The bif_...._arg functions are used in the Virtuoso shared object. They allow customization of the Virtuoso server. They are written in C code, and linked with the Virtuoso shared object.
The _or_null_ variants of these functions represent the SQL null value as a 00 pointer, even though getting the same argument with bif_arg() would return a box with the DV_DB_NULL tag. All number functions will coerce other types of numbers to the result type. All array argument functions will accept any type of array. It is up to the VSE itself to distinguish.
Virtuoso Server Extensions (VSEs) were formally referred to as Built-In Functions (BIFs).
On success, return a valid pointer to the data retrieved, or NULL. A SQL error is generated if the datatype is not valid. The bif_arg is the only function not to have validation of a data type.
The values returned by any of these belong to the query instance, and the bif is not authorized to modify or free them.
| Function | Type validated and returned |
|---|---|
| bif_arg | Any type of data. (no data type check) |
| bif_array_arg | string or array data |
| bif_array_or_null_arg | string or array or NULL data |
| bif_bin_arg | binary data |
| bif_double_arg | double data |
| bif_entity_arg | XML entity data |
| bif_float_arg | float data |
| bif_long_arg | long data |
| bif_long_or_char_arg | long or character data |
| bif_string_arg | string data |
| bif_string_or_null_arg | string or null data |
| bif_string_or_wide_or_null_arg | strings, widestrings or null data |
| bif_strses_arg | string session data |