Beyond standard relational database objects, HCL Informix® can be extended to handle specialized data types, access methods, routines, and other objects. Informix includes many built-in extensions that are fully integrated in the database server. Informix also provides DataBlade® modules, which are packages of extended database objects for a particular purpose and that are installed separately from the database server. Alternatively, you can create your own user-defined objects for Informix.
You can create user-defined data types, routines, access methods, and other database objects to suit your needs. You can use application programming interfaces to write user-defined routines and applications that access data in Informix® databases.
The DataBlade® Developers Kit (DBDK) guides contain information about the tools you can use to develop and package DataBlade modules, which extend the functionality of HCL Informix® databases.
The HCL Informix® DataBlade® Developers Kit User's Guide describes how to use tools to develop and package DataBlade modules.
This section describes the DataBlade® module SQL design issues.
These topics describe how to use built-in database extensions and separately installed DataBlade® modules.
The Informix® DataBlade® API Programmer's Guide describes information about the DataBlade API, the C-language application programming interface (API) provided with HCL Informix.
The Informix® DataBlade® API Function Reference describes the DataBlade API functions and the subset of Informix ESQL/C functions that the DataBlade API supports.
The HCL Informix® DataBlade® module overview serves as an overview of the HCL Informix DataBlade module development process.
This section provides an overview of DataBlade® module development and describes the resources and tools the HCL Informix® database server provides to facilitate development.
A data model is a high-level definition of a DataBlade® module: what objects it represents and what operations on those objects it provides.
After you have designed a data model for your DataBlade® module, you can design its specifics, such as data types to best represent your DataBlade module objects.
The next component in DataBlade® module design is the query language interface.
To develop a DataBlade® module, you need a general understanding of query processing and HCL Informix® SQL. You must also understand the execution environment inside your Informix database server ̵ the multithreading model, the collection of processes in which DataBlade module routines can execute, and concurrent access to database objects, transactions, and so on.
The interoperability of a DataBlade® module refers to how well that module works with your HCL Informix® database server and with other DataBlade modules.
Use this section to help you when you write the design specification for your DataBlade® module.
Use BladeSmith to create DataBlade® modules.
This section contains information to help you edit and compile C language source code generated by DataBlade®.
This section describes how to use the to create ActiveX value objects. This section describes the use of C++ to implement opaque type support routines.
This section provides information for client application developers who are using ActiveX value objects.
This section contains information to help you edit and compile Java™ language source code generated by BladeSmith.
This section describes how to debug and perform functional tests for DataBlade® modules written in C for Informix® on UNIX™.
This section describes how to debug and perform functional tests for DataBlade® modules written in C and C++ for Informix® on Windows™.
BladePack creates installation packages for DataBlade® modules and other software products.
This section contains additional reference information.
The DataBlade® Developers Kit InfoShelf is designed to help you work with BladeSmith.
The J/Foundation Developer's Guide describes how to write user-defined routines (UDRs) in the Java™ programming language for Informix®.
The Informix® R-Tree Index User's Guide describes the HCL Informix R-tree secondary access method and how to access and use its components.
The Informix® User-Defined Routines and Data Types Developer's Guide describes how to define new data types and enable user-defined routines (UDRs) to extend HCL Informix.
The Informix® Virtual-Table Interface Programmer's Guide explains how to create a primary access method with the Virtual-Table Interface (VTI) so that users have a single SQL interface to HCL Informix tables and to data that does not conform to the storage scheme of HCL Informix.
The Informix® Virtual-Index Interface Programmer's Guide explains how to create a secondary access method with the Virtual-Index Interface (VII) to extend the built-in indexing schemes of HCL Informix typically with a DataBlade® module.