DB Link Access to Object Data Types

This chapter demonstrates how DB Link gives access to the new data types introduced by an object oriented RDBMS. DB Link supports Informix Universal Server and Oracle®, which both provide object oriented features. In this document, these new data types are called Abstract Data Types (ADT).

There are 2 basic kinds of structures introduced by these new RDBMSs—lists, and objects.

First, this chapter demonstrates how to describe such a data type. It presents all the methods available to access the structure of the data type. To work with the objects created in the database, you need to know how these objects are built, that is, what their attributes are. This is referred to as describing the Abstract Data Type.

Then, the chapter presents the classes used to build an instance of an Abstract Data Type within DB Link, and how this instance is stored in the RDBMS.

These 2 items are reflected in this document as follows:

• Step 1: Getting the Description of an ADT - Shows how to get the description of an ADT.

• Step 2: Building an ADT - Shows how to handle an ADT value.