INFORMIX
Informix-ESQL/C Programmer's Manual
Introduction
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About This Manual

 This manual explains how to use INFORMIX-ESQL/C, the Informix implementation of embedded Structured Query Language (SQL) for C, to create client applications with database-management capabilities. This manual is a complete guide to the features of ESQL/C that enable you to interact with the database server, access databases, manipulate the data in your program, and check for errors.

This manual progresses from general topics to more advanced programming techniques and examples.

Types of Users

This manual is for C programmers who want to use ESQL/C to embed SQL statements in their programs. The manual assumes that you know C programming and are familiar with the structure of relational databases.

If you have limited experience with relational databases, SQL, or your operating system, see the Getting Started manual for your database server for a list of supplementary manuals.

Software Dependencies

This manual assumes that you are using INFORMIX-ESQL/C, Version 9.13, on either a Windows NT, Windows 95, or UNIX platform. In addition, you must use one of the following database servers:

Assumptions About Your Locale

 Informix products can support many languages, cultures, and code sets. All culture-specific information is brought together in a single environment, called a GLS (Global Language Support) locale.

This manual assumes that you are using the default locale, en_us.8859-1. This locale supports U.S. English format conventions for dates, times, and currency. In addition, this locale supports the ISO 8859-1 code set, which includes the ASCII code set plus many 8-bit characters such as é, è, and ñ.

If you plan to use nondefault characters in your data or your SQL identifiers, or if you want to conform to the nondefault collation rules of character data, you need to specify the appropriate nondefault locale(s). For instructions on how to specify a nondefault locale, additional syntax, and other considerations related to GLS locales, see the INFORMIX-GLS Programmer's Manual and the Informix Guide to GLS Functionality.

Demonstration Database

Your Informix software includes a demonstration database called stores7 that contains information about a fictitious wholesale sporting-goods distributor. Informix includes source files for INFORMIX-ESQL/C demonstration programs that access and manipulate the data stored in stores7. Most of the examples in this manual are based on the stores7 demonstration database.

For information on how to install stores7 and access the code examples, see Appendix B, "The Demonstration Database," of this manual.



Informix-ESQL/C Programmer's Manual, version 9.1
Copyright © 1998, Informix Software, Inc. All rights reserved.