oracledb 6.5.1 → 6.6.0

package/lib/thin/protocol/constants.js

@@ -492,12 +492,17 @@ module.exports = {
   TNS_LOB_OP_CLOSE: 0x10000,
   TNS_LOB_OP_IS_OPEN: 0x11000,
   TNS_LOB_OP_ARRAY: 0x80000,
+  TNS_LOB_OP_FILE_OPEN: 0x0100,
+  TNS_LOB_OP_FILE_CLOSE: 0x0200,
+  TNS_LOB_OP_FILE_ISOPEN: 0x0400,
+  TNS_LOB_OP_FILE_EXISTS: 0x0800,
 
   // LOB locator constants
   TNS_LOB_LOC_OFFSET_FLAG_1: 4,
   TNS_LOB_LOC_OFFSET_FLAG_3: 6,
   TNS_LOB_LOC_OFFSET_FLAG_4: 7,
   TNS_LOB_QLOCATOR_VERSION: 4,
+  TNS_LOB_LOC_FIXED_OFFSET: 16,
 
   // LOB locator flags (byte 1)
   TNS_LOB_LOC_FLAGS_BLOB: 0x01,
@@ -513,6 +518,7 @@ module.exports = {
 
   // other LOB constants
   TNS_LOB_OPEN_READ_WRITE: 2,
+  TNS_LOB_OPEN_READ_ONLY: 11,
   TNS_LOB_PREFETCH_FLAG: 0x2000000,
 
   // base JSON constants
@@ -548,6 +554,8 @@ module.exports = {
   TNS_FUNC_SESSION_RELEASE: 163,
   TNS_FUNC_SESSION_STATE: 176, // piggyback fn
   TNS_FUNC_CANCEL_ALL: 120, // piggyback fn
+  TNS_FUNC_TPC_TXN_SWITCH: 103,
+  TNS_FUNC_TPC_TXN_CHANGE_STATE: 104,
 
   // character sets and encodings
   TNS_CHARSET_UTF8: 873,
@@ -578,7 +586,8 @@ module.exports = {
   TNS_CCAP_TTC4: 40,
   TNS_CCAP_LOB2: 42,
   TNS_CCAP_TTC5: 44,
-  TNS_CCAP_MAX: 51,
+  TNS_CCAP_VECTOR_FEATURES: 52,
+  TNS_CCAP_MAX: 53,
 
   // compile time capability values
   TNS_CCAP_SQL_VERSION_MAX: 6,
@@ -634,6 +643,7 @@ module.exports = {
   TNS_CCAP_LOB2_2GB_PREFETCH: 0x04,
   TNS_CCAP_CTB_IMPLICIT_POOL: 0x08,
   TNS_CCAP_VECTOR_SUPPORT: 0x08,
+  TNS_CCAP_VECTOR_FEATURE_BINARY: 0x01,
 
   // runtime capability indices
   TNS_RCAP_COMPAT: 0,
@@ -660,6 +670,24 @@ module.exports = {
   TNS_EOCS_FLAGS_TXN_IN_PROGRESS: 0x00000002,
   TNS_EOCS_FLAGS_SESS_RELEASE: 0x00008000,
 
+  // transaction switching op codes
+  TNS_TPC_TXN_START: 0x01,
+  TNS_TPC_TXN_DETACH: 0x02,
+
+  // transaction change state op codes
+  TNS_TPC_TXN_COMMIT: 0x01,
+  TNS_TPC_TXN_ABORT: 0x02,
+  TNS_TPC_TXN_PREPARE: 0x03,
+  TNS_TPC_TXN_FORGET: 0x04,
+
+  // transaction states
+  TNS_TPC_TXN_STATE_PREPARE: 0,
+  TNS_TPC_TXN_STATE_REQUIRES_COMMIT: 1,
+  TNS_TPC_TXN_STATE_COMMITTED: 2,
+  TNS_TPC_TXN_STATE_ABORTED: 3,
+  TNS_TPC_TXN_STATE_READ_ONLY: 4,
+  TNS_TPC_TXN_STATE_FORGOTTEN: 5,
+
   // other constants
   TNS_ESCAPE_CHAR: 253,
   TNS_LONG_LENGTH_INDICATOR: dataHandlerConstants.TNS_LONG_LENGTH_INDICATOR,

