Extend operator classes

The default operator class provides only for built-in data types. You might want to extend an operator class to support an extended data type for the following reasons:
  • To enable the default operator class to handle values of the extended data type in a generic B-tree
  • To provide a new sequence for the values of the extended data type to be stored in a generic B-tree
  • To extend an operator class of some other secondary-access method so that it handles the extended data type

To extend or implement an operator class, you must define strategy and support functions that handle each extended data type you want to index. For more information, see Extend an operator class.

You must register each new operator class in the database with the CREATE OPCLASS statement. For information about this statement, refer to the HCL OneDB™ Guide to SQL: Syntax.