Preface

Table of Contents

Conventions Used in this Book
For More Information

Welcome to Berkeley DB (DB). This document introduces DB, version 4.8. It is intended to provide a rapid introduction to the DB API set and related concepts. The goal of this document is to provide you with an efficient mechanism with which you can evaluate DB against your project's technical requirements. As such, this document is intended for C++ developers and senior software architects who are looking for an in-process data management solution. No prior experience with Berkeley DB is expected or required.

Conventions Used in this Book

The following typographical conventions are used within in this manual:

Class names are represented in monospaced font, as are method names. For example: "Db::open() is a Db class method."

Variable or non-literal text is presented in italics. For example: "Go to your DB_INSTALL directory."

Program examples are displayed in a monospaced font on a shaded background. For example:

typedef struct vendor {
    char name[MAXFIELD];             // Vendor name
    char street[MAXFIELD];           // Street name and number
    char city[MAXFIELD];             // City
    char state[3];                   // Two-digit US state code
    char zipcode[6];                 // US zipcode
    char phone_number[13];           // Vendor phone number
} VENDOR; 

In some situations, programming examples are updated from one chapter to the next. When this occurs, the new code is presented in monospaced bold font. For example:

typedef struct vendor {
    char name[MAXFIELD];             // Vendor name
    char street[MAXFIELD];           // Street name and number
    char city[MAXFIELD];             // City
    char state[3];                   // Two-digit US state code
    char zipcode[6];                 // US zipcode
    char phone_number[13];           // Vendor phone number
    char sales_rep[MAXFIELD];        // Name of sales representative
    char sales_rep_phone[MAXFIELD];  // Sales rep's phone number 
} VENDOR; 

Note

Finally, notes of interest are represented using a note block such as this.

For More Information

Beyond this manual, you may also find the following sources of information useful when building a DB application: