Informix DataBlade API Programmer's Manual Introduction

For a comprehensive list of new database server features, see the release notes. This section lists new features relevant to this manual.

These features fall into the following areas:

• Extensibility enhancements
• Performance improvements
• Special features

This manual describes the following extensibility enhancements to Version 9.2 of Dynamic Server:

• Enhancements to the database server: dynamic lock allocation
• Enhancements to smart large objects:
• Round-robin fragmentation for smart large objects
• ALTER TABLE for smart large objects
• Data type conversion: BYTE to BLOB and TEXT to CLOB
• Support for a dirty read of smart-large-object data
• Enhancements to collections:
• Collection constructors that use arbitrary expression elements
• Collection-derived tables
• Collection subqueries
• Enhancements to row types:
• Serial types in row types
• GRANT and REVOKE UNDER on row types
• Enhancements to user-defined routines (UDRs):
• GRANT and REVOKE on UDR external languages
• ALTER ROUTINE statement
• User-defined aggregates
• Extensions to the DataBlade API:
• Ability to obtain database session environment values with the mi_get_serverenv() function
• Ability to obtain database connection information with the mi_get_connection_option() function
• Ability to obtain a function descriptor from a routine identifier with the mi_func_desc_by_typeid() function
• Ability to obtain a DATETIME or INTERVAL qualifier from a type descriptor with the mi_type_qualifier() function
• Ability to access a collection subquery with the mi_collection_open_with_options() function
• Ability to request and release byte-range locks on smart large objects with mi_lo_lock() and mi_lo_unlock()
• Ability to associate a default open mode with a smart large object with mi_lo_specset_def_open() and mi_lo_specget_def_open()
• Removal of restrictions on callback extensions

This manual describes the following performance improvements to Version 9.2 of Dynamic Server:

• For smart large objects:
• Incremental archive support for smart large objects
• Lightweight I/O for smart large objects
• Metadata compaction for smart large objects
• Byte-range locking for smart large objects
• Dirty read for smart large objects
• For UDRs:
• Expensive-function optimization
• Parallel UDRs
• User-defined statistics routines

This manual describes the following special features of Version 9.2 of Dynamic Server:

• Long identifiers:
• 128-character identifier
• 32-character user names
• Ability to retain update locks