DBD::Oracle -- blob_read() or ora_lob_read()?

I'm trying to determine which function I should use for reading BLOB
data from an Oracle database: blob_read() or ora_lob_read().

Version 1.0 added support for blob_read() back in 1999. The function
is never officially documented anywhere, and the Oraperl documentation
still calls it "experimental" in the current version 1.9. Regardless,
it appears to be used by many people.

Version 1.15 introduced ora_lob_read(). The fact that it's documented
is nice, but since it's newer it might not be as reliable as
blob_read().

From a cursory glance at the source code, the two appear functionally
equivalent (minus a few differences in the way they are called). But
are they? Are there important differences? Is one deprecated? Does
one have nasty bugs, especially in pre-1.9 versions?

Any information would be appreciated.

Re: DBD::Oracle -- blob_read() or ora_lob_read()?

Use ora_lob_read.

Tim.

On Mon, Apr 16, 2007 at 03:44:39PM -0400, Sven Miller wrote:
> I'm trying to determine which function I should use for reading BLOB
> data from an Oracle database: blob_read() or ora_lob_read().
>
> Version 1.0 added support for blob_read() back in 1999. The function
> is never officially documented anywhere, and the Oraperl documentation
> still calls it "experimental" in the current version 1.9. Regardless,
> it appears to be used by many people.
>
> Version 1.15 introduced ora_lob_read(). The fact that it's documented
> is nice, but since it's newer it might not be as reliable as
> blob_read().
>
> >From a cursory glance at the source code, the two appear functionally
> equivalent (minus a few differences in the way they are called). But
> are they? Are there important differences? Is one deprecated? Does
> one have nasty bugs, especially in pre-1.9 versions?
>
> Any information would be appreciated.