input[name=CUSTOMER_ID]').val();
},
INVOICE_DATE: function () {
var datetime = $('#dlgEditInvoice input[name=INVOICE_DATE]')
.val();
return jqGridInvoice.convertToUTC(datetime);
}
}
};
},
// returns the options for deleting invoices
getDeleteInvoiceOptions: function () {
return {
url: jqGridInvoice.options.baseAddress + '/invoice/delete',
drag: true,
msg: "Delete the selected invoice?",
delData: {
return value;
}
}
};
},
initPager: function () {
// display the navigation bar
jqGridInvoice.dbGrid.jqGrid('navGrid', '#jqPagerInvoice',
{
search: true,
add: true,
edit: true,
del: true,
view: false,
refresh: true,
293
addtext: "Add",
edittext: "Edit",
deltext: "Delete",
viewtext: "View",
},
jqGridInvoice.getEditInvoiceOptions(),
jqGridInvoice.getAddInvoiceOptions(),
jqGridInvoice.getDeleteInvoiceOptions()
);
// Add a button to pay the invoice
var urlPay = jqGridInvoice.options.baseAddress + '/invoice/pay';
jqGridInvoice.dbGrid.navButtonAdd('#jqPagerInvoice',
{
buttonicon: "glyphicon-usd",
title: "Pay",
caption: "Pay",
position: "last",
onClickButton: function () {
// get the id of the current record
var id = jqGridInvoice.dbGrid.getGridParam("selrow");
if (id) {
$.ajax({
url: urlPay,
type: 'POST',
data: {INVOICE_ID: id},
success: function (data) {
// Check if an error has occurred
if (data.hasOwnProperty("error")) {
jqGridInvoice.alertDialog('??????',
data.error);
} else {
// refresh grid
$("#jqGridInvoice").jqGrid(
'setGridParam',
{
datatype: 'json'
}
}
}
});
}
}
}
);
},
init: function () {
jqGridInvoice.initGrid();
jqGridInvoice.initPager();
294
},
// Check if an error has occurred
}
} else {
// refresh grid
$(this).jqGrid(
'setGridParam',
{
datatype: 'json'
}
}
},
getInvoiceLineColModel: function (parentRowKey) {
return [
{
label: 'Invoice Line ID',
name: 'INVOICE_LINE_ID',
key: true,
hidden: true
},
{
label: 'Invoice ID',
name: 'INVOICE_ID',
hidden: true,
editable: true,
edittype: 'custom',
editoptions: {
return $("<input>")
.val(parentRowKey)
.get(0);
}
}
},
{
label: 'Product ID',
name: 'PRODUCT_ID',
hidden: true,
295

editable: true,
edittype: 'custom',
editoptions: {
return $("<input>")
.val(value)
.get(0);
}
}
},
{
label: 'Product',
name: 'PRODUCT_NAME',
width: 300,
editable: true,
edittype: "text",
editoptions: {
size: 50,
maxlength: 60,
readonly: true
},
editrules: {required: true}
},
{
label: 'Price',
name: 'SALE_PRICE',
editable: true,
editoptions: {
readonly: true
},
align: "right",
width: 100
},
{
label: 'Quantity',
name: 'QUANTITY',
align: "right",
width: 100,
editable: true,
editrules: {required: true, number: true, minValue: 1},
editoptions: {
dataEvents: [{
type: 'change',
fn: function (e) {
296
var quantity = $(this).val() - 0;

