To enable replication of encrypted columns to an Adaptive Server table, Replication Server provides an rs_set_ciphertext function string that you must alter each time that you make a database connection to a non-ASE database. The following describes the function string and its usage:
rs_set_ciphertext
Enables replication of encrypted columns to an Adaptive Server table.
Alters rs_set_ciphertext for non-ASE databases which does not support “set ciphertext on.”
alter function string rs_set_ciphertext for some_function_string_class output language ''
rs_set_ciphertext is called after rs_usedb for any user database connection.Replication Server will not call this function string for Replication Server connections and RSSD connections.
rs_set_ciphertext issues “set ciphertext on” for the rs_default_function_class and the rs_sqlserver_function_class. For all other function classes, rs_set_ciphertext is set to null (an empty string).
Encrypted columns come to Replication Server in varbinary, encrypted form. For materialization and de-materialization, Replication Server needs either to “set ciphertext on” for the database connection, or to call the ASE ciphertext function.
Replication Server always sets the ciphertext property on, regardless of whether there is an encrypted column to be replicated or the target database accepts ciphertext property.
Replicated encrypted columns are not searchable nor translatable. Replication Server will not decrypt data and users cannot replicate encrypted columns based on their contents
Replication Server does not support encrypting text, unitext, and image columns.
Do not specify encrypted columns as searchable columns. Replication Server does not know if a varbinary column is ciphertext or plain binary and will not prevent an encrypted column being a search column.
Do not map encrypted columns to other than varbinary datatypes. Replication Server does not know if a column is encrypted or not and will not prevent ciphertext from being converted to other datatypes.
In case of failure, Replication Server will continue running and will not report back to the user. This is for backward compatibility with older versions of ASE, which do not support “set ciphertext on.”
For more information about the rs_set_ciphertext command, its use, and function-string modifications, see Chapter 4, Replication Server System Functions, in the Replication Server Reference Manual.
