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.
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.
R-tree secondary access method concepts

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.
  - 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.
    - R-tree secondary access method concepts
      - About access methods
      - The R-tree secondary access method
      - About operator classes
      - R-tree functionality that HCL Informix® provides
        Informix® provides R-tree functionality in the R-tree secondary access method extension.
    - The R-tree secondary access method
    - Develop DataBlade® modules that use the R-tree secondary access method
    - Manage databases that use the R-tree secondary access method
    - Appendix
  - 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.

R-tree secondary access method concepts

These topics provide a detailed discussion of the R-tree secondary access method and an in-depth discussion about how R-tree indexes work.

DataBlade® module developers can use the Informix® DataBlade® Developers Kit (DBDK) to develop the objects that form the DataBlade® module that uses the R-tree access method. The Informix® DataBlade® Developers Kit (DBDK) automatically generates most of the SQL commands and some of the C code needed to create the objects. For purposes of clarity, however, this guide gives examples of the SQL commands and C code so that the process of creating the objects is easier to understand.

This guide uses the Shapes3 sample DataBlade® module, described in Shapes3 sample DataBlade module, to illustrate how to use the R-tree access method and how to create DataBlade® modules that implement the R-tree access method.