Oracle:FFI

RDBMS Version (if applicable): N/A
Error Number (if applicable): N/A
Product and Version: Developer/2000 R1.3 4.5.7.1.x Operating System: Sun Solaris V2 Sparc

I am looking for information about the FFI functions. I have read all there is in the Procedure Builder documents and the on-line help in Developer/2000. Is there a book that exists that details more about this functionality? I'm looking for information like:

Do you REALLY need to reload the library EVERY time you call the function
as shown in all the examples. I believe that this would end up messing things up as you would be loading and reloading constantly (especially if
the function was called during a post-query-trigger).

Do you need to unload the library before exiting the form or is it just a niceaty? I could not find any examples doing this but the functionality
exists.

Can you use the TOOLS GET/SET routines in the foreign functions to get/put
variables or is it a requirement to pass them as parameters?

Besides not having to rebuild f45runmx every time something changes, what
other advantages/disadvantages are there for using FFI over user exits?

As you can see I have several questions.... Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

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Ken Niedermeyer
Boeing Central Information Systems
Ken.Niedermeyer_at_boeing.com