Copyright: , 1996 INTERSOLV


Contents, INFORMIX 5 Driver Help
	DataDirect ODBC  INFORMIX 5 Driver
About the INFORMIX 5 Driver

System Requirements

Configuring Data Sources

Connecting to INFORMIX Using a Logon Dialog Box

Connecting to INFORMIX Using a Connection String

Data Types

Isolation and Lock Levels Supported

ODBC Conformance Level

Number of Connections and Statements Supported

Copyright


Copyright
Copyright 1996 INTERSOLV Inc. All rights reserved. INTERSOLV is a registered trademark, and DataDirect is a trademark of INTERSOLV, Inc. Other company or product names mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.


About the INFORMIX 5 Driver

The INFORMIX 5 driver supports multiple connections to the INFORMIX 5 database.

The driver filename is IVINF5nn.DLL.


INFORMIX 5 System Requirements
System Requirements

To access remote INFORMIX databases you need INFORMIX-Net 5.01 for Windows NT from INFORMIX.

Note: The DataDirect INFORMIX 5 driver for Windows 95 and Windows NT does not work with versions of INFORMIX-Net other than 5.01.

The message files RDS.IEM and SQL.IEM must be located in the INFORMIX subdirectory MSG.

The environment variable INFORMIXDIR must be set to the directory where you have installed the INFORMIX client.  For example:

SET INFORMIXDIR=C:\INFORMIX

The INFORMIX-Net 5.0.1 package includes ISQLI501.DLL.  The path to this DLL must be in your PATH environment variable.  If it is not, the following message appears:

The setup routines for the INTERSOLV INFORMIX5 ODBC driver could not be loaded.  You may be low on memory and need to quit a few applications.


Configuring INFORMIX 5 Data Sources
Configuring Data Sources

To configure an INFORMIX 5 data source, do the following:

1	Start the ODBC Administrator.  A list of data sources appears.

2	If you are configuring a new data source, click Add.  A list of installed drivers appears.  Select INTERSOLV INFORMIX5 and click OK.

If you are configuring an existing data source, select the data source name and click Setup.

The INFORMIX 5 ODBC Setup dialog box appears.

3	Specify a data source name and optionally, a description and database name.

4	Click the Advanced button to configure optional data source settings. The ODBC Advanced Driver Setup dialog box appears.

5	Click Translate to perform a translation of your data from one character set to another. The Select Translator dialog box appears in which you can select a translator to peform the translation. INTERSOLV provides a translator named INTERSOLV OEM ANSI that translates your data from the IBM PC character set to the ANSI character set. Click OK to leave this dialog box and perform the translation.

The translators that are listed in this dialog box are determined by the values listed in the ODBC Translators section of your ODBCINST.INI file.

6	Click OK to write these values to ODBC.INI.  These values are now the defaults when you connect to the data source.  You can change the defaults by configuring your data source again.  You can override the defaults by connecting to the data source using a connection string with alternate values.


Connecting to INFORMIX 5 Using a Logon Dialog Box
Connecting to INFORMIX Using a Logon Dialog Box

Some ODBC applications display a Logon dialog box when you are connecting to a data source.  In these cases, the data source name has already been specified.

In the logon dialog box, do the following:

1	Type the name of the database you want to access or select the name from the Database Name drop-down list. This list displays names returned from the INFORMIX server. Or, if you set the Get DB List from Informix option to 0 in the Setup dialog box, this list displays the names you specified.

2	Type the name of the server (host name) on which INFORMIX 5 resides.

3	If required, type your user name as specified on the INFORMIX 5 server.

4	If required, type your password.

5	Optionally, click Options to display the INFORMIX server Options dialog box.  This dialog box enables you to change the Service Name and Protocol Type that you specified in the ODBC Setup dialog box.  Click OK to accept any changes you make.

6	Click OK to complete the logon and to update these values in ODBC.INI.


Connecting to INFORMIX 5 Using a Connection String
Connecting to INFORMIX Using a Connection String

If your application requires a connection string to connect to a data source, you must specify the data source name that tells the driver which ODBC.INI section to use for the default connection information.  Optionally, you may specify attribute=value pairs in the connection string to override the default values stored in ODBC.INI.  These values are not written to ODBC.INI.

You can specify either long or short names in the connection string.  The connection string has the form:

DSN=data_source_name[;attribute=value[;attribute=value]...]

