Why create a module?

You can extend your HCL Informix® database server without creating a module by executing the SQL statements to create each object individually. However, the advantages of packaging extended database objects in a module are control and code reuse.

Control

modules contain all related extended objects, enabling you to easily install, upgrade, and remove a whole module at once. If you need to fix a problem or add a feature to a program, you only have to do it in one place-the module. Because a module is a package ready to be distributed commercially or internally, these changes can be easily extended to any application that uses the module. In addition, modules make it easy for you to maintain version information about the software.

Code reuse

modules can use the functionality of other modules through interfaces. Interfaces are references to other modules. When you include an interface in a module, you create a dependency so that your module can be used only if the module that provides the interface is installed in the database server.