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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.
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.
What is Informix® ESQL/C?
Character and string data types
These topics explain how to use character data types in the Informix® ESQL/C program.
Fetch and insert character data types
Fetch and insert CHAR data
When an application uses a character host variable to fetch or insert a CHAR value, Informix® ESQL/C must ensure that the character value fits into the host variable or database column.
Insert CHAR data

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.
  - What is Informix® ESQL/C?
    - Informix® ESQL/C programming
    - Compile programs
    - Informix® ESQL/C data types
      These topics contain information about the correspondence between SQL and C data types and how to handle data types in the Informix® ESQL/C program.
    - Character and string data types
      These topics explain how to use character data types in the Informix® ESQL/C program.
      - Character data types
        Informix® ESQL/C supports five data types that can hold character data that you retrieve from and send to the database.
      - Fetch and insert character data types
        Fetch and insert CHAR data
        When an application uses a character host variable to fetch or insert a CHAR value, Informix® ESQL/C must ensure that the character value fits into the host variable or database column.
        Fetch CHAR data
        Insert CHAR data
        Fetch and insert VARCHAR data
        Fetch and insert lvarchar data
        When an application uses a lvarchar host variable to fetch or insert a data value, Informix® ESQL/C must ensure that the value fits into the host variable or database column.
        Fetch and insert with an ANSI-compliant database
      - Character and string library functions
    - Numeric data types
    - Time data types
      These topics explain how to use date, datetime, and interval data types in the Informix® ESQL/C program.
    - Simple large objects
      A simple large object is a large object that is stored in a blobspace on disk and is not recoverable.
    - Smart large objects
      A smart large object is a data type that stores large, non-relational data objects such as images, sound clips, documents, graphics, maps and other large objects, and allows you to perform read, write, and seek operations on those objects.
    - Complex data types
      These topics explain how to use collection and row data types in the Informix® ESQL/C program.
    - Opaque data types
      These topics explain how to use the lvarchar, fixed binary, and var binary data types to access an opaque data type from the Informix® ESQL/C program. Use these Informix ESQL/C data types to represent an opaque data type as it is transferred to and from Informix.
  - Database server communication
  - Dynamic SQL
  - Appendixes
    This section contains additional reference information.
- 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.
- 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.

Insert CHAR data

An application can insert data from a character host variable (char, string, fixchar, varchar, or lvarchar) into a database column of type CHAR. If the value is shorter than the size of the database column then the database server pads the value with blanks up to the size of the column.

If the value is longer than the size of the column the database server truncates the value if the database is non-ANSI. No warning is generated when this truncation occurs. If the database is ANSI and the value is longer than the column size then the insert fails and this error is returned:

-1279: Value exceeds string column length.

Although char, varchar, lvarchar, and string host variables contain null terminators, Informix® ESQL/C never inserts these characters into a database column. (Host variables of type fixchar must never contain null characters.)

If you use the locale-sensitive character data type, NCHAR, you can insert a value from a character host variable into an NCHAR column. Insertion into NCHAR columns follows the same behavior as insertion into CHAR columns. For more information about how to declare host variables for the NCHAR data type, see the Informix® GLS User's Guide.

Do not use the fixchar data type for host variables that insert character data into ANSI-compliant databases.