package/lib/thin/protocol/messages/index.js

@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ const ProtocolMessage = require('./protocol.js');
 const RollbackMessage = require('./rollback.js');
 const SessionReleaseMessage = require('./sessionRelease.js');
 const FastAuthMessage = require('./fastAuth.js');
+const TransactionChangeStateMessage = require('./transactionChangeState.js');
+const TransactionSwitchMessage = require('./transactionSwitch.js');
 
 module.exports = {
   AuthMessage,
@@ -51,5 +53,7 @@ module.exports = {
   PingMessage,
   ProtocolMessage,
   RollbackMessage,
-  SessionReleaseMessage
+  SessionReleaseMessage,
+  TransactionChangeStateMessage,
+  TransactionSwitchMessage
 };

package/lib/thin/protocol/messages/lobOp.js

@@ -90,8 +90,13 @@ class LobOpMessage extends Message {
       buf.writeUInt8(0);
     }
     buf.writeUInt8(0);
-    if (this.operation === constants.TNS_LOB_OP_CREATE_TEMP
-        || this.operation === constants.TNS_LOB_OP_IS_OPEN) {
+    const operations = [
+      constants.TNS_LOB_OP_CREATE_TEMP,
+      constants.TNS_LOB_OP_IS_OPEN,
+      constants.TNS_LOB_OP_FILE_EXISTS,
+      constants.TNS_LOB_OP_FILE_ISOPEN,
+    ];
+    if (operations.includes(this.operation)) {
       buf.writeUInt8(1);
     } else {
       buf.writeUInt8(0);
@@ -152,7 +157,10 @@ class LobOpMessage extends Message {
       const oraTypeNum = this.sourceLobImpl.dbType._oraTypeNum;
       let data = buf.readBytesWithLength();
       if (data !== null) {
-        if (oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_BLOB) {
+        if (
+          oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_BLOB ||
+          oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_BFILE
+        ) {
           data = Buffer.from(data);
         } else if (this.sourceLobImpl.getCsfrm() === constants.CSFRM_NCHAR) {
           data = Buffer.from(data).swap16().toString('utf16le');
@@ -189,8 +197,12 @@ class LobOpMessage extends Message {
     } else if (this.sendAmount) {
       this.amount = buf.readSB8();
     }
-    if (this.operation === constants.TNS_LOB_OP_IS_OPEN) {
-      temp8 = buf.readUB1();
+    if (
+      this.operation === constants.TNS_LOB_OP_IS_OPEN
+      || this.operation === constants.TNS_LOB_OP_FILE_EXISTS
+      || this.operation === constants.TNS_LOB_OP_FILE_ISOPEN
+    ) {
+      temp8 = buf.readUInt8();
       this.boolFlag = temp8 > 0;
     }
   }

