Assigning TEXT and BYTE Columns to an Optical Platter

To tell the Optical Subsystem to store a TEXT or BYTE column on an optical platter, specify an optical family name, in the column-definition portion of the CREATE TABLE statement. The administrator for the optical-storage subsystem must create the optical family name in the optical-storage subsystem before you can execute a CREATE TABLE statement that refers to it. For the procedure to create the optical family name, see your subsystem vendor documentation.

In the following example, the TEXT column cat_descr of the catalog table is stored with the table and the BYTE column cat_picture is stored in the optical family catalog_stores_demo:

CREATE TABLE catalog
     (
     catalog_num     SERIAL (10001),
     stock_num       SMALLINT NOT NULL,
     manu_code       CHAR(3) NOT NULL,
     cat_descr       TEXT IN TABLE,
     cat_picture     BYTE IN catalog_stores_demo,
     cat_advert      VARCHAR (255, 65)
     )
     IN dbspace10

When the statement is executed, the database server checks to determine whether catalog_stores_demo is a blobspace or an optical family name. Either of the following conditions returns an error:

• The name refers to both a blobspace and an optical family name.
• The name does not refer to either a blobspace or an optical family name.

Once you create the table, you can insert TEXT and BYTE data in an optical family in the following ways:

• With the LOAD statement (DB–Access) or the dbload utility
• From locator variables (IBM Informix ESQL/C)