Fixed bug when decoding PL/SQL booleans in Oracle Database 12.1 (#565).

Author: anthony-tuininga

doc/src/release_notes.rst

@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ oracledb `3.4.2 <https://github.com/oracle/python-oracledb/compare/v3.4.1...v3.4
 Thin Mode Changes
 +++++++++++++++++
 
+#)  Fixed bug when decoding PL/SQL booleans in Oracle Database 12.1
+    (`issue 565 <https://github.com/oracle/python-oracledb/issues/565>`__).
 #)  Fixed bug when a :ref:`DbObject <dbobject>` instance contains an attribute
     of type ``SYS.XMLTYPE``.
 

src/oracledb/impl/base/buffer.pyx

@@ -183,7 +183,17 @@ cdef class Buffer:
             elif ora_type_num == ORA_TYPE_NUM_BINARY_FLOAT:
                 decode_binary_float(ptr, num_bytes, &data.buffer)
             elif ora_type_num == ORA_TYPE_NUM_BOOLEAN:
-                decode_bool(ptr, num_bytes, &data.buffer)
+                # inside a database object, the boolean is represented as a
+                # big endian 32-bit integer (either 0 or 1)
+                if from_dbobject:
+                    data.buffer.as_bool = ptr[num_bytes - 1] == 1
+                # outside a database object, the boolean is represented as an
+                # encoded integer (0x00 for false and 0x0101 for true); older
+                # versions like 12.1 also return 0x8101 (-1) for null values
+                # but this can safely be ignored as the null indicator is sent
+                # as a separate field afterwards anyways
+                else:
+                    data.buffer.as_bool = ptr[0] == 1
             elif ora_type_num in (
                 ORA_TYPE_NUM_CHAR,
                 ORA_TYPE_NUM_LONG,

src/oracledb/impl/base/decoders.pyx

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# Copyright (c) 2024, Oracle and/or its affiliates.
+# Copyright (c) 2024, 2026, Oracle and/or its affiliates.
 #
 # This software is dual-licensed to you under the Universal Permissive License
 # (UPL) 1.0 as shown at https://oss.oracle.com/licenses/upl and Apache License
@@ -84,14 +84,6 @@ cdef int decode_binary_float(const uint8_t *ptr, ssize_t num_bytes,
     memcpy(&buffer.as_float, &all_bits, 4)
 
 
-cdef int decode_bool(const uint8_t* ptr, ssize_t num_bytes,
-                     OracleDataBuffer *buffer) except -1:
-    """
-    Decode a boolean value from raw bytes.
-    """
-    buffer.as_bool = (ptr[num_bytes - 1] == 1)
-
-
 cdef int decode_date(const uint8_t* ptr, ssize_t num_bytes,
                      OracleDataBuffer *buffer) except -1:
     """