var price =
$('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=SALE_PRICE]').val()-0;
var total = quantity * price;
$('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=TOTAL]').val(total);
}
}],
defaultValue: 1
}
},
{
label: 'Total',
name: 'TOTAL',
align: "right",
width: 100,
editable: true,
editoptions: {
readonly: true
}
}
];
},
// returns the options for editing the invoice item
getEditInvoiceLineOptions: function () {
return {
url: jqGridInvoice.options.baseAddress + '/invoice/editdetail',
drag: true,
modal: true,
template: jqGridInvoice.getTemplateDetail(),
editData: {
INVOICE_LINE_ID: function () {
var selectedRow = jqGridInvoice.detailGrid
.getGridParam("selrow");
var value = jqGridInvoice.detailGrid
.getCell(selectedRow, 'INVOICE_LINE_ID');
return value;
},
QUANTITY: function () {
return $('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=QUANTITY]').val();
}
}
};
},
// returns options for adding an invoice item
297
getAddInvoiceLineOptions: function () {
return {
url: jqGridInvoice.options.baseAddress + '/invoice/createdetail',
drag: true,
modal: true,
template: jqGridInvoice.getTemplateDetail(),
editData: {
return value;
},
PRODUCT_ID: function () {
return $('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=PRODUCT_ID]').val();
},
QUANTITY: function () {
return $('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=QUANTITY]').val();
}
}
};
},
// returns the option to delete the invoice item
getDeleteInvoiceLineOptions: function () {
return {
url: jqGridInvoice.options.baseAddress + '/invoice/deletedetail',
drag: true,
msg: "Delete the selected item?",
delData: {
INVOICE_LINE_ID: function () {
var selectedRow = jqGridInvoice.detailGrid
.getGridParam("selrow");
var value = jqGridInvoice.detailGrid
.getCell(selectedRow, 'INVOICE_LINE_ID');
return value;
}
}
};
},
// Event handler for the parent grid expansion event
// takes two parameters: the parent record identifier
298
// and the primary record key

showChildGrid: function (parentRowID, parentRowKey) {
var childGridID = parentRowID + "_table";
var childGridPagerID = parentRowID + "_pager";
// send the primary key of the parent record
// to filter the entries of the invoice items
var childGridURL = jqGridInvoice.options.baseAddress
+ '/invoice/getdetaildata';
childGridURL = childGridURL + "?INVOICE_ID="
+ encodeURIComponent(parentRowKey);
// add HTML elements to display the table and page navigation
// as children for the selected row in the master grid
$('<table>')
.attr('id', childGridID)
$('<div>')
.attr('id', childGridPagerID)
.addClass('scroll')
// create and initialize the child grid
jqGridInvoice.detailGrid = $("#" + childGridID).jqGrid({
url: childGridURL,
mtype: "GET",
datatype: "json",
page: 1,
colModel: jqGridInvoice.getInvoiceLineColModel(parentRowKey),
loadonce: false,
width: '100%',
height: '100%',
pager: "#" + childGridPagerID
});
// displaying the toolbar
$("#" + childGridID).jqGrid(
'navGrid', '#' + childGridPagerID,
{
search: false,
add: true,
edit: true,
del: true,
refresh: true
},
jqGridInvoice.getEditInvoiceLineOptions(),
jqGridInvoice.getAddInvoiceLineOptions(),
jqGridInvoice.getDeleteInvoiceLineOptions()
);
},
// returns a template for the invoice item editor
getTemplateDetail: function () {
var template = "<div style='margin-left:15px;' ";
299
template += "id='dlgEditInvoiceLine'>";
template += "<div>{INVOICE_ID} </div>";
template += "<div>{PRODUCT_ID} </div>";
// input field with a button
template += "<div> Product <sup>*</sup>:</div>";
template += "<div style='float: left;'>{PRODUCT_NAME}</div> ";
template += "onclick='invoiceGrid.showProductWindow(); ";
template += "return false;'>";
template += "<span class='glyphicon glyphicon-folder-open'>";
template += "</span> Select</a> ";
template += "<div> Quantity: </div><div>{QUANTITY} </div>";
template += "<div> Price: </div><div>{SALE_PRICE} </div>";
template += "<div> Total: </div><div>{TOTAL} </div>";
return template;
},
// Display selection window from the goods directory.
showProductWindow: function () {
.attr('id', 'dlgChooseProduct')
.css("z-index", '2000')
.addClass('modal')

.appendTo(dlg));
var dlgHeader = $('<div>').addClass("modal-header")

