OCI8 Functions
PHP Manual

oci_bind_by_name

Binds a PHP variable to an Oracle placeholder

Description

bool oci_bind_by_name(
    resource $statement,
    string $param,
    mixed &$var,
    int $max_length = -1,
    int $type = 0
)

Binds a PHP variable var to the Oracle bind variable placeholder param. Binding is important for Oracle database performance and also as a way to avoid SQL Injection security issues.

Binding allows the database to reuse the statement context and caches from previous executions of the statement, even if another user or process originally executed it. Binding reduces SQL Injection concerns because the data associated with a bind variable is never treated as part of the SQL statement. It does not need quoting or escaping.

PHP variables that have been bound can be changed and the statement re-executed without needing to re-parse the statement or re-bind.

In Oracle, bind variables are commonly divided into IN binds for values that are passed into the database, and OUT binds for values that are returned to PHP. A bind variable may be both IN and OUT. Whether a bind variable will be used for input or output is determined at run-time.

You must specify max_length when using an OUT bind so that PHP allocates enough memory to hold the returned value.

For IN binds it is recommended to set the max_length length if the statement is re-executed multiple times with different values for the PHP variable. Otherwise Oracle may truncate data to the length of the initial PHP variable value. If you don't know what the maximum length will be, then re-call oci_bind_by_name with the current data size prior to each oci_execute call. Binding an unnecessarily large length will have an impact on process memory in the database.

A bind call tells Oracle which memory address to read data from. For IN binds that address needs to contain valid data when oci_execute is called. This means that the variable bound must remain in scope until execution. If it doesn't, unexpected results or errors such as "ORA-01460: unimplemented or unreasonable conversion requested" may occur. For OUT binds one symptom is no value being set in the PHP variable.

For a statement that is repeatedly executed, binding values that never change may reduce the ability of the Oracle optimizer to choose the best statement execution plan. Long running statements that are rarely re-executed may not benefit from binding. However in both cases, binding might be safer than joining strings into a SQL statement, as this can be a security risk if unfiltered user text is concatenated.

Parameters

statement

A valid OCI8 statement identifier.

param

The colon-prefixed bind variable placeholder used in the statement. The colon is optional in param. Oracle does not use question marks for placeholders.

var

The PHP variable to be associated with param

max_length

Sets the maximum length for the data. If you set it to -1, this function will use the current length of var to set the maximum length. In this case the var must exist and contain data when oci_bind_by_name is called.

type

The datatype that Oracle will treat the data as. The default type used is SQLT_CHR. Oracle will convert the data between this type and the database column (or PL/SQL variable type), when possible.

If you need to bind an abstract datatype (LOB/ROWID/BFILE) you need to allocate it first using the oci_new_descriptor function. The length is not used for abstract datatypes and should be set to -1.

Possible values for type are:

  • SQLT_BFILEE or OCI_B_BFILE - for BFILEs;

  • SQLT_CFILEE or OCI_B_CFILEE - for CFILEs;

  • SQLT_CLOB or OCI_B_CLOB - for CLOBs;

  • SQLT_BLOB or OCI_B_BLOB - for BLOBs;

  • SQLT_RDD or OCI_B_ROWID - for ROWIDs;

  • SQLT_NTY or OCI_B_NTY - for named datatypes;

  • SQLT_INT or OCI_B_INT - for integers;

  • SQLT_CHR - for VARCHARs;

  • SQLT_BIN or OCI_B_BIN - for RAW columns;

  • SQLT_LNG - for LONG columns;

  • SQLT_LBI - for LONG RAW columns;

  • SQLT_RSET - for cursors created with oci_new_cursor;

  • SQLT_BOL or OCI_B_BOL - for PL/SQL BOOLEANs (Requires Oracle Database 12c)

Return Values

Returns true on success or false on failure.

Examples

Example #1 Inserting data with oci_bind_by_name

<?php

// Create the table with:
//   CREATE TABLE mytab (id NUMBER, text VARCHAR2(40));

$conn = oci_connect('hr', 'welcome', 'localhost/XE');
if (!$conn) {
    $m = oci_error();
    trigger_error(htmlentities($m['message']), E_USER_ERROR);
}

$stid = oci_parse($conn,"INSERT INTO mytab (id, text) VALUES(:id_bv, :text_bv)");

$id = 1;
$text = "Data to insert     ";
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ":id_bv", $id);
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ":text_bv", $text);
oci_execute($stid);

// Table now contains: 1, 'Data to insert     '

