Select a smart large object using ifx_lo functions

A SELECT statement does not perform the actual output for the smart-large-object data. It does, however, establish a means for the application to identify a smart large object so that the application can then perform operations on the smart large object.

The following figure shows how the database server transfers the data of a smart large object to the application.
Figure 1: Transferring smart-large-object data from database server to client application

This graphic illustrates the steps necessary to transfer smart-large-object data from a database server to a client application. This graphic is composed of two boxes in a vertical line and connected by a down facing arrow. The first box contains these two steps: 1. Execute SELECT statement. 2. Obtain smart-large-object pointer structure. The second box contains this step: 3. Use client functions to access data through the smart-large-object pointer structure.