[DB-SIG] cx_Oracle 4.4.1

[Anthony Tuininga]

What is cx_Oracle?

cx_Oracle is a Python extension module that allows access to Oracle and
conforms to the Python database API 2.0 specifications with a few
exceptions.


Where do I get it?

http://cx-oracle.sourceforge.net


What's new?

1) Make the bind variables and fetch variables accessible although
they need to be treated carefully since they are used internally;
support added for forward compatibility with version 5.x.

2) Include the "cannot insert null value" in the list of errors that
are treated as integrity errors as requested by Matt Boersma.

3) Use a cx_Oracle.Error instance rather than a string to hold the
error when truncation (ORA-1406) takes place as requested by Helge
Tesdal.

4) Added support for fixed char, old style varchar and timestamp
attribute values in objects.

5) Tweaked setup.py to check for the Oracle version up front rather
than during the build in order to produce more meaningful errors and
simplify the code.

6) In setup.py added proper detection for the instant client on Mac OS
X as recommended by Martijn Pieters.

7) In setup.py, avoided resetting the extraLinkArgs on Mac OS X as
doing so prevents simple modification where desired as expressed by
Christian Zagrodnick.

8) Added documentation on exception handling as requested by Andreas
Mock, who also graciously provided an initial patch.

9) Modified documentation indicating that the password attribute on
connection objects can be written.

10) Added documentation warning that parameters not passed in during
subsequent executions of a statement will retain their original values
as requested by Harald Armin Massa.

11) Added comments indicating that an Oracle client is required since
so many people find this surprising.

12) Removed all references to Oracle 8i from the documentation and
version 5.x will eliminate all vestiges of support for this version of
the Oracle client.

13) Added additional link arguments for Cygwin as requested by Rob Gillen.

Anthony Tuininga