?>

Example #2 Binding once for multiple executions

<?php

// Create the table with:
//   CREATE TABLE mytab (id NUMBER);

$conn = oci_connect('hr', 'welcome', 'localhost/XE');
if (!$conn) {
    $m = oci_error();
    trigger_error(htmlentities($m['message']), E_USER_ERROR);
}

$a = array(1,3,5,7,11);  // data to insert

$stid = oci_parse($conn, 'INSERT INTO mytab (id) VALUES (:bv)');
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ':bv', $v, 20);
foreach ($a as $v) {
    $r = oci_execute($stid, OCI_DEFAULT);  // don't auto commit
}
oci_commit($conn); // commit everything at once

// Table contains five rows: 1, 3, 5, 7, 11

oci_free_statement($stid);
oci_close($conn);

?>

Example #3 Binding with a foreach loop

<?php

$conn = oci_connect('hr', 'welcome', 'localhost/XE');
if (!$conn) {
    $m = oci_error();
    trigger_error(htmlentities($m['message']), E_USER_ERROR);
}

$sql = 'SELECT * FROM departments WHERE department_name = :dname AND location_id = :loc';
$stid = oci_parse($conn, $sql);

$ba = array(':dname' => 'IT Support', ':loc' => 1700);

foreach ($ba as $key => $val) {

    // oci_bind_by_name($stid, $key, $val) does not work
    // because it binds each placeholder to the same location: $val
    // instead use the actual location of the data: $ba[$key]
    oci_bind_by_name($stid, $key, $ba[$key]);
}

oci_execute($stid);
$row = oci_fetch_array($stid, OCI_ASSOC+OCI_RETURN_NULLS);
foreach ($row as $item) {
    print $item."<br>\n";
}

oci_free_statement($stid);
oci_close($conn);

?>

Example #4 Binding in a WHERE clause

<?php

$conn = oci_connect("hr", "hrpwd", "localhost/XE");
if (!$conn) {
    $m = oci_error();
    trigger_error(htmlentities($m['message']), E_USER_ERROR);
}

$sql = 'SELECT last_name FROM employees WHERE department_id = :didbv ORDER BY last_name';
$stid = oci_parse($conn, $sql);
$didbv = 60;
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ':didbv', $didbv);
oci_execute($stid);
while (($row = oci_fetch_array($stid, OCI_ASSOC)) != false) {
    echo $row['LAST_NAME'] ."<br>\n";
}

// Output is
//    Austin
//    Ernst
//    Hunold
//    Lorentz
//    Pataballa

oci_free_statement($stid);
oci_close($conn);

?>

Example #5 Binding with a LIKE clause

<?php

$conn = oci_connect('hr', 'welcome', 'localhost/XE');
if (!$conn) {
    $m = oci_error();
    trigger_error(htmlentities($m['message']), E_USER_ERROR);
}

// Find all cities that begin with 'South'
$stid = oci_parse($conn, "SELECT city FROM locations WHERE city LIKE :bv");
$city = 'South%';  // '%' is a wildcard in SQL
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ":bv", $city);
oci_execute($stid);
oci_fetch_all($stid, $res);

foreach ($res['CITY'] as $c) {
    print $c . "<br>\n";
}
// Output is
//   South Brunswick
//   South San Francisco
//   Southlake

oci_free_statement($stid);
oci_close($conn);

?>

Example #6 Binding with REGEXP_LIKE

<?php

$conn = oci_connect('hr', 'welcome', 'localhost/XE');
if (!$conn) {
    $m = oci_error();
    trigger_error(htmlentities($m['message']), E_USER_ERROR);
}

// Find all cities that contain 'ing'
$stid = oci_parse($conn, "SELECT city FROM locations WHERE REGEXP_LIKE(city, :bv)");
$city = '.*ing.*';
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ":bv", $city);
oci_execute($stid);
oci_fetch_all($stid, $res);

foreach ($res['CITY'] as $c) {
    print $c . "<br>\n";
}
// Output is
//   Beijing
//   Singapore

oci_free_statement($stid);
oci_close($conn);

?>

For a small, fixed number of IN clause conditions, use individual bind variables. Values unknown at run time can be set to NULL. This allows a single statement to be used by all application users, maximizing Oracle DB cache efficiency.

