Welcome
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 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.
Programmer's Guide
The HCL® Informix® DataBlade® API Programmer's Guide describes information about the , the C-language application programming interface (API) provided with HCL Informix.
Data manipulation
Smart large objects
Smart large objects
Information about a smart large object
The database server keeps storage characteristics and status information about a smart large object: The database server stores this information in a metadata area of the sbspace for the smart large object.
Storage characteristics
The storage characteristics tell the database server how to manage a smart large object in an sbspace.

HCL Informix® V15.0.0 documentation
Welcome to the documentation for HCL Informix® 15.0.0 and related client tools and products.
Product overview
HCL Informix® is a fast and scalable database server that manages traditional relational, object-relational, and dimensional databases. Its small footprint and self-managing capabilities are suited to embedded data-management solutions.
Installing
These topics describe how to install HCL Informix® database servers, client products, and modules.
Administering
In addition to administering the database server, you can tune performance, replicate data, and archive data.
Migrating and upgrading
You can upgrade to the 15.0.0 release of HCL Informix® or migrate from other database servers to Informix. Upgrading is an in-place migration method that uses your existing hardware and operating system software. Some changes to the Informix database server can affect upgrading from a previous release.
Client APIs and tools
You can use the HCL Informix® implementation of client APIs to develop applications for Informix database servers.
Embedding Informix®
When you embed HCL Informix®, you can use enterprise-class high-availability and high performance with embeddability features such as easy programmability, a small disk and memory footprint, and silent deployment.
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 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 modules
  These topics describe how to use built-in database extensions and separately installed 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.
  - Programmer's Guide
    The HCL® Informix® DataBlade® API Programmer's Guide describes information about the , the C-language application programming interface (API) provided with HCL Informix.
    - overview
    - Data manipulation
      - Numeric data types
        This section describes these numeric data types and the functions that the supports to process numeric data.
      - Date and time data types
        This section describes the date and time data types and the functions that the supports to process date and time data.
      - Complex data types
        This section describes the complex data types and the functions that the supports to process collection and row-type data.
      - Smart large objects
        Smart large objects
        Parts of a smart large object
        Each smart large object has two parts: the sbspace, which stores the data of the smart large object, and an LO handle, which identifies the location of the smart-large-object data in its sbspace.
        Information about a smart large object
        The database server keeps storage characteristics and status information about a smart large object: The database server stores this information in a metadata area of the sbspace for the smart large object.
        Storage characteristics
        The storage characteristics tell the database server how to manage a smart large object in an sbspace.
        Disk-storage information
        Disk-storage information helps the smart-large-object optimizer of the database server determine how to manage the smart large object most efficiently on disk. The smart-large-object optimizer manages the allocation of and access to smart large objects in an sbspace.
        Attribute information
        Open-mode information
        When you open a smart large object, you can specify the open mode for the data. The open mode describes the context in which the I/O operations on the smart large object are performed.
        Status information
        Storing a smart large object in a database
        To store a smart large object in a database, you must save its LO handle in a column. This section describes the valid data types to hold an LO handle and how to access a smart large object.
        The smart-large-object interface
        The smart-large-object interface contains a set of functions and data types to provide access to smart large objects.
        Creating a smart large object
        Accessing a smart large object
        Modify a smart large object
        After you have an LO file descriptor for an open smart large object, you can modify the smart large object by updating the smart large object or by altering some storage characteristics of the smart large object.
        Obtaining status information for a smart large object
        Delete a smart large object
        Convert a smart large object to a file or buffer
        The provides support for the conversion of a smart large object to or from either an operating-system file or a user-defined buffer.
        Convert an LO handle between binary and text
        The library provides functions that convert between the binary (internal) representation of an LO handle and its text (string) representation.
        Transfer an LO handle between computers (Server)
        For an LO handle to be portable when transferred across different computer architectures, the provides functions to handle type alignment and byte order.
        Using byte-range locking
        By default, the database server uses whole lock-all locks when it needs to lock a smart large object. Lock-all locks are an all or nothing lock; that is, they lock the entire smart large object.
        Pass a NULL connection (Server)
        Many functions in the smart-large-object interface take a connection descriptor as a parameter. However, many of the functions also accept a NULL-valued pointer as a connection descriptor.
    - Database access
    - Create user-defined routines
    - Appendix
      This section contains additional reference information.
  - Function Reference
    The IBM® Informix® DataBlade® API Function Reference describes the functions and the subset of functions that the supports.
  - Developers Kit
    The Developers Kit (DBDK) guides contain information about the tools you can use to develop and package modules, which extend the functionality of HCL Informix® databases.
  - J/Foundation Developer's Guide
    The HCL® J/Foundation Developer's Guide describes how to write user-defined routines (UDRs) in the Java™ programming language for Informix®.
  - R-Tree Index User's Guide
    The HCL® 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 HCL® 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 IBM® 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 IBM® 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 module.
Data warehousing
In addition to designing and implementing Informix® dimensional databases, you can use tools to create data warehouse applications and optimize your data warehouse queries.
Designing databases
The first step in creating a relational database is to construct a data model, which is a precise, complete definition of the data you want to store. After you prepare your data model, you must implement it as a database and tables. To implement your data model, you first select a data type for each column and then you create a database and tables and populate the tables with data. You can also implement fragmentation strategies and control access to your data.
JSON compatibility
You can use the popular JSON-oriented query language created by MongoDB to interact with data stored in HCL Informix®.
Security
You can secure your Informix® database server and the data that is stored in your Informix databases. You can encrypt data, secure connections, control user privileges and access, and audit data security.
SQL programming
You can use the HCL Informix® implementation of the SQL language to develop applications for Informix database servers.
Troubleshooting HCL Informix®
Several troubleshooting techniques, tools, and resources are available for resolving problems that you encounter in your HCL Informix® database server environment.

Storage characteristics

The storage characteristics tell the database server how to manage a smart large object in an sbspace.

Three groups of information make up the storage characteristics for a smart large object:

Disk-storage information
Attribute information
Open-mode information

You can specify storage characteristics at three points.


When specified	Method of specification
When an sbspace is created	Options of onspaces utility
When a database table is created	Keywords in PUT clause of CREATE TABLE statement
When a smart large object is created	functions

The following topics describe the three groups of storage characteristics.