Programming PHP client applications

You can connect to Vertica through PHP-ODBC using the Unix ODBC or iODBC library.

1: PHP unicode support
2: Querying the database using PHP

You can connect to Vertica through PHP-ODBC using the Unix ODBC or iODBC library.

In order to use PHP with Vertica, you must install the following packages (and their dependencies):

php
php-odbc
php-pdo
UnixODBC (if you are using the Unix ODBC driver)
libiodbc (if you are using the iODBC driver)

PHP on Linux

PHP is available with most Linux operating systems as a module for the Apache web server. Check your particular Linux repository for PHP RPMs or Debian packages. You can also build PHP from source. See the PHP web site for documentation and source downloads.

PHP on Windows

PHP is available for windows for both the Apache and IIS web servers. You can download PHP for Windows and view installation instructions at the PHP web site.

The PHP ODBC drivers

PHP supports both the UnixODBC drivers and iODBC drivers. Both drivers use PHP's ODBC database abstraction layer.

Setup

You must read Programming ODBC client applications before connecting to Vertica through PHP. The following example ODBC configuration entries detail the typical settings required for PHP ODBC connections. The driver location assumes you have copied the Vertica drivers to /usr/lib64.

Example odbc.ini

[ODBC Data Sources]
VerticaDSNunixodbc = exampledb
VerticaDNSiodbc = exampledb2
[VerticaDSNunixodbc]
Description = VerticaDSN Unix ODBC driver
Driver = /usr/lib64/libverticaodbc.so
Database = Telecom
Servername = localhost
UserName = dbadmin
Password =
Port = 5433
[VerticaDSNiodbc]
Description = VerticaDSN iODBC driver
Driver = /usr/lib64/libverticaodbc.so
Database = Telecom
Servername = localhost
UserName = dbadmin
Password =
Port = 5433

Example odbcinst.ini

# Vertica
[VerticaDSNunixodbc]
Description = VerticaDSN Unix ODBC driver
Driver = /usr/lib64/libverticaodbc.so
[VerticaDNSiodbc]
Description = VerticaDSN iODBC driver
Driver = /usr/lib64/libverticaodbc.so
[ODBC]
Threading = 1

Verify the Vertica UnixODBC or iODBC library

Verify the Vertica UnixODBC library can load all dependant libraries with the following command (assuming you have copies the libraries to /usr/lib64):

For example:

ldd /usr/lib64/libverticaodbc.so

You must resolve any "not found" libraries before continuing.

Test your ODBC connection

Test your ODBC connection with the following.

isql -v VerticaDSN

1 - PHP unicode support

PHP does not offer native Unicode support.

PHP does not offer native Unicode support. PHP only supports a 256-character set. However, PHP provides the UTF-8 functions utf8_encode() and utf8_decode() to provide some basic Unicode functionality.

See the PHP manual for strings for more details about PHP and Unicode.

2 - Querying the database using PHP

The example script below details the use of PHP ODBC functions to connect to the Vertica Analytics Platform.

<?php
# Turn on error reporting
error_reporting(E_ERROR | E_WARNING | E_PARSE | E_NOTICE);
# A simple function to trap errors from queries
function errortrap_odbc($conn, $sql) {
    if(!$rs = odbc_exec($conn,$sql)) {
        echo "<br/>Failed to execute SQL: $sql<br/>" . odbc_errormsg($conn);
    } else {
        echo "<br/>Success: " . $sql;
    }
    return $rs;
}
# Connect to the Database
$dsn = "VerticaDSNunixodbc";
$conn = odbc_connect($dsn,'','') or die ("<br/>CONNECTION ERROR");
echo "<p>Connected with DSN: $dsn</p>";
# Create a table
$sql = "CREATE TABLE TEST(
        C_ID INT,
        C_FP FLOAT,
        C_VARCHAR VARCHAR(100),
        C_DATE DATE, C_TIME TIME,
        C_TS TIMESTAMP,
        C_BOOL BOOL)";
$result = errortrap_odbc($conn, $sql);
# Insert data into the table with a standard SQL statement
$sql = "INSERT into test values(1,1.1,'abcdefg1234567890','1901-01-01','23:12:34
','1901-01-01 09:00:09','t')";
$result = errortrap_odbc($conn, $sql);
# Insert data into the table with odbc_prepare and odbc_execute
$values = array(2,2.28,'abcdefg1234567890','1901-01-01','23:12:34','1901-01-01 0
9:00:09','t');
$statement = odbc_prepare($conn,"INSERT into test values(?,?,?,?,?,?,?)");
if(!$result = odbc_execute($statement, $values)) {
            echo "<br/>odbc_execute Failed!";
} else {
            echo "<br/>Success: odbc_execute.";
}
# Get the data from the table and display it
$sql = "SELECT * FROM TEST";
if($result = errortrap_odbc($conn, $sql)) {
    echo "<pre>";
    while($row = odbc_fetch_array($result) ) {
            print_r($row);
    }
    echo "</pre>";
}
# Drop the table and projection
$sql = "DROP TABLE TEST CASCADE";
$result = errortrap_odbc($conn, $sql);
# Close the ODBC connection
odbc_close($conn);
?>

Example output

The following is the example output from the script.

Success: CREATE TABLE TEST( C_ID INT, C_FP FLOAT, C_VARCHAR VARCHAR(100), C_DATE DATE, C_TIME TIME, C_TS TIMESTAMP, C_BOOL BOOL)
Success: INSERT into test values(1,1.1,'abcdefg1234567890','1901-01-01','23:12:34 ','1901-01-01 09:00:09','t')
Success: odbc_execute.
Success: SELECT * FROM TEST
Array
(
    [C_ID] => 1
    [C_FP] => 1.1
    [C_VARCHAR] => abcdefg1234567890
    [C_DATE] => 1901-01-01
    [C_TIME] => 23:12:34
    [C_TS] => 1901-01-01 09:00:09
    [C_BOOL] => 1
)
Array
(
    [C_ID] => 2
    [C_FP] => 2.28
    [C_VARCHAR] => abcdefg1234567890
    [C_DATE] => 1901-01-01
    [C_TIME] => 23:12:34
    [C_TS] => 1901-01-01 23:12:34
    [C_BOOL] => 1
)
Success: DROP TABLE TEST CASCADE