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IBM Informix Developer's Handbook - IBM Redbooks

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1.2.7 PHP on <strong>Informix</strong><br />

► Includes R-tree indexing.<br />

R-tree is built into the database kernel and works directly with extended data<br />

types to enable proper geospatial data management. Unlike standard indices,<br />

the R-tree does not divide space into a full coverage of non- overlapping,<br />

adjacent cells. Instead, it uses data partitioning, where each object is<br />

automatically represented by a bounding box that is entirely determined by its<br />

own shape. These bounding boxes might overlap and do not need to cover<br />

the entire space. As a result there is no need to know the spatial extent of the<br />

data in advance.<br />

PHP, the powerful and popular server-side scripting language for creating web<br />

content, has become an important platform for <strong>Informix</strong> development. The<br />

<strong>Informix</strong> OpenAdmin Tool (OAT), which provides the ability to administer multiple<br />

<strong>Informix</strong> instances from a single location, is written entirely in the PHP language.<br />

<strong>Informix</strong> supports database access for client applications written in the PHP<br />

programming language by using a PDO (PHP Data Object) extension that<br />

functions as a database extraction layer. The primary PHP driver available for<br />

<strong>Informix</strong> is called PDO_<strong>IBM</strong>, and is supported on <strong>Informix</strong> Version 11.10, and<br />

following. The other available PHP driver is PDO_INFORMIX. It is the older of<br />

these two, and is the driver used for the <strong>Informix</strong> OAT. You can find the drivers for<br />

PHP on the PECL for PHP website at:<br />

http://pecl.php.net/package/PDO_<strong>IBM</strong><br />

1.3 <strong>Informix</strong> overview<br />

This section provides a description of the database architecture from a developer<br />

perspective. There are entire manuals to describe server side functions and<br />

administration. In this section, we limit our overview to things that the developer<br />

should consider. For more information about the details of the <strong>IBM</strong> <strong>Informix</strong><br />

Server engine, consult the <strong>IBM</strong> <strong>Informix</strong> Administrators Guide, which is available<br />

at:<br />

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/idshelp/v115/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.<br />

adref.doc/adref.htm<br />

Chapter 1. Introduction to <strong>IBM</strong> <strong>Informix</strong> 17

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