An example of a connection string for INFORMIX 5 is

DSN=INFORMIX TABLES;DB=PAYROLL

The following table gives the long and short names for each attribute, as well as a description.

The defaults listed in the table are initial defaults that apply when no value is specified in either the connection string or in the data source definition in ODBC.INI.  If you specified a value for the attribute when configuring the data source, that value is your default.

Attribute	Description
DataSourceName (DSN)	Identifies an INFORMIX data source configuration in ODBC.INI.  Examples include "Accounting" or "INFORMIX-Serv1."
Database (DB)	Name of the database to which you want to connect.
HostName (HOST)	Name of the machine on which the INFORMIX 5 server resides.
LogonID (UID)	Your user name as specified on the INFORMIX 5 server.
Password (PWD)	A password.
Service (SERV)	Name of the service as it appears on the host machine.  This service is assigned by the system administrator.
Protocol (PRO)	Protocol={FTP | IPX | LANMAN | TCP-IP}. Protocol used to communicate with the server.  You can specify one or more values; separate the names with commas.
YieldProc (YLD)	Not available in Windows NT or  Windows 95. Determines if you can work in other Windows applications when INFORMIX 5 is busy.
CursorBehavior (CB)	CursorBehavior={0 | 1}. Determines whether cursors will be preserved or closed at the end of each transaction.  Valid values are 1 (preserve) and 0 (close, the initial default).  Set this attribute to 1 if you want cursors to be held at the current position when the transaction ends.  The value CursorBehavior=1 may impact the performance of your database operations.
EnableScrollable Cursors (ESC)	EnableScrollableCursors={0 | 1}. Determines whether the driver can use scrollable cursors. The initial default value is 0 (no use of scrollable cursors). The INFORMIX driver can use scollable cursors only if there are no long columns (SQL_LONGVARCHAR or SQL_LONGVARBINARY) in a Select list. If you set this option to use scrollable cursors (EnableScrollableCursors=1), you must not include long columns in the Select list.
EnableInsert Cursors (EIC)	EnableInsertCursors={0 | 1}. Determines whether the driver can use INSERT cursors during parameterized inserts. The initial default value is 0 (driver does not use INSERT cursors). Using INSERT cursors improves performance during multiple INSERT operations using the same statement. This option enables insert data to be buffered in memory before being written to disk. When EnableInsertCursors=0, the driver does not use INSERT cursors.
GetDBListFrom Informix (GDBLFI)	GetDBListFrom Informix={0 | 1}. Determines whether the driver requests the database list to be returned from the INFORMIX server or from the database list that the user entered at driver setup.  When set to 1, the initial default, the driver requests the database list from the INFORMIX server. When set to 0, it uses the list that was entered by the user at driver setup.


INFORMIX 5 Data Types
Data Types

The INFORMIX 5 data types map to the standard ODBC data types as follows:

INFORMIX 5	ODBC
Byte*	SQL_LONGVARBINARY
Char	SQL_CHAR
Date	SQL_DATE
Datetime year to fraction(5)	SQL_TIMESTAMP
Decimal	SQL_DECIMAL
Float	SQL_DOUBLE
Integer	SQL_INTEGER
Money	SQL_DECIMAL
Serial	SQL_INTEGER
Smallfloat	SQL_REAL
Smallint	SQL_SMALLINT
Text*	SQL_LONGVARCHAR
Varchar*	SQL_VARCHAR
Not supported for Standard Engine Databases

Note:  The Interval data type is not supported.  Existing columns of this type are mapped to the ODBC SQL_CHAR data type.


Isolation and Lock Levels Supported by INFORMIX 5
Isolation and Lock Levels Supported

INFORMIX 5 supports isolation levels 0 (read uncommitted), 1 (read committed), and 3 (serializable).  The default is 1. The Standard Engine supports isolation level 0 (read uncommitted) only.

INFORMIX 5 also supports an alternative isolation level 1, called cursor stability.  Your ODBC application can use this isolation level by calling SQLSetConnectOption (1040,1).

Additionally, if transaction logging has not been enabled for your database,then transactions are not supported by the driver (the driver is always in auto-commit mode).

INFORMIX 5 supports page-level locking.


