Data structures for smart large objects

Informix® ESQL/C supports the SQL data types CLOB and BLOB with the ifx_lo_t data type. Because of the potentially huge size of smart-large-object data, the Informix® ESQL/C program does not store the data directly in a host variable. Instead, the client application accesses the data as a file-like structure. To use smart-large-object variables in the Informix® ESQL/C program, take the following actions:

• Declare a host variable with the ifx_lo_t data type.

  For more information, see Declare a host variable.

• Access the smart large object with a combination of the following three data structures:
  • The LO-specification structure, ifx_lo_create_spec_t

    For more information, see The LO-specification structure and Obtain storage characteristics.

  • The LO-pointer structure, ifx_lo_t

    For more information, see Deallocate the LO-specification structure.

  • An integer LO file descriptor

    For more information, see Open a smart large object.