$("<button>")
.addClass("close")
.html("×")
.html("Select product")
300
var dlgFooter = $('<div>').addClass("modal-footer")
$("<button>")
.addClass('btn')
.html('OK')
var rowId = $("#jqGridProduct")
.jqGrid("getGridParam", "selrow");
var row = $("#jqGridProduct")
.jqGrid("getRowData", rowId);
$('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=PRODUCT_ID]')
.val(row["PRODUCT_ID"]);
$('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=PRODUCT_NAME]')
.val(row["NAME"]);
$('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=SALE_PRICE]')
.val(row["PRICE"]);
var price = $('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=SALE_PRICE]')
.val()-0;
var quantity = $('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=QUANTITY]')
.val()-0;
var total = Math.round(price * quantity * 100) / 100;
$('#dlgEditInvoiceLine input[name=TOTAL]').val(total);
dlg.modal('hide');
})
$("<button>")
.addClass('btn')
.html('Cancel')
dlg.modal('hide');
})
$('<table>')
.attr('id', 'jqGridProduct')
.appendTo(dlgBody);
$('<div>')
.attr('id', 'jqPagerProduct')
.appendTo(dlgBody);
dlg.remove();
});
dlg.modal();
301
jqGridProductFactory({
baseAddress: jqGridInvoice.options.baseAddress
});
},
// Display the selection window from the customer's directory.
showCustomerWindow: function () {
// the main block of the dialog
.attr('id', 'dlgChooseCustomer')
.css("z-index", '2000')
.addClass('modal')
// block with the contents of the dialog
.appendTo(dlg));
// block with dialog header
// button "X" for closing
$("<button>")
.addClass("close")
.html("×")
// title of dialog
.html("Select customer")
// body of dialog
// footer of dialog
var dlgFooter = $('<div>').addClass("modal-footer")
// "OK" button
$("<button>")
.addClass('btn')
.html('OK')
302
var rowId = $("#jqGridCustomer")

.jqGrid("getGridParam", "selrow");
var row = $("#jqGridCustomer")
.jqGrid("getRowData", rowId);
// Keep the identifier and the name of the customer
// in the input elements of the parent form.
$('#dlgEditInvoice input[name=CUSTOMER_ID]')
.val(rowId);
$('#dlgEditInvoice input[name=CUSTOMER_NAME]')
.val(row["NAME"]);
dlg.modal('hide');
})
// "Cancel" button
$("<button>")
.addClass('btn')
.html('Cancel')
dlg.modal('hide');
})
// add a table to display the customers in the body of the dialog
$('<table>')
.attr('id', 'jqGridCustomer')
.appendTo(dlgBody);
// add the navigation bar
$('<div>')
.attr('id', 'jqPagerCustomer')
.appendTo(dlgBody);
dlg.remove();
});
// display dialog
dlg.modal();
jqGridCustomerFactory({
baseAddress: jqGridInvoice.options.baseAddress
});
},
// A window for displaying the error.
alertDialog: function (title, error) {
var alertDlg = $('<div>')
.addClass('modal')
303
.appendTo(alertDlg));
$("<button>")
.addClass("close")
.html("×")
.html(title)
$('<div>')
.appendTo(dlgContent)
.append(error);
alertDlg.on('hidden.bs.modal', function () {
alertDlg.remove();
});
alertDlg.modal();
}
};
jqGridInvoice.init();
return jqGridInvoice;
};
})(jQuery, JqGridProduct, JqGridCustomer);
Displaying and Editing Invoice Lines
In the invoice module, the main grid is used to display headers and the detail grid, opened with a
click, is used to display invoice items. For the child grid to be displayed, the True value is assigned
to the subGrid property. The child grid is displayed using the subGridRowExpanded event connected
with the showChildGrid method.
The items are filtered by the primary key of the invoice. Along with the main buttons on the
navigation bar, a custom button for paying for the invoice is added to the invoice header using the
jqGridInvoice.dbGrid.navButtonAdd function (see the initPager method).
Dialog Boxes
Dialog boxes for editing secondary modules are much more complicated than their primary
counterparts. They often use options selected from other modules. For that reason, these edit dialog
boxes cannot be built automatically using jqGrid. However, this library has an option to build
dialog boxes using templates, which we use.
The dialog box template is returned by the getTemplate function. The

invoiceGrid.showCustomerWindow() function opens the customer module for selecting a customer. It
uses the functions of the JqGridCustomer module described earlier. After the customer is selected
in the modal window, its key is inserted into the CUSTOMER_ID field. Fields that are to be sent to the
304
server using pre-processing or from hidden fields are described in the editData property of the Edit
and Add options.
Processing Dates
To get back to processing dates: as we already know, the InvoiceController controller returns the
date in UTC. Because we want to display it in the current time zone, we specify the
jqGridInvoice.dateTimeFormatter date formatting function via the formatter property of the
corresponding INVOICE_DATE field.
When sending data to the server, we need the reverse operation — convert time from the current
time zone to UTC. The convertToUTC function is responsible for that.
The custom template returned by the getTemplateDetail function is also used for editing invoice
items. The invoiceGrid.showProductWindow() function opens a window for selecting a product from
the product list. This function uses the functions of the JqGridProduct module.
The code for the JqGridInvoice module contains detailed comments and more explanation so that
you can understand the logic of its workings.
7.11. The Result

