Front cover IBM Informix Developer’s Handbook Learn application development with supported APIs, drivers, and interfaces Understand Informix supported programming environments Follow practical examples to develop an Informix application Whei-Jen Chen Krishna Doddi Manoj Ghogale David Jay Javier Sagrera ibm.com/redbooks International Technical Support Organization IBM Informix Developer’s Handbook October 2010 SG24-7884-00 Note: Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices” on page ix. First Edition (October 2010) This edition applies to IBM Informix Version 11.5. © Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2010. All rights reserved. Note to U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights -- Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp. Contents Notices . ix Trademarks . x Preface . xi The team who wrote this book . xi Acknowledgements . xiii Now you can become a published author, too! . xiii Comments welcome. xiv Stay connected to IBM Redbooks . xiv Chapter 1. Introduction to IBM Informix . 1 1.1 Server options . 2 1.1.1 Informix servers. 2 1.2 Informix tools for developers . 9 1.2.1 Informix Connect . 9 1.2.2 Informix Client Software Development Kit. 9 1.2.3 4GL . 15 1.2.4 Ruby on Rails . 15 1.2.5 Informix DataBlade Developers Kit . 15 1.2.6 Informix Spatial DataBlade . 16 1.2.7 PHP on Informix . 17 1.3 Informix overview . 17 1.3.1 Architecture overview . 18 1.3.2 Informix developer environment . 21 1.3.3 Informix capabilities. 22 Chapter 2. Setting up an Informix development environment . 25 2.1 Server setup . 26 2.1.1 Planning for the installation . 26 2.1.2 Installing Informix Server. 26 2.1.3 Configuring Informix Server . 27 2.2 Client setup . 34 2.2.1 Informix Client options. 34 2.2.2 Installing and setting up Client SDK . 36 2.2.3 Setting up IBM Data Server drivers. 43 2.2.4 Setting up Informix JDBC . 53 Chapter 3. Working with the ODBC driver . 57 3.1 ODBC and Informix . 58 © Copyright IBM Corp. 2010. All rights reserved. iii 3.2 Setup and configuration . 58 3.2.1 IBM Informix ODBC Driver . 58 3.2.2 IBM Data Server Driver for ODBC and CLI. 70 3.2.3 Verifying connectivity . 74 3.3 Developing an ODBC application . 75 3.3.1 Connecting to the database . 75 3.3.2 Type mapping . 79 3.3.3 Performing database operations . 82 3.3.4 Handling special data types . 95 3.3.5 Error handling . 112 3.3.6 Troubleshooting . 117 Chapter 4. Working with ESQL/C . 125 4.1 Informix ESQL/C . 126 4.2 Setup and configuration . 127 4.3 Windows system configuration . 127 4.4 Developing an ESQL/C application . 128 4.4.1 Creating an ESQL/C application . 128 4.4.2 Performing database operations . 133 4.4.3 Data types mapping . 141 4.4.4 Handling special data types . 142 4.4.5 Exception handling . 148 4.4.6 Troubleshooting . 150 Chapter 5. Working with the JDBC drivers . 153 5.1 JDBC drivers for an Informix database . 154 5.1.1 IBM Informix JDBC Driver . 154 5.1.2 IBM Data Server Driver for JDBC and SQLJ . 156 5.2 Setup and configuration . 157 5.2.1 Configuration. 157 5.2.2 Verify connectivity with Informix JDBC Driver . 158 5.2.3 Verify connectivity with the Data Server Driver . 160 5.3 JDBC type mapping . 161 5.4 Performing database operations . 163 5.4.1 Connection to the database . 163 5.4.2 Manipulating data . 168 5.5 Informix additional features . 174 5.5.1 Batch inserts or updates and using ResultSet metadata . 175 5.5.2 BIGSERIAL data type . 177 5.5.3 Informix smart large objects . 178 5.5.4 Secure Socket Layer. 182 5.6 Typical errors. 185 5.6.1 Class not found errors. 186 iv IBM Informix Developer’s Handbook 5.6.2 Connectivity errors . 186 5.6.3 Syntax errors. 187 5.7 Tracing . 187 5.7.1 IBM Informix JDBC Driver . 187 5.7.2 IBM Data Server Driver for JDBC . 188 Chapter 6. IBM Informix with Hibernate . 189 6.1 Hibernate for Java . 190 6.1.1 Overview of Hibernate. 190 6.1.2 Hibernate concepts . 191 6.2 Setup and configuration . 192 6.2.1 Installation . 192 6.2.2 Configuration. ..