package/lib/thin/protocol/messages/transactionChangeState.js

@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2024, 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
+// 2.0 as shown at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0. You may choose
+// either license.
+//
+// If you elect to accept the software under the Apache License, Version 2.0,
+// the following applies:
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//    https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+//
+//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+'use strict';
+
+const Message = require("./base.js");
+const constants = require("../constants.js");
+
+/**
+ * Used for two-phase commit (TPC) transaction change state: commit, rollback,
+ * forget, etc.
+ *
+ * @class TransactionChangeStateMessage
+ * @extends {Message}
+ */
+class TransactionChangeStateMessage extends Message {
+
+  constructor(connImpl) {
+    super(connImpl);
+    this.functionCode = constants.TNS_FUNC_TPC_TXN_CHANGE_STATE;
+  }
+
+  processReturnParameter(buf) {
+    // process the parameters returned by the datatabase
+    this.state = buf.readUB4();
+  }
+
+  encode(buf) {
+    // writes the message to the database
+    // acquire data to send to the server
+    let xidBytes;
+    if (this.xid) {
+      xidBytes = Buffer.alloc(128);
+      this.xid.globalTransactionId.copy(xidBytes);
+      this.xid.branchQualifier.copy(xidBytes,
+        this.xid.globalTransactionId.length);
+    }
+
+    this.writeFunctionHeader(buf);
+    buf.writeUB4(this.operation);
+    if (this.context) {
+      buf.writeUInt8(1);
+      buf.writeUB4(this.context.length);
+    } else {
+      buf.writeUInt8(0);
+      buf.writeUB4(0);
+    }
+
+    if (this.xid) {
+      buf.writeUB4(this.xid.formatId);
+      buf.writeUB4(this.xid.globalTransactionId.length);
+      buf.writeUB4(this.xid.branchQualifier.length);
+      buf.writeUInt8(1);
+      buf.writeUB4(xidBytes.length);
+    } else {
+      buf.writeUB4(0);
+      buf.writeUB4(0);
+      buf.writeUB4(0);
+      buf.writeUInt8(0);
+      buf.writeUB4(0);
+    }
+    buf.writeUB4(0);
+    buf.writeUB4(this.state);
+    buf.writeUInt8(1);
+    buf.writeUB4(this.flags);
+
+    if (this.context) {
+      buf.writeBytes(this.context);
+    }
+    if (this.xid) {
+      buf.writeBytes(xidBytes);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = TransactionChangeStateMessage;

package/lib/thin/protocol/messages/transactionSwitch.js

@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2024, 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
+// 2.0 as shown at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0. You may choose
+// either license.
+//
+// If you elect to accept the software under the Apache License, Version 2.0,
+// the following applies:
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//    https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+//
+//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+'use strict';
+
+const Message = require("./base.js");
+const constants = require("../constants.js");
+
+/**
+ * Used for two-phase commit (TPC) transaction start, attach and detach.
+ *
+ * @class TransactionSwitchMessage
+ * @extends {Message}
+ */
+class TransactionSwitchMessage extends Message {
+
+  constructor(connImpl) {
+    super(connImpl);
+    this.functionCode = constants.TNS_FUNC_TPC_TXN_SWITCH;
+    this.applicationValue = 0;
+    this.internalName = connImpl.internalName;
+    if (this.internalName) {
+      this.internalName = Buffer.from(this.internalName);
+    }
+    this.externalName = connImpl.externalName;
+    if (this.externalName) {
+      this.externalName = Buffer.from(this.externalName);
+    }
+  }
+
+  processReturnParameter(buf) {
+    // process the parameters returned by the datatabase
+    this.applicationValue = buf.readUB4();
+    this.contextLen = buf.readUB2();
+    if (this.contextLen > 0) {
+      this.context = Buffer.from(buf.readBytes(this.contextLen));
+    }
+  }
+
+  encode(buf) {
+    // writes the message to the database
+    // acquire data to send to the server
+    let xidBytes;
+    if (this.xid) {
+      xidBytes = Buffer.alloc(128);
+      this.xid.globalTransactionId.copy(xidBytes);
+      this.xid.branchQualifier.copy(xidBytes,
+        this.xid.globalTransactionId.length);
+    }
+
+    // write message
+    this.writeFunctionHeader(buf);
+    buf.writeUB4(this.operation);
+    if (this.context) {
+      buf.writeUInt8(1);  // pointer (transaction context)
+      buf.writeUB4(this.context.length);
+    } else {
+      buf.writeUInt8(0);  // pointer (transaction context)
+      buf.writeUB4(0);    // transaction context length
+    }
+
+    if (this.xid) {
+      buf.writeUB4(this.xid.formatId);
+      buf.writeUB4(this.xid.globalTransactionId.length);
+      buf.writeUB4(this.xid.branchQualifier.length);
+      buf.writeUInt8(1);  // pointer (XID)
+      buf.writeUB4(xidBytes.length);
+    } else {
+      buf.writeUB4(0);    // format id
+      buf.writeUB4(0);    // global transaction id length
+      buf.writeUB4(0);    // branch qualifier length
+      buf.writeUInt8(0);  // pointer (XID)
+      buf.writeUB4(0);    // XID length
+    }
+
+    buf.writeUB4(this.flags);
+    buf.writeUB4(this.timeout);
+    buf.writeUInt8(1);   // pointer (application value)
+    buf.writeUInt8(1);   // pointer (return context)
+    buf.writeUInt8(1);   // pointer (return context length)
+
+    if (this.internalName) {
+      buf.writeUInt8(1);   // pointer (internal name)
+      buf.writeUB4(this.internalName.length);
+    } else {
+      buf.writeUInt8(0);   // pointer (internal name)
+      buf.writeUB4(0);     // length of internal name
+    }
+
+    if (this.externalName) {
+      buf.writeUInt8(1);   // pointer (external name)
+      buf.writeUB4(this.externalName.length);
+    } else {
+      buf.writeUInt8(0);   // pointer (external name)
+      buf.writeUB4(0);     // length of external name
+    }
+
+    if (this.context) {
+      buf.writeBytes(this.context);
+    }
+    if (this.xid) {
+      buf.writeBytes(xidBytes);
+    }
+    buf.writeUB4(this.applicationValue);
+
+    if (this.internalName) {
+      buf.writeBytes(this.internalName);
+    }
+
+    if (this.externalName) {
+      buf.writeBytes(this.externalName);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = TransactionSwitchMessage;

