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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.
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.
Data types and system tables
Specialized data types and system tables handle time series data.
TSInstanceTable table
The TSInstanceTable table contains one row for each large time series, no matter how many times it is referenced.

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.
  - 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.
    - Informix® TimeSeries solution
      Database administrators and applications developers use the Informix® TimeSeries solution to store and analyze time series data.
    - Data types and system tables
      Specialized data types and system tables handle time series data.
      - CalendarPattern data type
        The CalendarPattern data type defines the interval duration and the pattern of valid and invalid intervals in a calendar pattern.
      - Calendar data type
        The Calendar data type controls the times at which time series data can be stored.
      - TimeSeries data type
        The TimeSeries data type is constructed from a row data type and is a collection of row subtypes.
      - Time series return types
        When a routine returns a time series, calendar information is preserved and, if possible, threshold and container information is preserved.
      - CalendarPatterns table
        The CalendarPatterns table contains information about calendar patterns.
      - CalendarTable table
        The CalendarTable table maintains information about the time series calendars used by the database.
      - TSContainerTable table
        The TSContainerTable table has one row for each container.
      - TSContainerWindowTable
        The TSContainerWindowTable table has one row for each rolling window container.
      - TSInstanceTable table
        The TSInstanceTable table contains one row for each large time series, no matter how many times it is referenced.
    - Create and manage a time series through SQL
      Before you can load time series data into the database, you must configure database objects specific to your time series. You can manage data storage and remove data as necessary. You can run SQL statements to create and manage time series.
    - Virtual tables for time series data
      A virtual table provides a relational view of your time series data.
    - Pattern matching searches
      You can search time series data for matches to a particular pattern of values. For example, after you identify a pattern of abnormal electricity usage that indicates an outage, you can search for matches to that pattern to find other outages. Pattern matching searches find matches to a pattern that you supply. Pattern matching searches do not discover patterns in time series data.
    - Advanced analytics
      Advanced analytics functions provide specialized methods of analyzing time series data for patterns or abnormalities.
    - Calendar pattern routines
      You can use calendar pattern routines to manipulate calendar patterns.
    - Calendar routines
      You can use calendar routines to manipulate calendars.
    - Time series SQL routines
    - Time series Java™ class library
      You can use the time series Java™ class library to create and manage a time series from within Java applications or applets.
    - Time series API routines
      The time series application programming interface routines allow application programmers to directly access a time series datum.
    - Appendixes
  - 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.

TSInstanceTable table

The TSInstanceTable table contains one row for each large time series, no matter how many times it is referenced.

Time series smaller than the threshold you specify when you create them are stored directly in a column and do not appear in the TSInstanceTable table.

Table 1. The columns in the TSInstanceTable table
Column name	Data type	Description
id	BIGSERIAL	The serial number of the time series and the primary key for this table. You can use the InstanceId function to return this number. The instance ID is a required argument in some time series routines. The instance ID is also used to order results if an SQL query includes an ORDER BY clause on a TimeSeries column.
cal_id	INTEGER	The identification of the CalendarTable row for the time series.
flags	SMALLINT	Stores various flags for the time series. 0x01 = TSFLAGS_IRR. The time series is irregular. 0x10 = TSFLAGS_PACKED. The time series contains packed elements. 0x20 = TSFLAGS_COMPRESSED. The time series is compressed. 0x40 = TSFLAGS_HERTZ. The time series contains hertz data.
vers	SMALLINT	The version of the time series.
container_name	VARCHAR(128,1)	The name of the container of the time series. This is a reference to the primary key of the TSContainerTable table.
ref_count	INTEGER	The number of different references to the same time series instance.

The TSInstanceTable table is managed by the database server. Do not modify it directly. Rows in this table are automatically inserted or deleted when large time series are created or destroyed.