SQL Server 2003 output to Tk/Perl window

[Red_Dragon]

Wise and Noble Monks,

I am trying to get some idea on how to capture the results of an SQL query and display them in a scrollable WIN32 window. I am new to this method and need some examples to get me started, if any are available? Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

R_D

[liverpole]

Hi Red_Dragon,

There are a couple of ways.  One is simply to take the results and write them to the widget (I'm assuming you have either a Text or a ROText object).  For example:

use strict;
use warnings;
use Tk;

my $sql = "";

my $mw     = new MainWindow;
my $top    = $mw->Frame()->pack(-expand  => 1, -fill => "both");
my $f1     = $top->Frame()->pack(-expand => 1, -fill => "x");
my $f2     = $top->Frame()->pack(-expand => 1, -fill => "both");
$f1->Label(-text => "SQL Statement")->pack(-side => "left");
$f1->Entry(-textvar => \$sql, -width => 64)->pack(-side => "left");
$f1->Button(-text => "SQL", -command => \&submit)->pack(-side => "righ
+t");
my $output = $mw->Text()->pack(-expand => 1, -fill => "both");
MainLoop();

sub submit {
    # Here, insert the code for submitting the query using $sql...
    my $results = ...

    $output->insert("end", $results);
    $output->see("end");
    $mw->update();

The above code does everything except submitting the query in $sql to the SQL database (you'll need to fill that in where it says my $results = ...).

Another way is to investigate the tied interface to a Tk::Text widget.  You can read about that either in your local ActiveState documentation, or at ActiveState's website (http://www.activestate.com), in the section about the Text widget; specifically the section titled Tied Interface, which says:

TIED INTERFACE

The Perl/Tk Text widget also has built-in TIEHANDLE methods for print
and printf statements. This means you can print to file handles tied
to a Text widget, and the tied methods automatically insert the print
statement's arguments into the Text widget.

For example:

 #!/usr/local/bin/perl -w
 use POSIX 'acos';
 use Tk;
 use strict;

 my $mw = MainWindow->new;
 my $text = $mw->Text(qw/-width 40 -height 10/)->pack;

 tie *STDOUT, ref $text, $text;

 print "Hello Text World!\n";
 printf "pi ~= %1.5f", acos(-1.0);

 MainLoop;