Organization of This Manual

• This introduction provides an overview of the contents of the guide, describes documentation conventions used, and lists additional books to supplement the information in the DataBlade Developers Kit User's Guide.
• Chapter 1, "Getting Started with DataBlade Module Development," describes the process for developing a DataBlade module.
• Chapter 2, "Designing DataBlade Modules," discusses DataBlade module design issues. This chapter helps you to design DataBlade modules that perform well, cooperate with other DataBlade modules, and are robust and maintainable.
• Chapter 3, "Using BladeSmith," provides information about using BladeSmith to define the objects in your DataBlade module and to generate code, scripts, and installation files for the module.
• Chapter 4, "C Programming Guidelines," describes how Informix Dynamic Server architecture affects C programming practices, and lists guidelines on writing C code that runs in Informix Dynamic Server with Universal Data Option.
• Chapter 5, "Programming DataBlade Module Routines in C," describes the code that BladeSmith generates and tells you how to compile the DataBlade module for Informix Dynamic Server.
• Chapter 6, "Creating ActiveX Value Objects," describes how to use BladeSmith to create an ActiveX value object DataBlade module.
• Chapter 7, "Using ActiveX Value Objects," provides information for client application developers who are using ActiveX value objects.
• Chapter 8, "Testing and Debugging DataBlade Modules on UNIX," describes how to execute the functional tests generated with BladeSmith and how to use a debugger with Informix Dynamic Server on a UNIX computer.
• Chapter 9, "Testing and Debugging DataBlade Modules on Windows NT," describes how to execute the functional tests generated with BladeSmith and how to use a debugger with Informix Dynamic Server on a Windows NT computer.
• Chapter 10, "Using BladePack," describes how to use BladePack to package your DataBlade module components together to create installation media that you can distribute to your customers.
• Appendix A, "Source Files Generated for C DataBlade Modules," lists the source code files generated in C.
• Appendix B, "Source Files Generated for ActiveX Value Objects," lists the source code files generated in C++ and ActiveX.
• Appendix C, "Testing for an Sbspace," describes how to add custom SQL statements to test for the existence of a required sbspace when a DataBlade module is registered.
• A glossary defines DataBlade module development terms, and an index directs you to areas of particular interest.

Software Dependencies

To use BladePack to package your DataBlade module with an interactive installation for Windows NT, you need an InstallShield professional license.

The DataBlade Developers Kit InfoShelf requires either:

• Netscape Navigator 3.01 or later.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later.