The IBM Informix GLS application programming interface

IBM® Informix® GLS is an application programming interface (API) that lets DataBlade module developers and Informix ESQL/C programmers develop globalized applications with a C-language interface.

The macros and functions of IBM Informix GLS provide access within an application to GLS locales, which contain culture-specific information. You can use IBM Informix GLS to write programs (or change existing programs) to handle different languages, cultural conventions, and code sets.

All IBM Informix GLS functions access the current processing locale, which is the locale that is currently in effect for an application. It is based on either the client locale (for Informix ESQL/C client applications and client LIBMI applications) or the server-processing locale (for DataBlade user-defined routines).

IBM Informix GLS provides macros and functions to help you perform the following globalization tasks:
  • Process single-byte, multibyte, and wide characters
  • Process single-byte, multibyte, and wide-character strings
  • Memory management for multibyte and wide-character strings
  • Convert date, time, money, and number strings to and from binary values
  • Process input and output multibyte-character streams

IBM Informix client applications and database servers can access IBM Informix GLS. For applications, you link the IBM Informix GLS library to your application to perform locale-related tasks. IBM Informix database servers automatically include the IBM Informix GLS library.