Example #7 Binding Multiple Values in an IN Clause

<?php

$conn = oci_connect('hr', 'welcome', 'localhost/XE');
if (!$conn) {
    $m = oci_error();
    trigger_error(htmlentities($m['message']), E_USER_ERROR);
}

$sql = 'SELECT last_name FROM employees WHERE employee_id in (:e1, :e2, :e3)';
$stid = oci_parse($conn, $sql);
$mye1 = 103;
$mye2 = 104;
$mye3 = NULL; // pretend we were not given this value
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ':e1', $mye1);
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ':e2', $mye2);
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ':e3', $mye3);
oci_execute($stid);
oci_fetch_all($stid, $res);
foreach ($res['LAST_NAME'] as $name) {
    print $name ."<br>\n";
}

// Output is
//   Ernst
//   Hunold

oci_free_statement($stid);
oci_close($conn);

?>

Example #8 Binding a ROWID returned by a query

<?php

// Create the table with:
//   CREATE TABLE mytab (id NUMBER, salary NUMBER, name VARCHAR2(40));
//   INSERT INTO mytab (id, salary, name) VALUES (1, 100, 'Chris');
//   COMMIT;

$conn = oci_connect('hr', 'welcome', 'localhost/XE');
if (!$conn) {
    $m = oci_error();
    trigger_error(htmlentities($m['message']), E_USER_ERROR);
}

$stid = oci_parse($conn, 'SELECT ROWID, name FROM mytab WHERE id = :id_bv FOR UPDATE');
$id = 1;
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ':id_bv', $id);
oci_execute($stid);
$row = oci_fetch_array($stid, OCI_ASSOC+OCI_RETURN_NULLS);
$rid = $row['ROWID'];
$name = $row['NAME'];

// Change name to upper case & save the changes
$name = strtoupper($name);
$stid = oci_parse($conn, 'UPDATE mytab SET name = :n_bv WHERE ROWID = :r_bv');
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ':n_bv', $name);
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ':r_bv', $rid, -1, OCI_B_ROWID);
oci_execute($stid);

// The table now contains 1, 100, CHRIS

oci_free_statement($stid);
oci_close($conn);

?>

Example #9 Binding a ROWID on INSERT

<?php

// This example inserts an id & name, and then updates the salary
// Create the table with:
//   CREATE TABLE mytab (id NUMBER, salary NUMBER, name VARCHAR2(40));
//
// Based on original ROWID example by thies at thieso dot net (980221)

$conn = oci_connect('hr', 'welcome', 'localhost/XE');
if (!$conn) {
    $m = oci_error();
    trigger_error(htmlentities($m['message']), E_USER_ERROR);
}

$sql = "INSERT INTO mytab (id, name) VALUES(:id_bv, :name_bv)
        RETURNING ROWID INTO :rid";

$ins_stid = oci_parse($conn, $sql);

$rowid = oci_new_descriptor($conn, OCI_D_ROWID);
oci_bind_by_name($ins_stid, ":id_bv",   $id,    10);
oci_bind_by_name($ins_stid, ":name_bv", $name,  32);
oci_bind_by_name($ins_stid, ":rid",     $rowid, -1, OCI_B_ROWID);

$sql = "UPDATE mytab SET salary = :salary WHERE ROWID = :rid";
$upd_stid = oci_parse($conn, $sql);
oci_bind_by_name($upd_stid, ":rid", $rowid, -1, OCI_B_ROWID);
oci_bind_by_name($upd_stid, ":salary", $salary,   32);

// ids and names to insert
$data = array(1111 => "Larry",
              2222 => "Bill",
              3333 => "Jim");

// Salary of each person
$salary = 10000;

// Insert and immediately update each row
foreach ($data as $id => $name) {
    oci_execute($ins_stid);
    oci_execute($upd_stid);
}

$rowid->free();
oci_free_statement($upd_stid);
oci_free_statement($ins_stid);

// Show the new rows
$stid = oci_parse($conn, "SELECT * FROM mytab");
oci_execute($stid);
while ($row = oci_fetch_array($stid, OCI_ASSOC+OCI_RETURN_NULLS)) {
    var_dump($row);
}

oci_free_statement($stid);
oci_close($conn);

?>

Example #10 Binding for a PL/SQL stored function

<?php

//  Before running the PHP program, create a stored function in
//  SQL*Plus or SQL Developer:
//
//  CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION myfunc(p IN NUMBER) RETURN NUMBER AS
//  BEGIN
//      RETURN p * 3;
//  END;

$conn = oci_connect('hr', 'welcome', 'localhost/XE');
if (!$conn) {
    $e = oci_error();
    trigger_error(htmlentities($e['message']), E_USER_ERROR);
}