package/lib/thin/protocol/messages/withData.js

@@ -140,7 +140,11 @@ class MessageWithData extends Message {
     if ((cVar.fetchInfo.dbType._oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_CLOB
        && pVar.fetchInfo.fetchType._oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_LONG)
         || (cVar.fetchInfo.dbType._oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_BLOB
-          && pVar.fetchInfo.fetchType._oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_LONG_RAW)) {
+          && pVar.fetchInfo.fetchType._oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_LONG_RAW)
+        || (cVar.fetchInfo.dbType._oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_JSON
+          && pVar.fetchInfo.fetchType._oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_VARCHAR)
+        || (cVar.fetchInfo.dbType._oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_VECTOR
+          && pVar.fetchInfo.fetchType._oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_LONG)) {
       cVar.type = pVar.fetchInfo.fetchType;
       cVar.maxSize = pVar.maxSize;
     }
@@ -498,12 +502,22 @@ class MessageWithData extends Message {
       }
     } else if (oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_BOOLEAN) {
       colValue = buf.readBool();
-    } else if (oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_CLOB || oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_BLOB) {
+    } else if (
+      oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_CLOB ||
+      oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_BLOB ||
+      oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_BFILE
+    ) {
+      let length = 0;
+      let chunkSize = 0;
       const bvalue = buf.readUB4();
       if (bvalue > 0) { // Non Null data in column
         colValue = new ThinLobImpl();
-        const length = buf.readUB8();
-        const chunkSize = buf.readUB4();
+        if (oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_BFILE) {
+          buf.skipUB4();
+        } else {
+          length = buf.readUB8();
+          chunkSize = buf.readUB4();
+        }
         const locator = Buffer.from(buf.readBytesWithLength());
         colValue.init(this.connection, locator, dbType, length, chunkSize);
       }
@@ -619,6 +633,7 @@ class MessageWithData extends Message {
         if (variable.type === types.DB_TYPE_CLOB ||
             variable.type === types.DB_TYPE_NCLOB ||
             variable.type === types.DB_TYPE_BLOB ||
+            variable.type === types.DB_TYPE_BFILE ||
             variable.type === types.DB_TYPE_JSON ||
             variable.type === types.DB_TYPE_VECTOR) {
           if (variable.type !== variable.fetchInfo.fetchType) {
@@ -700,7 +715,8 @@ class MessageWithData extends Message {
       let contFlag = 0;
       if (variable.type === types.DB_TYPE_BLOB ||
           variable.type === types.DB_TYPE_CLOB ||
-          variable.type === types.DB_TYPE_NCLOB) {
+          variable.type === types.DB_TYPE_NCLOB ||
+          variable.type === types.DB_TYPE_BFILE) {
         contFlag = constants.TNS_LOB_PREFETCH_FLAG;
       } else if (variable.type === types.DB_TYPE_JSON) {
         contFlag = constants.TNS_LOB_PREFETCH_FLAG;
@@ -852,7 +868,11 @@ class MessageWithData extends Message {
       } else {
         buf.writeUInt16BE(0x0100);
       }
-    } else if (oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_CLOB || oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_BLOB) {
+    } else if (
+      oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_CLOB ||
+      oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_BLOB ||
+      oraTypeNum === constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_BFILE
+    ) {
       buf.writeUB4(value._locator.length);
       buf.writeBytesWithLength(value._locator);
     } else if ([constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_ROWID, constants.TNS_DATA_TYPE_UROWID].includes(oraTypeNum)) {

