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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 extensionsYou 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 KitThe 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.
DBDK InfoShelfThe DataBlade® Developers Kit InfoShelf is designed to help you work with BladeSmith.
DataBlade® Developers Kit TutorialThe Tutorial is a set of exercises that demonstrate how to create extensions to HCL Informix® and package them as DataBlade® modules by using DBDK. Support for DataBlade Developers Kit (DBDK) is removed starting Informix Server 14.10.xC6.
GlossaryThis section contains additional reference information
Routine name

Routine name

A user-defined routine is typically defined in SQL and implemented in C.

When a user-defined routine is created in a database, the SQL routine and a C function are connected.

For example, the SQL function AddIntegers() is created with the following statement:

CREATE FUNCTION AddIntegers() 
RETURNS integer 
EXTERNAL NAME "$INFORMIXDIR/extend/AddInts.1.0/AddInts.bld(AddInts)" 
LANGUAGE C;

When the SQL function AddIntegers() is called, the HCL Informix® server calls the C function AddInts() in the library AddInts.bld.

The SQL object model treats routines with the same name but different parameters as different routines. For example, the HCL Informix server allows the following functions to exist in the same database and selects which one to call depending on the signature:

CREATE FUNCTION AddIntegers(integer) ...; 
CREATE FUNCTION AddIntegers(float) ...;

In C, function names must be unique. Two C functions with different names are required to implement the two user-defined routines created in the preceding SQL statements, as follows:

CREATE FUNCTION AddIntegers(integer) 
RETURNS integer 
EXTERNAL NAME "$INFORMIXDIR/extend/AddInts.1.0/AddInts.bld(AddInts)" 
LANGUAGE C;   ...  

CREATE FUNCTION AddIntegers(float) 
RETURNS float EXTERNAL NAME "$INFORMIXDIR/extend/AddInts.1.0/AddInts.bld(AddInts1)" 
LANGUAGE C;

In this example, the C function names are AddInts() and AddInts1().

For more information about routines and routine names, see the Informix User-Defined Routines and Data Types Developer's Guide.

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