INFORMIX 5 ODBC Conformance Level
ODBC Conformance Level

The INFORMIX 5 driver supports the Core, Level 1, and Level 2 API functions listed in Supported ODBC Functions.  In addition, the following Level 2 functions are supported:

SQLBrowseConnect

SQLProcedures

SQLColumnPrivileges

SQLTablePrivileges

SQLPrimaryKeys

The driver supports the core SQL grammar.


Number of Connections and Statements Supported by INFORMIX 5
Number of Connections and Statements Supported

The INFORMIX 5 database system supports multiple connections and multiple statements per connection.


INFORMIX 5 ODBC Setup
INFORMIX 5 ODBC Setup Dialog

Use the INFORMIX 5 ODBC Setup dialog to create new data sources or configure existing data sources.

Data Source Name:  A string that identifies this INFORMIX data source configuration in ODBC.INI.  Examples include "Accounting" or "INFORMIX-Serv1."

Description:  An optional long description of a data source name.  For example, "My Accounting Database" or "INFORMIX 5 files on Server number 1."

Database Name:  The name of the database to which you want to connect by default.

Advanced: Displays the ODBC Advanced Driver Setup dialog box to configure optional data source settings, such as host name and default user name.

OK

Creates or modifies the current data source using the options you specify.

Cancel

Exits the ODBC Setup dialog without creating or modifying a data source.


Advanced Options for Configuring Data Sources
Advanced Dialog

To configure optional settings for an INFORMIX 5 data source, specify values as follows:

Database List:  The list of databases that will be displayed in the logon dialog box. If Get DB List From Informix is set to 1, the list of databases that will be displayed in the logon dialog box is created from the database list returned for INFORMIX at logon time.

When you specify databases, separate the names with commas.

Default User Name:  The name of the user as specified on the INFORMIX 5 server.

Host Name:  The name of the machine on which the INFORMIX 5 server resides.

Service Name:  The name of the service as it appears on the host machine.  This service is assigned by the system administrator.  The name you specify is displayed in the INFORMIX Server Options dialog box.

Protocol Type:  The protocol used to communicate with the server.  Specify one or more values; separate the names with commas.  Values can be FTP, IPX, LANMAN, TCP-IP.  This list is displayed in the Logon Options dialog box.

Yield Proc:  This attribute is not available in Windows 95 or Windows NT. A numeric value that determines whether you can work in other Windows applications when INFORMIX 5 is busy.

Cursor Behavior:  Select Preserve if you want cursors to be held at the current position when the transaction ends.  Otherwise, leave this set to Close.  Selecting Preserve may impact the performance of your database operations.

Enable Scrollable Cursors:  A value that determines whether the driver can use scrollable cursors. The initial default value is 0 (no use of scrollable cursors). The INFORMIX driver can use scollable cursors only if there are no long columns (SQL_LONGVARCHAR or SQL_LONGVARBINARY) in a Select list. If you set this option to use scrollable cursors (EnableScrollableCursors=1), you must not include long columns in the Select list.

Get DB List from Informix:  A value that determines whether the driver requests the database list to be returned from the INFORMIX server or from the database list that the user entered at driver setup.

When set to 1, the default, the driver requests the database list from the INFORMIX server. When set to 0, it uses the list entered by the user at driver setup.

Translate

Displays the Select Translator dialog box to allow you to perform a translation of your data from one character set to another. Choose the INTERSOLV OEM ANSI translator to translate your data from the IBM PC character set to the ANSI character set.

Close

Returns to the INFORMIX 5 ODBC Setup dialog box, where you can click the OK button to write these settings to the ODBC.INI file.


Logon to INFORMIX 5

Database Name:  Type the name of the database you want to access or select the name from the Database Name drop-down list. This list displays names returned from the INFORMIX server. Or, if you set the Get DB List from Informix option to 0 in the Setup dialog box, this list displays the names you specified.

Host Name:  Enter the name of the machine on which the INFORMIX 5 server resides.

User Name:  Enter the name of the user as specified on the INFORMIX 5 server.

Password:  Enter the user's password.

Click Options to specify the Service Name and Protocol type.


INFORMIX 5 Server Options
INFORMIX 5 Logon Options

Service Name:  Name of the service as it appears on the host machine. This service is assigned by the system administrator. If you entered a service name in the Setup dialog box, that name is displayed; you can change it.

Protocol Type:  This list displays the protocols specified in the Setup dialog box. Select a communications protocol.