DB_SERVER="myserver"
DB_USER="user_name"
DB_PASS="pass_word"
DB_DB="database"

class String
	def query
		res = `isql -S#{DB_SERVER}  -U #{DB_USER} -P #{DB_PASS} -d #{DB_DB} -s¬ -w999 -Q "#{self}"`.split(/\n/)
		cols =  res.shift.split(/¬/).collect!{|s| s.strip.downcase}
		res.shift; res.pop; res.pop; #remove excess lines
		res.each{|row| ret = {};
				  dat = row.split(/¬/);
				  dat.each_index{ |y| ret[cols[y]]=dat[y].strip; }
				  yield ret
		  }
	end
end


Add the above to your code.  Setup the server, password etc.

query expects a block and passes a hash to it with field names hashed to values.  field names are always lowercase.

example code:

"select name,birthdate from people".query{ |row| puts "#{row[name]" born on #{birthdate}" }


It's not fast, but it's simple if you just need a quick query.