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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.
Informix® extensions and DataBlade® modules
These topics describe how to use built-in database extensions and separately installed DataBlade® modules.
Spatiotemporal Search for Moving Objects User's Guide
The describes how to program applications to search data from moving objects in HCL Informix® databases using the spatiotemporal search extension.
Getting started with spatiotemporal search for moving objects
You use spatiotemporal searches to track moving objects. You create a spatiotemporal search index on the time-stamped GPS data that is stored in a historian database as time series.
Requirements for the Spatiotemporal Search extension
The Informix® Spatiotemporal Search extension requires the Informix TimeSeries extension, the Informix Spatial extension, and the R-tree index extension. The time series that you create for spatiotemporal search must conform to certain requirements.

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.
  - Database Extensions User's Guide
    The Informix® Database Extensions User's Guide explains how to use the database extensions that come with HCL Informix: Large Object Locator, MQ messaging, binary data types, basic text search, node data type, and SQL packages.
  - Performing XML Publishing
    The Informix® XML User's Guide includes information about using built-in functions for XML publishing with Informix.
  - Spatiotemporal Search for Moving Objects User's Guide
    The describes how to program applications to search data from moving objects in HCL Informix® databases using the spatiotemporal search extension.
    - What's new in Spatiotemporal searching for Informix®, Version 14.10
      This publication includes information about new features and changes in existing functions.
    - Getting started with spatiotemporal search for moving objects
      You use spatiotemporal searches to track moving objects. You create a spatiotemporal search index on the time-stamped GPS data that is stored in a historian database as time series.
      - Spatiotemporal Search solution architecture
        The Informix® Spatiotemporal Search solution consists of built-in functions.
      - Requirements for the Spatiotemporal Search extension
        The Informix® Spatiotemporal Search extension requires the Informix TimeSeries extension, the Informix Spatial extension, and the R-tree index extension. The time series that you create for spatiotemporal search must conform to certain requirements.
      - Spatiotemporal search indexing
        Before you start indexing spatiotemporal data, you must decide how to configure the data and where to store the spatiotemporal tables and indexes.
      - Example for spatiotemporal searching
        In this example, you create and load a time series that contains location data. You start spatiotemporal indexing and then run spatiotemporal searches.
      - Spatiotemporal searches
        You run spatiotemporal search functions within SQL statements to find information about moving objects. Trajectories, positions, and regions are represented with spatial data types.
    - Spatiotemporal search tables
      The spatiotemporal search tables contain spatiotemporal data and information about spatiotemporal search indexes.
    - Spatiotemporal search routines
  - TimeSeries Data User's Guide
    The Informix® TimeSeries Data User's Guide contains information to assist you in using the TimeSeries extension with HCL Informix.
  - Web DataBlade Module
    Use the Web DataBlade® module to create web applications that incorporate data that is retrieved dynamically from the HCL Informix® database.
- 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.

Requirements for the Spatiotemporal Search extension

The Informix® Spatiotemporal Search extension requires the Informix® TimeSeries extension, the Informix® Spatial extension, and the R-tree index extension. The time series that you create for spatiotemporal search must conform to certain requirements.

Software and hardware requirements

The Spatiotemporal Search extension is subject to the hardware and software requirements of the TimeSeries and the Spatial extensions.

Database and table requirements

The database can be a standard database or a tenant database.

All valid configurations of time series tables are supported.

The TimeSeries extension must be registered in the database and a time series table must exist.

The Spatial and R-tree index extensions must be registered in the database.

Time series definition

Although a regular time series is supported, an irregular time series is more appropriate for moving object data.

All types of time series data are supported, including hertz, compressed, and BSON data.

You can use rolling window containers, but you must manually rebuild the spatiotemporal index when you attach or detach rolling window intervals.

TimeSeries subtype requirements

Your latitude and longitude data must be FLOAT values that use the spatial reference system 4326 (WGS 84). In the TimeSeries subtype, the latitude and longitude values can be in two FLOAT columns or in a single BSON column that contains documents with FLOAT values.

You can use the default TimeSeries subtype structure to optimize your spatiotemporal indexing performance. The default TimeSeries subtype must have the following structure:

The first column is the time stamp field. This requirement is true of all TimeSeries subtypes.
The second column has a FLOAT data type to hold longitude data.
The third column has a FLOAT data type to hold latitude data.
Optional additional columns can have any data type that is supported in a TimeSeries subtype.

If your TimeSeries subtype does not have the default structure, you must identify the sources of your location data in the position field of the BSON parameters document when you start spatiotemporal indexing.

Replication

You can replicate spatiotemporal indexes between a high-availability data replication primary server and a read-only secondary server.