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.
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®.
Create Java™ user-defined routines
A user-defined routine (UDR) is a routine that an SQL statement or another UDR can invoke. UDRs written in Java™ code use the server-side implementation of the HCL Informix® JDBC Driver to communicate with the database server.
Registering Java™ user-defined routines
For a UDR to be invoked in an SQL statement, it must be registered in the current database. Use the CREATE FUNCTION and CREATE PROCEDURE statements to register UDRs.
Specify the external name

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.
  - 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®.
    - Concepts
      This section introduces the infrastructure for creating and executing user-defined routines (UDRs) and applications that you write in Java™ to run in the HCL Informix® database server.
    - Prepare for Java™ support
      You must install and configure software before you can write user-defined routines (UDRs) in Java™ code.
    - Configuration parameters
      This section documents the configuration parameters that you need to set to use UDRs written in Java™ code. Set these parameters in the database server configuration file (the onconfig file).
    - Create Java™ user-defined routines
      A user-defined routine (UDR) is a routine that an SQL statement or another UDR can invoke. UDRs written in Java™ code use the server-side implementation of the HCL Informix® JDBC Driver to communicate with the database server.
      - Java™ user-defined routines
      - Limitations for Java™ UDRs
      - Creating a Java™ user-defined routine in the server
        When you create Java™ user-defined routines (UDRs) in the server, you need to write and compile the source code and then install the finished code in the database server.
      - Packages for Java™ user-defined routines
        Various packages can be used to create Java™ user-defined routines (UDRs).
      - Creating UDT-to-Java mappings
        The routine manager needs a mapping between SQL data values and Java™ objects to be able to pass parameters to and retrieve return results from a UDR. The SQL-to-Java data type mapping is performed according to the HCL Informix® JDBC Driver specification.
      - Registering Java™ user-defined routines
        For a UDR to be invoked in an SQL statement, it must be registered in the current database. Use the CREATE FUNCTION and CREATE PROCEDURE statements to register UDRs.
        Specify the JVP
        To execute, a UDR written in Java™ code must run in a JVP. The JVP is a predefined virtual-processor class that contains a Java virtual machine to interpret Java byte codes.
        Routine modifiers
        The routine modifiers that you specify in the WITH clause of the CREATE FUNCTION or CREATE PROCEDURE statement tell the database server about attributes of the UDR.
        Specify the external name
      - A deployment descriptor
        A deployment descriptor allows you to include in a JAR file the SQL statements for creating and dropping the UDRs. Both sqlj.install_jar() and sqlj.remove_jar() take parameters that, when set appropriately, cause the procedure to search for deployment descriptor files in the JAR file.
      - A manifest file
        The manifest file specifies the names of the deployment descriptor files that a JAR file contains. The m option of the jar command incorporates the manifest file into the default manifest of the JAR. Starting with Informix 14.10, the manifest file can also specify a properties file used to describe automated registration. See Automatic Deployment (Enhanced Class Deployment )
      - Enhanced Class Deployment
        J/Foundation now supports an easier mechanism for deploying JUDR classes. While you can continue to use the deployment descriptor to define the SQL statements to register each method in a JUDR class, you can use the Enhanced Class Deployment feature to simplify the registration of each method.
      - Compiling the Java™ code
        A UDR written in Java™ code is implemented by a static method in a Java class.
      - Install a JAR file
        JAR files contain the code for the UDRs. For an SQL statement to be able to include a UDR written in Java™ code, you must install the JAR file in the current database. When a JAR file is installed, the routine manager of the database server can load the appropriate Java class when the UDR is invoked.
      - Update JAR file names
      - Execute the user-defined routine
      - Debugging and tracing
        As with a UDR written in C, a UDR written in Java™ code might generate the SQL messages for UDR and errors when it executes. UDRs written in Java code adopt the HCL Informix® JDBC Driver error-reporting mechanism as well.
      - Find information about user-defined routines
      - Comply with SQLJ
    - The Informix® JDBC Driver
      All UDRs written in Java™ code can access the database server data through the HCL Informix® JDBC Driver application programming interface (API). This section briefly describes the Informix implementation of the API and the server-side .
    - Opaque user-defined data types
      This section describes how to use opaque user-defined data types (UDTs). This section describes the default SQLData interface and how to override the default.
  - 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.

Specify the external name

The following diagram details the external-name portion of the CREATE ROUTINE (or FUNCTION or PROCEDURE) statement for a UDR written in Java™ code.

Java™ external name


Element	Purpose	Restrictions
class_name	Class to which the UDR belongs	Must be an existing class.
database	Database where the jar exists If omitted, defaults to the current database.	Must be an existing database.
jar_name	JAR identifier as specified in the install_jar() statement	Must be an existing JAR name.
java_datatype	Name of a Java™ data type The second column of the following table shows data types and class names that you can use for this variable.	Must be a Java™ data type.
method	Name of the static method of the UDR	Must be an existing method.
owner	Owner of the jar. If omitted, default is the current user.	Must be an existing user name.
package_name	Name of a package	Required if the UDR classes are in a package.

When used within a deployment descriptor, the THISJAR keyword automatically expands to the SQLJ-defined three-part JAR path.

The following table shows mapping between SQL data values and Java™ types. Use the values in the second column for the java_datatype variable.

Table 1. Mapping between SQL data values and Java™ types
SQL data type	Java™ type
CHAR(1)	char
CHAR(1)	java.lang.Character
CHAR()	Java™.lang.String
CHARACTER()	java.lang.String
CHARACTER VARYING()	java.lang.String
VARCHAR	java.lang.String
LVARCHAR	java.lang.String
SMALLINT	short
SMALLINT	java.lang.Short
INTEGER	int
INTEGER	java.lang.Integer
INT8	long
INT8	java.lang.Long
SMALLFLOAT	float
SMALLFLOAT	java.lang.Float
REAL	float
REAL	java.lang.Float
FLOAT	double
FLOAT	java.lang.Double
DOUBLE PRECISION	double
DOUBLE PRECISION	java.lang.Double
DECIMAL	java.math.BigDecimal
MONEY	java.math.BigDecimal
NUMERIC	java.math.BigDecimal
BOOLEAN	boolean
BOOLEAN	java.lang.Boolean
DATE	java.sql.Date
DATETIME HOUR TO SECOND	java.sql.Time
DATETIME YEAR TO FRACTION	java.sql.Timestamp
INTERVAL	java.lang.String
BLOB	java.sql.Blob
CLOB	java.sql.Clob