Question

I’ve come across some legacy code using Oracle’s oci_execute() with OCI_DEFAULT flag.

oci_execute($this->result, OCI_DEFAULT);

However, this server now runs PHP > 5.3.2. According to the PHP Docs for OCI_DEFAULT:

Obsolete as of PHP 5.3.2 (PECL OCI8 1.4) but still available for backward compatibility. Use the equivalent OCI_NO_AUTO_COMMIT in new code.

So my question is two part:

• What did OCI_DEFAULT represent for PHP < 5.3.2?
• What is the effective mode when using OCI_DEFAULT in PHP >= 5.3.2? (i.e. the code above)

In attempts to answer part 2, I was hoping to find oci_execute_mode() for debugging. However, AFAIK such functions do not exist. From running the script it appears it commits on successful PHP script end (i.e. when the connection is closed).

Answer 1

What did OCI_DEFAULT represent for PHP < 5.3.2?

The docs answer your first question.

Obsolete as of PHP 5.3.2 (PECL OCI8 1.4) but still available for backward compatibility. Use the equivalent OCI_NO_AUTO_COMMIT in new code.

Then if you look for OCI_NO_AUTO_COMMIT…

Do not automatically commit changes. Prior to PHP 5.3.2 (PECL OCI8 1.4) use OCI_DEFAULT which is an alias for OCI_NO_AUTO_COMMIT.

Short answer: “OCI_DEFAULT < PHP 5.3.2” = “same as OCI_NO_AUTO_COMMIT >= PHP 5.3.2” = “Don’t automatically commit the statement being executed right now.”

What is the effective mode when using OCI_DEFAULT in PHP >= 5.3.2? (i.e. the code above)

It does the same thing as it did in < 5.3.2 to preserve backwards compatibility – it’s just obsolete/deprecated now. You can use either OCI_DEFAULT or OCI_NO_AUTO_COMMIT, but you should use the latter because it may not be around forever.