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0.10 (stable)
Prepared Statements

A prepared statement is a parameterized query. The query is prepared with question marks (?) or dollar symbols ($1) indicating the parameters of the query. Values can then be bound to these parameters, after which the prepared statement can be executed using those parameters. A single query can be prepared once and executed many times.

Prepared statements are useful to:

  • Easily supply parameters to functions while avoiding string concatenation/SQL injection attacks.
  • Speeding up queries that will be executed many times with different parameters.

DuckDB supports prepared statements in the C API with the duckdb_prepare method. The duckdb_bind family of functions is used to supply values for subsequent execution of the prepared statement using duckdb_execute_prepared. After we are done with the prepared statement it can be cleaned up using the duckdb_destroy_prepare method.

Example

duckdb_prepared_statement stmt;
duckdb_result result;
if (duckdb_prepare(con, "INSERT INTO integers VALUES ($1, $2)", &stmt) == DuckDBError) {
    // handle error
}

duckdb_bind_int32(stmt, 1, 42); // the parameter index starts counting at 1!
duckdb_bind_int32(stmt, 2, 43);
// NULL as second parameter means no result set is requested
duckdb_execute_prepared(stmt, NULL);
duckdb_destroy_prepare(&stmt);

// we can also query result sets using prepared statements
if (duckdb_prepare(con, "SELECT * FROM integers WHERE i = ?", &stmt) == DuckDBError) {
    // handle error
}
duckdb_bind_int32(stmt, 1, 42);
duckdb_execute_prepared(stmt, &result);

// do something with result

// clean up
duckdb_destroy_result(&result);
duckdb_destroy_prepare(&stmt);

After calling duckdb_prepare, the prepared statement parameters can be inspected using duckdb_nparams and duckdb_param_type. In case the prepare fails, the error can be obtained through duckdb_prepare_error.

It is not required that the duckdb_bind family of functions matches the prepared statement parameter type exactly. The values will be auto-cast to the required value as required. For example, calling duckdb_bind_int8 on a parameter type of DUCKDB_TYPE_INTEGER will work as expected.

Warning Do not use prepared statements to insert large amounts of data into DuckDB. Instead it is recommended to use the Appender.

API Reference

duckdb_state duckdb_prepare(duckdb_connection connection, const char *query, duckdb_prepared_statement *out_prepared_statement);
void duckdb_destroy_prepare(duckdb_prepared_statement *prepared_statement);
const char *duckdb_prepare_error(duckdb_prepared_statement prepared_statement);
idx_t duckdb_nparams(duckdb_prepared_statement prepared_statement);
const char *duckdb_parameter_name(duckdb_prepared_statement prepared_statement, idx_t index);
duckdb_type duckdb_param_type(duckdb_prepared_statement prepared_statement, idx_t param_idx);
duckdb_state duckdb_clear_bindings(duckdb_prepared_statement prepared_statement);
duckdb_statement_type duckdb_prepared_statement_type(duckdb_prepared_statement statement);

duckdb_prepare


Create a prepared statement object from a query.

Note that after calling duckdb_prepare, the prepared statement should always be destroyed using duckdb_destroy_prepare, even if the prepare fails.

If the prepare fails, duckdb_prepare_error can be called to obtain the reason why the prepare failed.

Syntax


duckdb_state duckdb_prepare(
  duckdb_connection connection,
  const char *query,
  duckdb_prepared_statement *out_prepared_statement
);

Parameters


  • connection

The connection object

  • query

The SQL query to prepare

  • out_prepared_statement

The resulting prepared statement object

  • returns

DuckDBSuccess on success or DuckDBError on failure.


duckdb_destroy_prepare


Closes the prepared statement and de-allocates all memory allocated for the statement.

Syntax


void duckdb_destroy_prepare(
  duckdb_prepared_statement *prepared_statement
);

Parameters


  • prepared_statement

The prepared statement to destroy.


duckdb_prepare_error


Returns the error message associated with the given prepared statement. If the prepared statement has no error message, this returns nullptr instead.

The error message should not be freed. It will be de-allocated when duckdb_destroy_prepare is called.

Syntax


const char *duckdb_prepare_error(
  duckdb_prepared_statement prepared_statement
);

Parameters


  • prepared_statement

The prepared statement to obtain the error from.

  • returns

The error message, or nullptr if there is none.


duckdb_nparams


Returns the number of parameters that can be provided to the given prepared statement.

Returns 0 if the query was not successfully prepared.

Syntax


idx_t duckdb_nparams(
  duckdb_prepared_statement prepared_statement
);

Parameters


  • prepared_statement

The prepared statement to obtain the number of parameters for.


duckdb_parameter_name


Returns the name used to identify the parameter The returned string should be freed using duckdb_free.

Returns NULL if the index is out of range for the provided prepared statement.

Syntax


const char *duckdb_parameter_name(
  duckdb_prepared_statement prepared_statement,
  idx_t index
);

Parameters


  • prepared_statement

The prepared statement for which to get the parameter name from.


duckdb_param_type


Returns the parameter type for the parameter at the given index.

Returns DUCKDB_TYPE_INVALID if the parameter index is out of range or the statement was not successfully prepared.

Syntax


duckdb_type duckdb_param_type(
  duckdb_prepared_statement prepared_statement,
  idx_t param_idx
);

Parameters


  • prepared_statement

The prepared statement.

  • param_idx

The parameter index.

  • returns

The parameter type


duckdb_clear_bindings


Clear the params bind to the prepared statement.

Syntax


duckdb_state duckdb_clear_bindings(
  duckdb_prepared_statement prepared_statement
);


duckdb_prepared_statement_type


Returns the statement type of the statement to be executed

Syntax


duckdb_statement_type duckdb_prepared_statement_type(
  duckdb_prepared_statement statement
);

Parameters


  • statement

The prepared statement.

  • returns

duckdb_statement_type value or DUCKDB_STATEMENT_TYPE_INVALID


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Last modified: 2024-03-28