package/lib/thin/sqlnet/networkSession.js

@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ class NetworkSession {
     this.markerPkt = new Packet.MarkerPacket(this.sAtts.largeSDU);
     this.controlPkt = new Packet.ControlPacket();
     this.ntAdapter.largeSDU = this.sAtts.largeSDU;
-    this.sAtts.nt.wallet = null;
+    this.sAtts.clearWallet();
     this.sAtts.nt.walletPassword = null;
     return (true);
   }
@@ -328,6 +328,7 @@ class NetworkSession {
           this.ntAdapter.disconnect(constants.NSFIMM);
           this.ntAdapter = null;
         }
+        this.sAtts.clearWallet();
         connected = false;
         savedErr = err;
         try {

package/lib/thin/sqlnet/paramParser.js

@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ const process = require('process');
 const readline = require('readline');
 const errors = require("../../errors.js");
 
+const MAX_IFILE_DEPTH = 4;
 /**
  * Returns File path of the tnsnames.ora if it exists.
  */
@@ -59,9 +60,12 @@ function tnsnamesFilePath(configDir) {
   }
 }
 
-let prevmtime = 0;
-
 class NLParamParser {
+
+  constructor() {
+    this.waiters = [];
+    this.readInProgress = false;
+  }
   /**
  * Reads the given file line by line and stores the
  * network service names mapped to connect descriptors in the hashtable.
@@ -69,13 +73,29 @@ class NLParamParser {
  * @returns {Promise}
  */
   async initializeNlpa(file_path) {
-    const stat = fs.statSync(file_path);
-
-    if (!(stat.mtime - prevmtime)) {
-      /* File has been read */
+    if (this.readInProgress) {
+      await new Promise((resolve) => {
+        this.waiters.push(resolve);
+      });
+    }
+    if (!this.checkModfTime()) {
+      /* No File has been modified */
       return this.ht;
     }
+    this.ht = new Map();
+    this.modTime = new Map(); //stores modified time of each IFile
+    this.readInProgress = true;
+    await this.start(file_path, 0); //start with 0 depth (tnsnames.ora)
+    return this.ht;
+  }
+
+  async start(file_path, depth) {
 
+    if (depth > MAX_IFILE_DEPTH)
+      return; //ignore after max depth
+    const stat = fs.statSync(file_path);
+    // store file path and its modified time.
+    this.modTime.set(file_path, stat.mtime);
     // Creating a readable stream from file
     // readline module reads line by line
     // but from a readable stream only.
@@ -84,52 +104,49 @@ class NLParamParser {
       output: process.stdout,
       terminal: false
     });
-    this.ht = new Map();
-
-    const start = async () =>{
-      let nvElem = "";
-      for await (let line of file) {
-        if (line.length == 0) {   // ignore empty lines
-          continue;
-        } else if (line[0] == '#') {  // comment line
+    let nvElem = "";
+    for await (let line of file) {
+      if (line.length == 0) {   // ignore empty lines
+        continue;
+      } else if (line[0] == '#') {  // comment line
+        continue;
+      } else if ((line[0] == ' ') ||    // continued input on new line
+                  (line[0] == '\t') ||
+                  (line[0] == ')') ||
+                  (line[0] == '(')) {
+        line = line.replace(/\s+/g, '');
+        line = this.checkNLPforComments(line);
+        if (line.length == 0)
           continue;
-        } else if ((line[0] == ' ') ||    // continued input on new line
-                    (line[0] == '\t') ||
-                    (line[0] == ')') ||
-                    (line[0] == '(')) {
-          line = line.replace(/\s+/g, '');
-          line = this.checkNLPforComments(line);
-          if (line.length == 0)
-            continue;
-          else {
-            nvElem = nvElem + line;
-          }
+        else {
+          nvElem = nvElem + line;
+        }
 
