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Extending Informix®
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.
Creating extensions
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.
J/Foundation Developer's Guide
The J/Foundation Developer's Guide describes how to write user-defined routines (UDRs) in the Java™ programming language for Informix®.
Configuration parameters
This section documents the configuration parameters that you need to set to use UDRs written in Java™ code. Set these parameters in the database server configuration file (the onconfig file).
JVPCLASSPATH configuration parameter

Extending Informix®
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.
- Informix® extensions and DataBlade® modules
  These topics describe how to use built-in database extensions and separately installed DataBlade® modules.
- Creating extensions
  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.
  - DataBlade® API Programmer's Guide
    The Informix® DataBlade® API Programmer's Guide describes information about the DataBlade API, the C-language application programming interface (API) provided with HCL Informix.
  - DataBlade® API Function Reference
    The Informix® DataBlade® API Function Reference describes the DataBlade API functions and the subset of Informix ESQL/C functions that the DataBlade API supports.
  - DataBlade® Developers Kit
    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.
  - J/Foundation Developer's Guide
    The J/Foundation Developer's Guide describes how to write user-defined routines (UDRs) in the Java™ programming language for Informix®.
    - Concepts
      This section introduces the infrastructure for creating and executing user-defined routines (UDRs) and applications that you write in Java™ to run in the HCL Informix® database server.
    - Prepare for Java™ support
      You must install and configure software before you can write user-defined routines (UDRs) in Java™ code.
    - Configuration parameters
      This section documents the configuration parameters that you need to set to use UDRs written in Java™ code. Set these parameters in the database server configuration file (the onconfig file).
    - Create Java™ user-defined routines
      A user-defined routine (UDR) is a routine that an SQL statement or another UDR can invoke. UDRs written in Java™ code use the server-side implementation of the Informix® JDBC Driver to communicate with the database server.
    - The Informix® JDBC Driver
      All UDRs written in Java™ code can access the database server data through the Informix® JDBC Driver application programming interface (API). This section briefly describes the Informix implementation of the Informix JDBC Driver API and the server-side Informix JDBC Driver.
    - Opaque user-defined data types
      This section describes how to use opaque user-defined data types (UDTs). This section describes the default SQLData interface and how to override the default.
  - R-Tree Index User's Guide
    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.
  - User-Defined Routines and Data Types Developer's Guide
    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.
  - Virtual-Table Interface Guide
    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.
  - Virtual-Index Interface Guide
    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.

JVPCLASSPATH configuration parameter

onconfig.std value: /usr/informix/extend/krakatoa/krakatoa.jar:
/usr/informix/extend/krakatoa/jdbc.jar
takes effect: When shared memory is initialized

The JVPCLASSPATH configuration parameter is the initial Java™ classpath setting. You must modify the default setting in the configuration file by replacing /usr/informix/extend/krakatoa with JVPHOME_path, the path name in your JVPHOME configuration parameter.

JVPHOME_path/krakatoa_g.jar:JVPHOME_path/jdbc_g:jar

If you require the debug versions of the JAR files, use the following JVPCLASSPATH setting:

JVPHOME_path/krakatoa_g.jar:JVPHOME_path/jdbc_g.jar

The total number of characters available for specifying configuration values in the onconfig file is 256. The database server imposes this limit.

To specify more than 256 characters for the value of the JVPCLASSPATH parameter, you can store the value in a file and specify the keyword file: on the parameter, followed by the file name. For example, if you set the path in a file called classpath_fl in the directory /u/informix/iif2000/extend/java, you can specify the JVPCLASSPATH parameter, as the following example shows:

JVPCLASSPATH file:/u/informix/iif2000/extend/java/classpath_fl

You must specify the complete value for JVPCLASSPATH on one line in the file, just as you would normally on the configuration parameter. Do not include the parameter name JVPCLASSPATH again. The database server considers the first carriage return in the line to be the terminating carriage return for the path name.

The JVPCLASSPATH parameter is required if the number of JVPs (set in VPCLASS JVP parameter) is greater than 0.

Tip: The JVP ignores the CLASSPATH environment variable. However, you must set the CLASSPATH environment variable so that you can compile your UDRs.