$p = 8;

$stid = oci_parse($conn, 'begin :r := myfunc(:p); end;');
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ':p', $p);

// The return value is an OUT bind. The default type will be a string
// type so binding a length 40 means that at most 40 digits will be
// returned.
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ':r', $r, 40);

oci_execute($stid);

print "$r\n";   // prints 24

oci_free_statement($stid);
oci_close($conn);

?>

Example #11 Binding parameters for a PL/SQL stored procedure

<?php

//  Before running the PHP program, create a stored procedure in
//  SQL*Plus or SQL Developer:
//
//  CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE myproc(p1 IN NUMBER, p2 OUT NUMBER) AS
//  BEGIN
//      p2 := p1 * 2;
//  END;

$conn = oci_connect('hr', 'welcome', 'localhost/XE');
if (!$conn) {
    $e = oci_error();
    trigger_error(htmlentities($e['message']), E_USER_ERROR);
}

$p1 = 8;

$stid = oci_parse($conn, 'begin myproc(:p1, :p2); end;');
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ':p1', $p1);

// The second procedure parameter is an OUT bind. The default type
// will be a string type so binding a length 40 means that at most 40
// digits will be returned.
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ':p2', $p2, 40);

oci_execute($stid);

print "$p2\n";   // prints 16

oci_free_statement($stid);
oci_close($conn);

?>

Example #12 Binding a CLOB column

<?php

// Before running, create the table:
//     CREATE TABLE mytab (mykey NUMBER, myclob CLOB);

$conn = oci_connect('hr', 'welcome', 'localhost/XE');
if (!$conn) {
    $e = oci_error();
    trigger_error(htmlentities($e['message']), E_USER_ERROR);
}

$mykey = 12343;  // arbitrary key for this example;

$sql = "INSERT INTO mytab (mykey, myclob)
        VALUES (:mykey, EMPTY_CLOB())
        RETURNING myclob INTO :myclob";

$stid = oci_parse($conn, $sql);
$clob = oci_new_descriptor($conn, OCI_D_LOB);
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ":mykey", $mykey, 5);
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ":myclob", $clob, -1, OCI_B_CLOB);
oci_execute($stid, OCI_DEFAULT);
$clob->save("A very long string");

oci_commit($conn);

// Fetching CLOB data

$query = 'SELECT myclob FROM mytab WHERE mykey = :mykey';

$stid = oci_parse ($conn, $query);
oci_bind_by_name($stid, ":mykey", $mykey, 5);
oci_execute($stid);

print '<table border="1">';
while ($row = oci_fetch_array($stid, OCI_ASSOC+OCI_RETURN_LOBS)) {
    print '<tr><td>'.$row['MYCLOB'].'</td></tr>';
    // In a loop, freeing the large variable before the 2nd fetch reduces PHP's peak memory usage
    unset($row);  
}
print '</table>';

?>

Example #13 Binding a PL/SQL BOOLEAN

<?php

$conn = oci_connect('hr', 'welcome', 'localhost/XE');
if (!$conn) {
    $e = oci_error();
    trigger_error(htmlentities($e['message']), E_USER_ERROR);
}

$plsql = 
  "begin
    :output1 := true;
    :output2 := false;
   end;";

$s = oci_parse($c, $plsql);
oci_bind_by_name($s, ':output1', $output1, -1, OCI_B_BOL);
oci_bind_by_name($s, ':output2', $output2, -1, OCI_B_BOL);
oci_execute($s);
var_dump($output1);  // true
var_dump($output2);  // false

?>

Notes

Warning

Do not use addslashes and oci_bind_by_name simultaneously as no quoting is needed. Any magically applied quotes will be written into your database because oci_bind_by_name inserts data verbatim and does not remove quotes or escape characters.

Note:

If you bind a string to a CHAR column in a WHERE clause, remember that Oracle uses blank-padded comparison semantics for CHAR columns. Your PHP variable should be blank padded to the same width as the column for the WHERE clause to succeed.

Note:

The PHP var argument is a reference. Some forms of loops do not work as expected: 

<?php
foreach ($myarray as $key => $value)  {
    oci_bind_by_name($stid, $key, $value);
}
?>

This binds each key to the location of $value, so all bound variables end up pointing to the last loop iteration's value. Instead use the following: 

<?php
foreach ($myarray as $key => $value) {
    oci_bind_by_name($stid, $key, $myarray[$key]);
}
?>

See Also

  • oci_bind_array_by_name
  • oci_parse