Informix
| Informix
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|---|---|
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| Basic data
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| developer | HCL - IBM |
| Current version |
14.10.xC3 ( December 5, 2019 ) |
| operating system | AIX , HP-UX , Linux , OS X , Solaris , Windows |
| category | DBMS |
| License | proprietary |
| IBM Informix website | |
Informix is the product name for a database management system (DBMS). The database company of the same name was taken over by IBM in 2001 , the software was further developed by IBM until 2017. In April 2017, IBM handed over the development and technical support to the Indian company HCL and at the same time agreed a 15-year partnership, in which IBM also continues to sell Informix.
history
The former company Informix played an important role in the spread of relational databases ( RDBMS ) under Unix - as Oracle's strongest competitor .
The associated integrated development environment Informix 4GL , which is also geared towards UNIX and terminal operation, was probably the most widely used 4GL development tool of all in the early 1990s . In Germany, the Informix products were first announced and established by the distributor and system integrator Garmhausen und Partner , then by BYTEC GmbH and Siemens .
While the Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) database server is still widely used today, the company did not succeed in bringing a similarly successful successor product to the now outdated 4GL development environment.
In addition to the actual Informix database server, the data access tool C-ISAM (a C interface for ISAM files) developed by Informix has also found widespread use (especially on UNIX systems). The newer versions of the Informix IDS can use the C-ISAM data download to access the data that was stored in the old C-ISAM format.
With the takeover of Garmhausen und Partner in the mid-1990s, attempts were made to further strengthen the company's position in Germany. In the following years, however, Informix lost stock market value, triggered by an accounting scandal and some dubious acquisitions. In 2000, Informix bought the company Ardent (ETL provider) and a little later renamed itself Ascential to make it clear that the software portfolio now consisted of more products than just the database server. After a change of management, the Informix database division including employees was sold to IBM for 1 billion dollars. The purchase was engineered in the background by WALMART , as they relied heavily on Informix in their markets and classified these investments as at risk. In the meantime, Ascential has also been taken over by IBM for another billion dollars.
After the purchase by IBM there was a brief plan to merge Informix with DB2 , which caused a certain uncertainty among Informix customers. This plan was discarded, however, and Informix and DB2 were further developed in parallel with different focuses, but with new technologies often flowing into the other system. The database server Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) was described by IBM as a strategic database system and established in the market (especially for OLTP , integrated applications, embedded systems , spatial applications and SMB).
properties
Informix IDS is available on AIX , HP-UX , Linux , Mac OS X , Solaris, and Windows .
Databases
Standard engine
With this file-based version, all tables, including system tables, are stored in a subdirectory per database in two files each: one file with the data, one with the indices. The clients access it directly. This system requires little maintenance; individual tables can easily be saved and restored individually. The databases can be created with or without transaction logic.
On-line
In this version, the data is managed in one or more areas (database spaces) using a manager. Access by the clients is only possible when the database is online, i. H. a server process is running. Special programs are required for backup, etc.
Serial data type
A special feature is the SERIAL data type for an automatically consecutive number. One field per table can have this INTEGER type. The start value can be specified when creating the table. If the value 0 is inserted in this field, the next number is assigned. An update is not possible, but you can specify a free number for the insert. If this number is higher than the current last value, counting continues from this. Resetting to a lower value - e.g. B. after deletions - is only possible by creating a new table. This field type replaces the sequences used in other databases and is not an SQL standard.
Tools
Administration and monitoring
With version 14.10 InformixHQ was introduced as a graphical administration and monitoring tool. It is a Java application with Jetty as the application server, requires at least Informix version 12.10 and Java 8.
Informix SQL
- Maintenance of databases
- SQL query dialog
- Query forms (generate, edit, execute)
- The masks had a menu with the menu items
- Search - Query by Example
- Before - profile in search results
- Back - Scrolls back through the search results
- New - creation of a new record
- Edit - edit the currently displayed sentence
- Delete - delete the currently displayed record
- The End
- Reports
Smaller programs could already be implemented through the nested call of masks and reports.
Informix 4GL
- Editor and compiler for program files
- only character oriented
- SQL embedded: SQL commands are simply given in the program. z. B .:
SELECT Wert FROM Tabelle1 INTO nWert WHERE ID = 1
- Definitions: DATABASE, GLOBALS, DEFINE (variables, constants, records, arrays)
- Assignments: LET, INITIALZE
- Blocks: MAIN, FUNCTION, REPORT
- Loops: FOR, FOREACH, WHILE
- Inputs: PROMPT, INPUT
- Output: DISPLAY, PRINT, MESSAGE, ERROR
# Beispiel für Zeichen A bis Z in eine Array-Variable füllen #------------------------------------------------------------ DEFINE la_list ARRAY[26] OF CHAR(1), i SMALLINT
FOR i = 1 TO 26 LET la_list[i] = CHR(64 + i) END FOR
- Editor and compiler for mask files
- Left
The program modules were first translated into CE code (C embedded, where the SQL commands have not yet been resolved), then translated into C code and this compiled. Therefore, there was also the option of integrating CE and C source, the parameters were transferred via stacks. The object files were then linked with standard, Informix and custom libraries. The masks have been converted into a special format for program use. A runtime environment, the database, the program files and the mask files were required for the program to run.
There was an OEM version for Sinix in German from Siemens AG .
Web links
- www.informix.com Former Informix website (now redirected to the IBM portal)
- Informix product information on the IBM website
- The Informix Zone: News, Download Links and BLOG Memento as the operator has changed business
- Informix International User Group
- German Informix User Group
- IBM offering Information all the news from IBM in the informix area
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.ibm.com . (accessed on February 5, 2020).
- ↑ heise online: IBM buys Informix. Retrieved November 1, 2019 .
- ↑ Features HP's Secret Software Weapon. July 19, 2005, accessed February 5, 2020 .
- ^ Informix Server System Requirements. September 12, 2019, accessed November 1, 2019 .
- ↑ IBM Informix 14.10 new release brings upgrading of the editions - ZP19-0078 (2019-03) - CURSOR Service Distribution. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
- ↑ IBM Knowledge Center. Retrieved February 5, 2020 (American English).