The run-time functions are available in Java. Within the run-time functions, you can use any API that is appropriate for communicating with the data source. You must implement all the run-time functions.

The run-time functions use character string arguments and character data buffers in UCS-2 format. If the database API communicates with the data source through the UCS-2 character set, then pass the character strings and data buffers directly to the database API. If the database API does not use the UCS-2 character set, you must convert the data to UCS-2 format before you pass the data to the database API.

To reduce complexity, design the connector so that it does not require the end user to specify any character set information. Use the Unicode mode if the database client API provides a Unicode mode. Or, query the database to determine the correct character set to use when reading or writing data to the database. If you require input from the end user about the correct character set, define a custom connection attribute to store this information.

You can define the connector run-time behavior to support pre-SQL and post-SQL commands to perform tasks before and after a mapping run. For example, you can define the connector run-time behavior to support a pre command that initializes environment variables before the mapping run.