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 DataBlade® 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.
DataBlade® Developers Kit
The DataBlade® Developers Kit (DBDK) guides contain information about the tools you can use to develop and package DataBlade modules, which extend the functionality of HCL Informix® databases.
DataBlade® Developers Kit User's Guide
These topics describe how to use Informix® DataBlade® Developers Kit (DBDK) tools to develop and package DataBlade modules.
Programming DataBlade® module routines in C
This section contains information to help you edit and compile C language source code generated by DataBlade®.
Compile DataBlade® module code
This section describes how to compile DataBlade® module code.
Compiling on a UNIX™ operating system

HCL Informix® V15.0 documentation
Welcome to the documentation for HCL Informix® 15.0 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 DataBlade® 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 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 DataBlade® 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 DataBlade® modules
  These topics describe how to use built-in database extensions and separately installed DataBlade® 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.
  - DataBlade® API Programmer's Guide
    These topics describe information about the DataBlade® API, the C-language application programming interface (API) provided with HCL Informix®.
  - DataBlade® API Function Reference
    These topics describe the DataBlade® API functions and the subset of IBM® Informix® ESQL/C functions that the DataBlade API supports.
  - DataBlade® Developers Kit
    The DataBlade® Developers Kit (DBDK) guides contain information about the tools you can use to develop and package DataBlade modules, which extend the functionality of HCL Informix® databases.
    - DataBlade® Module Development Overview
      These topics serve as an overview of the HCL Informix® DataBlade® module development process.The HCL Informix DataBlade module overview serves as an overview of the HCL Informix DataBlade module development process.
    - DataBlade® Developers Kit User's Guide
      These topics describe how to use Informix® DataBlade® Developers Kit (DBDK) tools to develop and package DataBlade modules.
      - Getting started with DataBlade® module development
        This section provides an overview of DataBlade® module development and describes the resources and tools the HCL Informix® database server provides to facilitate development.
      - Design DataBlade® modules
        This section describes the DataBlade® module SQL design issues.
      - Programming guidelines
        Use this section to help you when you write the design specification for your DataBlade® module.
      - Create DataBlade® objects by using BladeSmith
        Use BladeSmith to create DataBlade® modules.
      - Programming DataBlade® module routines in C
        This section contains information to help you edit and compile C language source code generated by DataBlade®.
        Prerequisite tasks
        C programming task overview
        Source files generated by BladeSmith
        When you create objects, BladeSmith generates the source files; some file names are prefixed with the name of the DataBlade® module (indicated by project). By default, BladeSmith creates the source files in the src and src\c subdirectories of the directory that contains the BladeSmith project file.
        Generated code
        Edit opaque type support routines in opaque.c
        The following subsections describe the code BladeSmith generates for each routine and modifications you might need to make to the generated code.
        Edit statistics routines in statistics.c
        Edit routines in udr.c
        Compile DataBlade® module code
        This section describes how to compile DataBlade® module code.
        Compile with tracing support
        By default, DataBlade® modules are compiled without tracing support.
        Compiling on a UNIX™ operating system
        Unresolved symbols (HCL Informix® 9.14)
        When you link on UNIX™, the system displays a list of unresolved symbols.
        Compile with debug support
        To debug your DataBlade® module while it executes in a database server process, you must build the shared object file with debugging symbols.
        Compiling on a Windows™ operating system
        On Windows™, you use the project.dsw file generated by BladeSmith to build your DataBlade® module with Visual C++ 6.0. The compiled DataBlade module links to sapi.lib. This library resolves the mi_ and ifx_ symbols that the database server uses internally.
      - Create ActiveX value objects
        This section describes how to use the Informix® DataBlade® Developers Kit (DBDK) to create ActiveX value objects. This section describes the use of C++ to implement opaque type support routines.
      - The ActiveX value objects
        This section provides information for client application developers who are using ActiveX value objects.
      - Programming DataBlade® modules in Java™
        This section contains information to help you edit and compile Java™ language source code generated by BladeSmith.
      - Debugging and testing DataBlade® modules on UNIX™
        This section describes how to debug and perform functional tests for DataBlade® modules written in C for Informix® on UNIX™.
      - Debugging and testing DataBlade® modules on Windows™
        This section describes how to debug and perform functional tests for DataBlade® modules written in C and C++ for Informix® on Windows™.
      - BladePack
        BladePack creates installation packages for DataBlade® modules and other software products.
      - Appendixes
        This section contains additional reference information.
    - DBDK InfoShelf
      The DataBlade® Developers Kit InfoShelf is designed to help you work with BladeSmith.
  - J/Foundation Developer's Guide
    These topics describe how to write user-defined routines (UDRs) in the Java™ programming language for Informix®.
  - R-Tree Index User's Guide
    These topics describe 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
    These topics describe how to define new data types and enable user-defined routines (UDRs) to extend HCL Informix®.
  - Virtual-Table Interface Guide
    These topics explain 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
    These topics explain 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 DataBlade® 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.

Compiling on a UNIX™ operating system

About this task

On UNIX™ operating systems, you use the generic ProjectU.mak makefile. This makefile includes platform-specific makefiles as files named makeinc.platform. To specify the UNIX™ operating system, set the TARGET environment variable to the path and file name of the include file for your operating system. Platform-specific files are located in the directory $INFORMIXDIR/incl/dbdk.

The makefile requires the INFORMIXDIR environment variable to be set to the HCL Informix® database server installation directory. The BINDIR variable in the makefile determines where the shared object file or dynamic link library is written.

BladeSmith creates server, all, and clean targets in the makefile. The server target builds the shared object file. The clean target deletes the shared object file or dynamic link library. The default all target is equivalent to the server target.

Important: Generate code in BladeSmith with the Format property set to UNIX™. If you generate code for a UNIX™ DataBlade® module with the DOS file format, you must convert the files to UNIX™ format before compiling.

To compile and link your DataBlade® module shared object file:

Procedure

Copy the generated src/c directory and all of its contents to your UNIX™ machine.
To compile and link shared objects on a Sun Solaris 2.5 computer with the SPARC compiler, execute the following command at the C shell:
```
setenv TARGET $INFORMIXDIR/incl/dbdk/makeinc.solaris
make -f ProjectU.mak
```

Results

The project.bld file is created in the src/solaris-sparc directory.

Important: For compiling information specific to your operating system, see your machine notes.