Some screenshots from the web application we have developed in our project.
Figure 45. Selecting a customer for invoicing
305
Figure 46. Editing an invoice header
Figure 47. Editing an invoice line
306
Figure 48. Selecting a product for an invoice line
7.11.1. Source Code
You can download the source code from the link fbjavaex.zip.
307
Appendix A: License notice
Appendix A: License notice

The contents of this Documentation are subject to the Public Documentation License Version 1.0
(the “License”); you may only use this Documentation if you comply with the terms of this License.
Copies of the License are available at https://www.firebirdsql.org/pdfmanual/pdl.pdf (PDF) and
https://www.firebirdsql.org/manual/pdl.html (HTML).
The Original Documentation is titled Firebird 3.0 Developer’s Guide.
The Initial Writer of the Original Documentation is Denis Simonov.
Copyright © 2017-2020. All Rights Reserved. Initial Writers contact: paul at vinkenoog dot nl.
Included portions are Copyright © 2001-2017 by the author. All Rights Reserved.
308
Appendix B: Document History
Appendix B: Document History

The exact file history is recorded in our git repository; see https://github.com/FirebirdSQL/firebird-
documentation
Revision History
0.9 27 Nov H.E.M. Pre-beta, not published

0 2017 B.
1.0 25 Feb H.E.M. Initial publication, with links to English-language versions of sample
0 2018 B. applications.
1.1 27 Jun MR Conversion to AsciiDoc, minor copy-editing

2020
309

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Firebird 3.

Version 1.1, 27 June 2020

Translation of original Russian text to English: Dmitry Borodin (MegaTranslations Ltd)

Editor of the translated text: Helen Borrie

This volume consists of chapters that walk through the development of a

1.1. About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.1.2. … and More Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2. The examples.fdb Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.1. Database Creation Script. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.1.1. Database Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.2. Creating the Database Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.2.1. Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.2.2. Primary Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.2.3. Secondary Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.2.4. Stored Procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.2.5. Roles and Privileges for Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2.3. Saving and Running the Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

2.4. Loading Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

3. Developing Firebird Applications in Delphi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

3.1. Starting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

3.2. TFDConnection Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

3.3. Path to the Client Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

3.3.1. Developing for Embedded Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

3.4. Connection parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

3.4.1. Connection Parameters in a Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

3.4.2. Connecting to the database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

3.5. Working with Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

3.5.1. TFDTransaction Component. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

3.6.1. TFDQuery Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

3.6.2. TFDUpdateSQL component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

3.7. TFDCommand component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

3.7.1. Types of Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

3.8. Creating the Primary Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

3.8.1. The Read-only Transaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

3.8.2. The Read/Write Transaction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

3.8.3. Configuring the Customer Module for Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

3.8.4. Implementing the Customer Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

3.8.5. Using a RETURNING Clause to Acquire an Autoinc Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

3.9. Creating a Secondary Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

3.9.1. The Transactions for Invoice Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

3.9.2. A Filter for the Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

3.9.3. Configuring the Module. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

3.9.4. Doing the Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

3.9.5. The Invoice Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

3.10. The Result . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

3.12. Source Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

4. Developing Firebird Applications with Microsoft Entity Framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

4.1. Methods of Interacting with a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

4.2. Setting Up for Firebird in Visual Studio 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

4.2.1. The Installation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

4.3. Creating a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

4.3.1. Adding Packages to the Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

4.4. Creating an Entity Data Model (EDM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

4.4.1. The EDM Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

4.5. Creating a User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

4.5.1. Getting a Context. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

4.6. Working with Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

4.6.1. LINQ Extension Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

4.7. Secondary Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

4.7.1. Filtering Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100