What is Informix GLS?

HCL Informix® GLS is an application programming interface (API) for DataBlade module developers and ESQL/C programmers.

You can use the library of C language functions and macros of Informix GLS to write programs (or change existing programs) to handle different languages, cultural conventions, and code sets.

Of the tasks in Table 1, the Informix GLS library facilitates the following:

Character processing

The Informix GLS library provides functions that perform the following character-processing tasks:

Process single-byte, multibyte, and wide characters and strings
Collate single-byte and multibyte characters and strings
Process input and output
Convert between compatible code sets

Data formatting

The Informix GLS library also provides functions that convert date, time, monetary, and numeric strings from and to internal representations.

Of the tasks in Table 1, the Informix GLS library does not provide functions for the following:

User interfaces: You must ensure that user interfaces are designed in a way that is not language specific. In addition, put language-specific text, menus, buttons, and messages in external files that the application can reference at run time.
Documentation: You must ensure that any documentation you provide is translated to the correct language for a particular locale and territory. You might want to develop rules for the creation of documentation that simplify the translation tasks.

Important: Although the Informix GLS library does provide functions to perform case conversions (from lowercase to uppercase and vice versa), it does not provide a way to translate words, nor does it translate data in a database. You must obtain accurate and appropriate translations of text that the end user sees. These tasks must be performed by people experienced in the application and the languages involved.