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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.
GLS User's Guide
The Informix® GLS User's Guide describes the Global Language Support (GLS) feature available in Informix products.
GLS fundamentals
The Global Language Support (GLS) feature lets Informix® products handle different languages, cultural conventions, and code sets for Asian, African, European, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries.
Set a GLS locale
For the database server and the client application to communicate successfully, you must establish the appropriate GLS locales for your environment.
Set a nondefault locale
By default, HCL Informix® products use the U.S. English locale, but HCL Informix products support many other locales.

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.
  - GLS fundamentals
    The Global Language Support (GLS) feature lets Informix® products handle different languages, cultural conventions, and code sets for Asian, African, European, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries.
    - Character-representation conventions
      The examples in this documentation use ASCII characters to represent both single-byte and multibyte characters. Multibyte characters are usually ideographic (such as Chinese characters). Multibyte and single-byte characters are represented abstractly.
    - The GLS feature
      In a database application, some of the tasks that the database server and the client application perform depend on the language and culture conventions of the data that they handle.
    - A GLS locale
      In a client/server environment, both the database server and the client application must know which language the data is in to be able to process the application data correctly.
    - Set a GLS locale
      For the database server and the client application to communicate successfully, you must establish the appropriate GLS locales for your environment.
      - Locales in the client/server environment
        In a client/server environment, the client application, database server, and one or more databases might be on different computers.
      - The default locale
        HCL Informix® products use U.S. English as the default locale if you do not set the environment variables that can specify a locale.
      - Set a nondefault locale
        By default, HCL Informix® products use the U.S. English locale, but HCL Informix products support many other locales.
    - GLS locales with HCL Informix® products
      HCL Informix® products use GLS locales for several tasks.
    - Customize display formats
      You can override some display formats in the client locale.
  - GLS environment variables
    HCL Informix® products establish the client, database, and server locales with information from GLS-related environment variables and from data that is stored in the database.
  - SQL features
    These topics explain how the GLS feature affects the Informix® implementation of SQL.
  - Database server features
    These topics describe how the GLS feature affects the database server.
  - General SQL API features (ESQL/C)
    These topics explain how the GLS feature affects applications that you develop with the Informix® Client Software Development Kit.
  - Informix® ESQL/C features
    These topics explain how the GLS feature affects Informix® ESQL/C, an SQL application programming interface (API).
  - Appendix
    This section contains additional reference information.
- 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.

Set a nondefault locale

By default, HCL Informix® products use the U.S. English locale, but HCL Informix® products support many other locales.

To use a nondefault locale, you must set the following environment variables:

Set the CLIENT_LOCALE environment variable to specify the appropriate client locale.
If you do not set CLIENT_LOCALE, the client locale is the default locale, U.S. English.
Set DB_LOCALE on each client computer to specify the database locale for a client application to use when it connects to a database.
If you do not set DB_LOCALE on the client system, the client application sets DB_LOCALE to the client locale. This default value avoids the need for the client application to perform code-set conversion.
You might also want to set DB_LOCALE on the server computer so that the database server can perform operations such as the creation of databases (when the client does not specify its own DB_LOCALE).
Set the SERVER_LOCALE environment variable to specify the appropriate server locale.
If you do not set SERVER_LOCALE, the server locale is the default locale, U.S. English.

To access a database that has a nondefault locale, the CLIENT_LOCALE and DB_LOCALE settings on the client system must support this nondefault locale. Both locales must be the same, or their code sets must be convertible, as described in Perform code-set conversion.

When a client application requests a connection, the database server uses information in the client, database, and server locales to create the server-processing locale. For more information, see Establish a database connection.