solidDB^® SA is a C-language client library to connect to the solidDB^® database. The library is used internally in the solidDB^® server. It provides access to data in database tables. The library contains 90 functions providing low-level mechanisms for connecting the database and running cursor-based operations.

Compared to industry standard interfaces, such as ODBC or JDBC, solidDB^® SA offers better flexibility in constructing network messages that are sent to the database server. In applications whose read or write performance (for example, batch inserts or primary key lookups) needs to be optimized, using solidDB^® SA can provide a significant performance advantage. For example, if your site experiences performance bottlenecks during batch inserts, solidDB^® SA can reduce the bottleneck because solidDB^® SA lets you pass several rows for insertion inside a single network message or remote procedure call.

If the performance bottleneck is in read operations, using solidDB^® SA might provide only minor improvement in performance.

The solidDB^® SA interface bypasses the SQL parser, interpreter, and optimizer. With solidDB^® SA you can access result sets, as long as you are not using SQL through solidDB^® SA. If retrieval of result sets is necessary through SQL, you must use the standardized APIs such as ODBC.

To use solidDB^® SA, you must convert your existing interface. Before using solidDB^® SA, ensure that you have exhausted other means for improving performance, including:

v Write or index columns by primary key for the most appropriate row order. If primary keys are not used, the solidDB^® server stores rows on disk in the order they are inserted into the database.