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SQL programming
You can use the HCL Informix® implementation of the SQL language to develop applications for Informix database servers.
Guide to SQL: Syntax
The Informix® Guide to SQL: Syntax describes the syntax of the statements, data types, expressions, operators, and built-in functions of the Informix dialect of the SQL language.
Other syntax segments
These topics describe syntax segments, which are language elements, such as database object names or optimizer directives, that appear as a subdiagram reference in the syntax diagrams of some SQL or SPL statements.
Database Object Name

SQL programming
You can use the HCL Informix® implementation of the SQL language to develop applications for Informix database servers.
- Guide to SQL: Syntax
  The Informix® Guide to SQL: Syntax describes the syntax of the statements, data types, expressions, operators, and built-in functions of the Informix dialect of the SQL language.
  - Overview of SQL syntax
    These topics provide an overview about how to use the SQL statements, SPL statements, and syntax segments.
  - SQL statements
    This chapter describes the syntax and semantics of SQL statements that are recognized by Informix®.
  - SPL statements
    These topics describe Stored Procedure Language (SPL) statements, which you use to write SPL routines. You can store these routines in the database as user-defined routines (UDRs).
  - Data types and expressions
    These topics describe the data types and expressions that Informix®supports.
  - Other syntax segments
    These topics describe syntax segments, which are language elements, such as database object names or optimizer directives, that appear as a subdiagram reference in the syntax diagrams of some SQL or SPL statements.
    - Arguments
    - Collection-Derived Table
      A collection-derived table is a virtual table in which the values in the rows of the table are equivalent to elements of a collection. Use this segment where you see a reference to Collection-Derived Table in a syntax diagram. This syntax is an extension to the ANSI/ISO standard for SQL.
    - Database Name
    - Database Object Name
    - External Routine Reference
      Include the External Routine Reference clause when you write an external routine. This option is not available for SPL routines.
    - Identifier
      An identifier specifies the unqualified name of a database object, such as an access method, aggregate, alias, blobspace, cast, column, constraint, correlation, data type, index, operator class, partition, procedure, table, trigger, sequence, synonym, or view. Use the Identifier segment whenever you see a reference to an identifier in a syntax diagram.
    - Jar Name
      Use the Jar Name segment to specify the name of a jar ID. Use this segment whenever you see a reference to Jar Name in a syntax diagram.
    - Optimizer Directives
      The Optimizer Directives segment specifies keywords that you can use to partially or fully specify the query plan of the optimizer. Use this segment whenever you see a reference to Optimizer Directives in a syntax diagram.
    - Owner name
      The owner name specifies the owner of a database object. Use this segment whenever you see a reference to Owner Name in a syntax diagram.
    - Purpose Options
    - Return Clause
    - Routine modifier
      A routine modifier specifies characteristics of how a user-defined routine (UDR) behaves.
    - Routine Parameter List
    - Shared-Object Filename
      Use a shared-object filename to specify a pathname to an executable object file when you register or alter an external routine.
    - Specific Name
    - Statement Block
  - Built-In Routines
  - Appendixes
- Guide to SQL: Reference
  The Informix® Guide to SQL: Reference contains the reference information for the system catalog tables, data types, and environment variables of the HCL Informix dialect of the SQL language, as implemented in HCL Informix. These topics also include information about the stores_demo, sales_demo, and superstore_demo databases that are included with HCL Informix.
- Guide to SQL: Tutorial
  The Informix® Guide to SQL: Tutorial shows how to use basic and advanced structured query language (SQL) to access and manipulate the data in your databases. It discusses the data manipulation language (DML) statements as well as triggers and stored procedure language (SPL) routines, which DML statements often use.

Database Object Name

Use the Database Object Name segment to specify the name of a database object, such as a column, table, view, or user-defined routine. Use this segment whenever you see a reference to a database object name.

Syntax

^{(explicit id dobjn101)
dobjn101} ^{(explicit id dobjn103)
dobjn103}

Database Object Name

[ ^[] database [ @dbservername ] : ]

[ <Owner Name>^[] . ]

object [ . object ]


Element	Description	Restrictions	Syntax
database	Database where object resides	Must exist.	Database Name
dbservername	Database server of database	Must exist. No space after `@`.	Identifier
object	Name of a database object	See Usage.	Identifier

Usage

A database object name can include qualifiers and separator symbols to specify a database, a server, an owner, and (for some objects) another object of which the current database object is a component. For example, this expression specifies the unit-price column of the stock table, owned by user informix, in the stores_demo database of a database server called butler:

stores_demo@butler:informix.stock.unit_price

If you are creating or renaming a database object, the new name that you declare must be unique among objects of the same type in the database. Thus, the name of a new view must be unique among the names and synonyms of tables, views, and sequence objects that already exist in the same database. (But a view can have the same name as a view in a different database of the same server, or the same name as a trigger, for example, because these are different types of objects.)

In an ANSI-compliant database, the owner.object combination must be unique in the database for the type of object. A database object specification must include the owner name for a database object that you do not own. For example, if you specify a table that you do not own, you must also specify the owner of the table. The owner of all the system catalog tables is informix.

In Informix®, the uniqueness requirement does not apply to the name of a user defined routine (UDR). For more information, see Routine Overloading and Routine Signatures.

Characters from the code set of your database locale are valid in database object names. For more information, see Informix® GLS User's Guide.

¹ Informix® extension

² See Owner name