Do not confuse properties with server options or a connection’s capabilities. Server options control the server’s behavior while executing commands sent to a client. A connection’s capabilities determine which types of client requests or server responses can be sent over a connection.
In general, properties control Client-Library’s behavior, while server options control the server’s response to commands. At a lower level, capabilities constrain the protocol that the client and the server use to communicate.
For example, consider the problem of limiting the size of a text or image datatype value that is selected by an application. To solve this problem, a programmer might code the application to do any of the following:
Set the CS_OPT_TEXTSIZE option to limit how much of a large text/image value the server sends over the network. (The best solution.
Set the CS_TEXTLIMIT connection property so that Client-Library truncates CS_TEXT or CS_IMAGE data values that are retrieved from the server. An inefficient solution, since the entire value must be sent over the network before truncation.
Before opening the connection, call ct_capability to inhibit the connection’s CS_DATA_TEXT and CS_DATA_IMAGE response capabilities. A poor solution, since no text or image values are sent by the server in this case.
See “Options” and “Capabilities”.
