Re: Pass Return Code to Shell

In article <4jrokg$2jl_at_news.dca.net>, jennings_at_dca.net says...
>
>I'm running SQL scripts within a Kourne Shell script. If the
>SQL encounters an error, I want the return code to be propagated
>out to the shell return code ($?). Does anyone know how to do this??
>
>Ed

Here's how I do it (this code verifies user input before sending it to a batch scheduler):

temp=`sqlplus -s / <<-!!                                                 
      set head off feedback off termout off echo off                     
      whenever sqlerror exit sql.code;                                   
      select to_date('$arg1','$date_format') from dual;                  
      exit;`                                                             
if [ $? = 0 ]                                                            
   then                                                                  
   break;                                                                
else                                                                     
   echo "The date [$arg1] was invalid or not in [$date_format] format."  
fi                        

The normal return code is 0. If the SQL causes an error, it will pass that error back to the shell using the SQL error code. This was set by the line 'whenever sqlerror exit sql.code'.
This code fragment is run directly from the shell. What is not shown is that it prompts the user for a date ($arg1) using a default date format ($date_format). The date format is set by the shell using a statement like:

date_format=MM/DD/YYYY Received on Wed Apr 03 1996 - 00:00:00 CEST