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.
Informix® extensions and modules
These topics describe how to use built-in database extensions and separately installed modules.
Database Extensions User's Guide
The IBM® 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.
SQL Packages Extension
The SQL packages extension provides SPL routines that you can use in an application that is compatible with database servers other than Informix®.
DBMS_ALERT package
The DBMS_ALERT package provides a set of procedures for registering for alerts, sending alerts, and receiving alerts.

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.
  - Database Extensions User's Guide
    The IBM® 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.
    - Large object management
      The extension enables you to create a single consistent interface to large objects. It extends the concept of large objects to include data stored outside the database.
    - MQ Messaging
      IBM® WebSphere® MQ (WMQ) messaging products provide an infrastructure for distributed, asynchronous communication of data in a distributed, heterogeneous environment. The WMQ message queue allows you to easily exchange information across platforms.
    - Binary data types
      The binary18 and binaryvar data types allow you to store binary-encoded strings, which can be indexed for quick retrieval.
    - Basic Text Search
      You can perform basic text searching for words and phrases in a document repository stored in a column of a table.
    - Hierarchical data type
      The node data type helps to resolve a difficult relational database problem–transitive closure.
    - SQL Packages Extension
      The SQL packages extension provides SPL routines that you can use in an application that is compatible with database servers other than Informix®.
      - DBMS_ALERT package
        The DBMS_ALERT package provides a set of procedures for registering for alerts, sending alerts, and receiving alerts.
        REGISTER procedure
        The REGISTER procedure registers the current session to receive a specified alert.
        REMOVE procedure
        The REMOVE procedure removes registration from the current session for a specified alert.
        REMOVEALL procedure
        The REMOVEALL procedure removes registration from the current session for all alerts.
        SET_DEFAULTS procedure
        The SET_DEFAULTS procedure sets the polling interval that is used by the WAITONE and WAITANY procedures.
        SIGNAL procedure
        The SIGNAL procedure signals the occurrence of a specified alert. The signal includes a message that is passed with the alert. The message is distributed to the listeners (processes that have registered for the alert) when the SIGNAL call is issued.
        WAITANY procedure
        The WAITANY procedure waits for any registered alerts to occur.
        WAITONE procedure
        The WAITONE procedure waits for a specified alert to occur.
      - DBMS_LOB package
        The DBMS_LOB package provides the capability to operate on large objects.
      - DBMS_OUTPUT package
        The DBMS_OUTPUT package provides a set of procedures for putting messages (lines of text) in a message buffer and getting messages from the message buffer. These procedures are useful during application debugging when you need to write messages to standard output.
      - DBMS_RANDOM package
        The DBMS_RANDOM package provides a mechanism for generating random numbers. Use the INITIALIZE procedure to set the seed value, which is used by the random number generator to generate the numbers.
      - UTL_FILE package
        The UTL_FILE package provides a set of routines for reading from and writing to files on the database server file system.
    - Regex pattern matching
      Regular expressions combine literal characters and metacharaters to define the search and replace criteria. You run the functions from the Informix® Regex extension to find matches to strings, replace strings, and split strings into substrings.
  - Performing XML Publishing
    The IBM® Informix® XML User's Guide includes information about using built-in functions for XML publishing with HCL Informix.
  - Spatial Data User's Guide
    The contains information to assist you in using the HCL® Informix® spatial extension. The HCL Informix spatial extension adds custom data types and supporting routines to the server.
  - TimeSeries Data User's Guide
    The IBM® Informix® TimeSeries Data User's Guide contains information to assist you in using the TimeSeries extension with HCL 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.
- 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.
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.

DBMS_ALERT package

The DBMS_ALERT package provides a set of procedures for registering for alerts, sending alerts, and receiving alerts.

Alerts are stored in the DBMS_ALERT_EVENTS, DBMS_ALERT_REGISTERED, and DBMS_ALERT_SIGNALED tables which are created in your database when you register the package.

The DBMS_ALERT package includes the following system-defined routines.

Table 1. System-defined routines available in the DBMS_ALERT package
Routine name	Description
REGISTER procedure	Registers the current session to receive a specified alert.
REMOVE procedure	Removes registration for a specified alert.
REMOVEALL procedure	Removes registration for all alerts.
SIGNAL procedure	Signals the occurrence of a specified alert.
SET_DEFAULTS procedure	Sets the polling interval for the WAITONE and WAITANY procedures.
WAITANY procedure	Waits for any registered alert to occur.
WAITONE procedure	Waits for a specified alert to occur.

Usage notes

The procedures in the DBMS_ALERT package are useful when you want to send an alert for a specific event. For example, you might want to send an alert when a trigger is activated as the result of changes to one or more tables.