-        } else {  // new NV Element starting here
-          if (nvElem.length == 0) {
+      } else {  // new NV Element starting here
+        if (nvElem.length == 0) {
 
-            line = this.checkNLPforComments(line);
-            nvElem = nvElem + line;
+          line = this.checkNLPforComments(line);
+          nvElem = nvElem + line;
 
-          } else if (nvElem.length != 0) {
-            this.addNLPListElement(nvElem); // Add Parameter to Hashtable
-            nvElem = ""; // Clear first, before storing current line
+        } else if (nvElem.length != 0) {
+          await this.addNLPListElement(nvElem, depth); // Add Parameter to Hashtable
+          nvElem = ""; // Clear first, before storing current line
 
-            line = this.checkNLPforComments(line);
-            nvElem = nvElem + line;
-          }
+          line = this.checkNLPforComments(line);
+          nvElem = nvElem + line;
         }
       }
-      if (nvElem.length != 0) { // at eof, still one more parameter to read
-        this.addNLPListElement(nvElem);
-        nvElem = "";      // clear nvElem buffer after added
-      }
-      prevmtime = stat.mtime;
-      return this.ht;
-    };
-    return await start();
+    }
+    if (nvElem.length != 0) { // at eof, still one more parameter to read
+      await this.addNLPListElement(nvElem, depth);
+      nvElem = "";      // clear nvElem buffer after added
+    }
+    this.readInProgress = false;
+    let waiter;
+    while ((waiter = this.waiters.pop())) {
+      waiter();
+    }
   }
-
   /**
    * Given a string, this method looks if the '#' character is present.
    * If true, the line is truncated from that point onwards until the end
@@ -155,11 +172,28 @@ class NLParamParser {
     }
     return str1.join('');
   }
+  // check if any of the IFiles has been changed
+  checkModfTime() {
+    if (this.modTime) {
+      for (const [key, value] of this.modTime) {
+        if (fs.existsSync(key)) {
+          const stat = fs.statSync(key);
+          if ((stat.mtime - value > 0)) {
+            return true;
+          }
+        } else
+          return true;
+      }
+    } else {
+      return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+  }
   /**
     * adds name value pairs from the input buffer into the hash table.
     * @param {string} ibuf
     */
-  addNLPListElement(ibuf) {
+  async addNLPListElement(ibuf, depth) {
     const res = ibuf.split(/\r?\n/).filter(element => element);
     for (let i = 0; i < res.length; i++) {
       if (res[i].charAt(0) != '(') {
@@ -169,14 +203,17 @@ class NLParamParser {
       const name = nvp.name;
       const uname = name.toUpperCase();
       nvp.name = uname;
-      const unames = uname.split(","); //multiple aliases (alias1, alias2, alias3)
-      for (let i = 0; i < unames.length; i++) {
-        this.ht.set(unames[i], nvp);
+      // support for ifile
+      if (uname == 'IFILE') {
+        await this.start(nvp.atom, depth + 1);
+      } else {
+        const unames = uname.split(","); //multiple aliases (alias1, alias2, alias3)
+        for (let i = 0; i < unames.length; i++) {
+          this.ht.set(unames[i], nvp);
+        }
       }
     }
   }
-
-
   toString() {
     let out = "";
     this.ht.forEach((value) => {