Stored procedures and esql/c

I have been asked to write an application in ESQL/C which is called from a stored procedure. I am experiencing performance problems because the program has to connect to the database each time it's called as well as perform a load of PREPARE's, etc. I've experimented a little with an intermediate process which manages signaling to a second (main) process. This has turned out to rather cumbersome as it has to deal with simultaneous calls. The program also accepts parameters from the stored procedure, and the stored procedure in turn must wait for the C program to complete. Any ideas ? [ HPUX 10 + Informix 7.2 ] Pete -- ///// / / ////// / / / / / ///// // / / / / / / / / / ////