1. Obtain a valid LO-pointer structure to the smart large object for which you want status.

2. Allocate and fill an LO-status structure with the ifx_lo_stat() function

3. Use the appropriate ESQL/C accessor function to obtain the status information you need.

4. Deallocate the LO-status structure.

• Select a CLOB or BLOB column from a database table.

For more information, see "Selecting a Smart Large Object".

• Create a new smart large object.

For more information, see "Deallocating the LO-Specification Structure".

Allocating and Accessing an LO-Status Structure

Allocating an LO-Status Structure

• It allocates a new LO-status structure, whose pointer you provide as an argument.
• It initializes the LO-status structure with all status information for the smart large object that the LO file descriptor, which you provide, identifies.

Accessing the LO-Status Structure

Important: The LO-status structure, ifx_lo_stat_t, is an opaque structure to ESQL/C programs. Do not access its internal structure directly. Informix does not guarantee that the internal structure of ifx_lo_stat_t will not change in future releases. Therefore, to create portable code, always use the ESQL/C accessor functions for this structure (which Figure 7-7 shows) to obtain and store values in the LO-status structure.

Figure 7-7 shows the status information along with the corresponding ESQL/C accessor functions.

Figure 7-7
Status Information in the LO-Status Structure

Disk-Storage Information	Description	ESQL/C Accessor Functions
Last access time	The time, in seconds, that the smart large object was last accessed. This value is available only if the LO_KEEP_LASTACCESS_TIME flag is set for this smart large object.	ifx_lo_stat_atime()
Storage characteristics	The storage characteristics for the smart large object. These characteristics are stored in an LO-specification structure (see page 7-7). Use the ESQL/C accessor functions for an LO-specification structure (see Figure 7-1 and Figure 7-2) to obtain this information.	ifx_lo_stat_cspec()
Last change in status	The time, in seconds, of the last status change for the smart large object. A change in status includes updates, changes in ownership, and changes to the number of references.	ifx_lo_stat_ctime()
Last modification time (seconds)	The time, in seconds, that the smart large object was last modified.	ifx_lo_stat_mtime_sec()
Reference count	A count of the number of references to the smart large object.	ifx_lo_stat_refcnt()
Size	The size, in bytes, of the smart large object.	ifx_lo_stat_size()

The time values (such as last access time and last change time) might differ slightly from the system time. This difference is due to the algorithm that the database server uses to obtain the time from the operating system.

Deallocating the LO-Status Structure