Map opaque data types

opaque types map to Java™ objects, which must implement the java.sql.SQLData interface. These Java objects describe all the data members that make up the opaque type. These Java objects are strongly typed; that is, each read or write method in the readSQL or writeSQL method of the Java object must match the corresponding data member in the opaque type definition.Informix® JDBC Driver cannot perform any type conversion because the type structure is unknown to it.

Informix JDBC Driver also requires that all opaque data be transported as Informix DataBlade® API data types, as defined in mitypes.h (this file is included in all installations). All opaque data is stored in the database server table in a C struct, which is made up of various DataBlade API types, as defined in the opaque type.

You do not need to handle mapping between Java and C if you use the UDT and UDR Manager facility to create opaque types. For more information, see Creating opaque types and UDRs.