Welcome
Client APIs and tools
You can use the HCL Informix® implementation of client APIs to develop applications for Informix database servers.
GLS User's Guide
The HCL® Informix® GLS User's Guide describes the Global Language Support (GLS) feature available in HCL Informix products.
Database server features
These topics describe how the GLS feature affects the database server.
Locale support for C User-defined routines (Informix® and DB API)
HCL Informix® allows you to create user-defined routines (UDRs) that are written in the C programming language.
The HCL® Informix® GLS library
The HCL® Informix® GLS library is an application programming interface (API) through which developers of user-defined routines and of modules can create globalized applications.
Compatibility of wide-character data types
Wide character data types are an alternative form for the processing of multibyte characters. A wide-character form of a code set involves the normalization of the size of each multibyte character so that each character is the same size.

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.
- Change Data Capture API Programmer's Guide
  The HCL® Informix® Change Data Capture API Programmer's Guide describes how to program applications to process changed data from HCL Informix databases using the HCL Informix Change Data Capture API.
- Embedded SQLJ for HCL Informix®
  The HCL® Informix® Embedded SQLJ User's Guide contains information about using IBM Informix Embedded SQLJ.
- ESQL/C Guide
  The HCL® Informix® Enterprise Replication Guide explains how to use , the Informix implementation of Embedded Structured Query Language (SQL) for C (ESQL/C), to create client applications with database-management capabilities.
- GLS User's Guide
  The HCL® Informix® GLS User's Guide describes the Global Language Support (GLS) feature available in HCL Informix products.
  - GLS fundamentals
    The Global Language Support (GLS) feature lets HCL® Informix® products handle different languages, cultural conventions, and code sets for Asian, African, European, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries.
  - GLS environment variables
    HCL Informix® products establish the client, database, and server locales with information from GLS-related environment variables and from data that is stored in the database.
  - SQL features
    These topics explain how the GLS feature affects the HCL® Informix® implementation of SQL.
  - Database server features
    These topics describe how the GLS feature affects the database server.
    - GLS support by HCL® Informix® database servers
      The database server can perform read and write operations to the operating-system files:
    - Locale-specific support for utilities
      This section provides information that is specific to the use of the GLS feature by database server utilities.
    - Locale support for C User-defined routines (Informix® and DB API)
      HCL Informix® allows you to create user-defined routines (UDRs) that are written in the C programming language.
      - Current® processing locale for UDRs
        To access a database, a client application first requests a connection to the database server, which must verify that it can access the specified database and establish the connection between the client and this database.
      - Non-ASCII characters in source code
        Non-ASCII characters might appear in the contexts in a C-UDR source file:
      - Copy character data
        When you copy data, you must ensure that the buffers are an adequate size to hold the data.
      - The HCL® Informix® GLS library
        The HCL® Informix® GLS library is an application programming interface (API) through which developers of user-defined routines and of modules can create globalized applications.
        Character processing with HCL® Informix® GLS
        The macros and functions of HCL® Informix® GLS provide access within a module to GLS locales for culture-specific information.
        Compatibility of wide-character data types
        Wide character data types are an alternative form for the processing of multibyte characters. A wide-character form of a code set involves the normalization of the size of each multibyte character so that each character is the same size.
      - Code-set conversion and the
        Within a UDR, the does not perform any code-set conversion automatically.
      - Locale-specific data formatting
        When a C UDR handles strings that contain display formats for date, time, numeric, or monetary data, you must write the UDR so that it handles any locale-specific formats of these display formats.
      - Globalized exception messages
        The function mi_db_error_raise() sends an exception message to an exception callback.
      - Globalized tracing messages
        The API supports trace messages that correspond to a particular locale. The current database locale determines which code set the trace message uses.
      - Locale-sensitive data in an opaque data type
        An opaque data type is fully encapsulated. Its internal structure is not known to the database server.
  - General SQL API features (ESQL/C)
    These topics explain how the GLS feature affects applications that you develop with the HCL Informix® Client Software Development Kit.
  - features
    These topics explain how the GLS feature affects , an SQL application programming interface (API).
  - Appendix
    This section contains additional reference information.
- Informix GLS API
  The Informix GLS API Programmer's Guide describes the global language support (GLS) application programming interface (API) available in Informix® ESQL/C and HCL Informix modules.
- Informix® Object Interface for C++ Guide
  The Informix® Object Interface for C++ Programmer's Guide describes how to develop HCL Informix client applications by using the object-oriented C++ programming language.
- Informix® ODBC Driver Guide
  The Informix® ODBC Driver Programmer's Manual serves as a user guide and reference for HCL Informix ODBC Driver, which is the Informix implementation of the Microsoft™ Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) interface, Version 3.0.
- .NET provider options
  The HCL Data Server Provider for .NET IBM® DB2® provider option is the preferred Informix® provider for developing new applications.
- HCL Informix 4GL
  This topic provides a link to the Informix 4GL documentation.
- Informix® JDBC Driver Guide
  The HCL® Informix® JDBC Driver Programmer's Guide describes how to install, load, and use HCL Informix JDBC Driver to connect to the Informix database from within a Java™ application or applet.
- Informix International Language Supplement (ILS) User Guide
  These topics include information about the translated user interface files for Informix® UNIX™ products, locales, and code set conversion tables
- Informix® OLE DB Provider Guide
  The HCL Informix OLE DB Provider Programmer's Guide describes the software requirements for using HCL Informix® OLE DB Provider, show how to install and configure the provider for your use, and explain how to use Informix OLE DB Provider to enable client applications, such as ActiveX Data Object (ADO) applications and web pages, to access data on the Informix server.
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.
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.

Compatibility of wide-character data types

Wide character data types are an alternative form for the processing of multibyte characters. A wide-character form of a code set involves the normalization of the size of each multibyte character so that each character is the same size.

A legacy module might use any of the following data types to hold wide characters.


Wide-character data type	Description	Drawback
mi_wchar	A legacy data type currently defined as unsigned short on all systems	The does not provide wide-character functions that operate on mi_wchar values.
wchar_t	An operating-system data type that is platform-specific	The operating-system provides wide-character functions that operate on wchar_t values. Use of these functions is platform-specific.

The HCL® Informix® GLS library provides the gl_wchar_t data type for support of wide characters. HCL® Informix® GLS also provides its own set of wide-character functions that operate on gl_wchar_t. Use of the HCL® Informix® GLS wide-character functions removes platform dependency from your application and provides access within your module to HCL® Informix® GLS locales.

The HCL® Informix® GLS library does not provide any functions for conversion between gl_wchar_t and mi_wchar or gl_wchar_t an wchar_t. If a module continues to use either mi_wchar or wchar_t and also needs to use the HCL® Informix® GLS wide-character processing, you must write code to perform any necessary conversions.