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Client APIs and tools
You can use the HCL Informix® implementation of client APIs to develop applications for Informix database servers.
Informix® Object Interface for C++ Guide
The Informix® Object Interface for C++ Programmer's Guide describes how to develop HCL Informix client applications by using the object-oriented C++ programming language.
Access data values
This section describes the specific value interfaces in detail, and shows how to modify value objects and extract information through the value interfaces into host variables in your application.
Access data values

Client APIs and tools
You can use the HCL Informix® implementation of client APIs to develop applications for Informix database servers.
- Change Data Capture API Programmer's Guide
  The Informix® Change Data Capture API Programmer's Guide describes how to program applications to process changed data from HCL Informix databases using the Informix Change Data Capture API.
- Embedded SQLJ for HCL Informix®
  The Informix® Embedded SQLJ User's Guide contains information about using Informix Embedded SQLJ.
- ESQL/C Guide
  The Informix® ESQL/C Programmer's Manual explains how to use Informix ESQL/C, the Informix implementation of Embedded Structured Query Language (SQL) for C (ESQL/C), to create client applications with database-management capabilities.
- GLS User's Guide
  The Informix® GLS User's Guide describes the Global Language Support (GLS) feature available in Informix products.
- API
  The Informix® GLS API Programmer's Guide describes the global language support (GLS) application programming interface (API) available in Informix ESQL/C and HCL Informix DataBlade® modules.
- Informix® Object Interface for C++ Guide
  The Informix® Object Interface for C++ Programmer's Guide describes how to develop HCL Informix client applications by using the object-oriented C++ programming language.
  - Architecture of the object interface for C++
    The encapsulates HCL Informix® database server features into a class hierarchy.
  - Issue database queries and retrieve results
    To interact with a database, your C++ client application uses the operation classes of the . These classes have methods for opening database connections, submitting queries, and manipulating database cursors. This section describes how to use these methods.
  - Access data values
    This section describes the specific value interfaces in detail, and shows how to modify value objects and extract information through the value interfaces into host variables in your application.
    - Access data values
    - Value object management
    - The ITValue interface
      The ITValue interface defines simple comparison and printing methods on a value object and provides access to the server type information of an object.
    - The ITConversions interface
      The ITConversions interface is exposed by objects that can be converted to and from C++ host variable type instances.
    - The ITDatum interface
      The ITDatum interface is derived from ITValue and provides additional methods to get and set the underlying binary data and to obtain the connection object on which the value object was created. Value objects expose ITDatum to be able to participate in complex object updates.
    - The ITDateTime interface
      The ITDateTime interface can be exposed by value objects that represent a time-based value.
    - The ITLargeObject interface
      The ITLargeObject interface is exposed by value objects that must expose to their underlying data a functionality similar to that of a file I/O interface. Typically, such objects represent server data types that are derived from or contain a server smart large object type instance.
    - The ITErrorInfo interface
      The ITErrorInfo interface includes methods that manage errors from the server or from the library. The ITErrorInfo interface enables your application to set callback routines that are called when an error occurs.
    - The ITRow interface
      The ITRow interface is derived from ITValue and is the primary interface for interacting with objects that represent database rows.
    - The ITSet interface
      The ITSet interface can be exposed by an object that contains other objects and can provide arbitrary or nonsequential access to the underlying objects.
    - The ITContainer interface
      The ITContainer interface is exposed by a value object that contains other objects and does not support a concept of current position within the set. Instead, the ITContainer interface uses an index to extract the corresponding object.
    - The ITContainCvt interface
      The ITContainCvt interface combines the features of the ITContainer and ITConversions interfaces.
  - Create and extend value objects
    When you retrieve values from the HCL Informix® database by using the , the values are returned as value objects. Value objects are created by the Object Interface for C++ by using an extensible class factory that maps Informix data types to C++ objects.
  - Operation class reference
    This section is an alphabetized reference that lists and describes the operation classes. Each class has an assignment operator and a copy constructor, which are not listed in the tables of methods.
  - Value interface reference
    This section lists and describes the value interfaces. The ITFactoryList and ITPreserveData classes provide support for value interfaces.
  - Appendixes
    This section contains additional reference information.
- Informix® ODBC Driver Guide
  The Informix® ODBC Driver Programmer's Manual serves as a user guide and reference for Informix ODBC Driver, which is the Informix implementation of the Microsoft™ Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) interface, Version 3.0.
- .NET provider options
  The Data Server Provider for .NET DB2® provider option is the preferred Informix® provider for developing new applications.
- Informix® JDBC Driver Guide
  The Informix® JDBC Driver Programmer's Guide describes how to install, load, and use Informix JDBC Driver to connect to the Informix database from within a Java™ application or applet.
- Informix International Language Supplement (ILS) User Guide
  These topics include information about the translated user interface files for Informix® UNIX™ products, locales, and code set conversion tables
- Informix® OLE DB Provider Guide
  The Informix® OLE DB Provider Programmer's Guide describes the software requirements for using Informix OLE DB Provider, show how to install and configure the provider for your use, and explain how to use Informix OLE DB Provider to enable client applications, such as ActiveX Data Object (ADO) applications and web pages, to access data on the Informix server.

Access data values

A column value in a database can be an atomic SQL92 type (such as integer or varchar) or, in HCL Informix® databases, any of the following extended data types:

An opaque data type, such as those supplied with HCL Informix® DataBlade® modules and extensions (for example binaryvar for binary data)
Row types, including types that use inheritance
Collection types, such as Set, List, and Multiset
Large object types

To enable applications to interact uniformly with value objects, all value objects present the ITValue interface. Value objects can expose additional interfaces to present different behaviors to the application. For instance, a value object representing a set can expose a container interface such as ITSet or ITContainer.

The following table lists the Informix® value object interfaces.


Interface	Description
ITRow	Row object interface (for example, a vector of named attributes, such as a row)
ITContainCvt	Container object with members that can be converted to and from C++ types
ITContainer	Container object with integer index-based access
ITConversions	Object that can be converted to and from C++ base types
ITDateTime	Date and time information
ITDatum	Underlying data access
ITErrorInfo	Error information
ITEssential	Base interface. Supports reference counting and interface querying
ITLargeObject	Large object. Supports file read/write semantics
ITSet	Container object with random access
ITValue	Basic value object interface

For a table showing how the server data types are supported in the , see Supported data types.