IIUG Insider (Issue #113) November 2009

Highlights: The first ADRIA IUG meeting was held on 17th November 2009

Welcome to the International Informix Users Group (IIUG) Insider! Designed for IIUG members and Informix user group leaders, this publication contains timely and relevant information for the IBM Informix community.

Contents:

 


Editorial Back to top

2010 is almost over. Informix continues to go forward. IDS 11.50 xC6 is at the end of the beta. Like xC5 it is much more then bug fixes. There are exciting new features. At work we are running IDS 11.50 FC5 on all our production and development systems. The upgrade from FC3 was smooth, the performance is great and as always it is just set it and let it run. I don’t use the phrase “set it and forget it”. I never forget I have Informix to rely on.

Once again our Conference Planning Committee is working hard on the 2010 IIUG Informix Conference. If you have attended our conference before, come again. If you haven’t, join us at the greatest Informix event of the year. We want this conference to be the biggest so far. You can help us. Tell your friends and colleagues. Stay tuned for the conference announcements on our website and in the Insider. And remember register as an IIUG member for your $100 discount.

Gary Ben-Israel
IIUG Insider Editor
gary@iiug.org


Highlights Back to top

ADRIA Informix User Group Meeting 11/17/09

The first ADRIA IUG meeting was held on 17th November 2009 at the hotel Tomislav in the Medvednica nature park close to Zagreb. The meeting was attended by more than 40 Informix fans from Croatia and neighboring countries.

After welcome coffee and drinks, the meeting was opened by the president of the ADRIA IUG, followed by presentations from IBM Informix experts from the United States. The first presentation was the Informix roadmap, and the second one was about exciting new features in the new version of Informix Dynamic Server. After lunch the second part of the new features presentation was held. The last presentation was named “Developing web applications with Django” with an emphasis on the use of Informix Dynamic Server. The meeting was concluded with the second ADRIA IUG Assembly which included a report on the activities carried out since the establishment of ADRIA IUG. There were also some statute amendments adopted, and discussion of further actions to be taken. During the meeting the majority of participants filled the application for membership of the Association.

Visitors participated in a survey of future meetings, and expressed interest in the following topics:

  • Whole day meeting, more lectures
  • Troubleshooting lecture
  • Presentation of concrete solutions based on Informix
  • High-availability solutions based on Informix
  • Object relation mapping tools
  • Where and how is Informix used in Croatia and the region
  • Report on the status of IBM Informix in Croatia and the region

Conference corner Back to top

2010 IIUG Informix Conference Update

Join us on April 25th – 28th, 2010, for the largest gathering of Informix users, developers and all around enthusiasts. This is the best opportunity on Earth for Informix training, presentations and insights with access to consultants, experts and IBM Informix management and executives. It is organized by Informix users for Informix users and because of that, the costs are low and the benefits are great.

Use your left over end of year training dollars now and take advantage of the early bird price of only $599 which ends January 15, 2010. If you are a registered IIUG member you can save an additional $100 by entering your IIUG member number during the registration process. There will be over 80 technical sessions scheduled over 3 full days of the conference (Monday – Wednesday), preceded by in-depth tutorials on Sunday. Tutorials are an additional charge of only $150 for half day or $250 for full day. These costs are some of the lowest you will ever see for a technical conference of this kind.

For more information and to register, go to /conf.


Education Back to top

Education

Prepare to pass your next IM Certification Exam
with FREE Preparation Tutorials

Get ready for your next Information Management Certification Exam, with FREE online tutorials. Check out the newly available DB2 9.5 SQL Procedure Developer Certification Preparation Tutorial Series and other tutorials available for Informix Dynamic Server 11, DB2 9 Application Development, DB2 Content Manager, DB2 9 Fundamentals, and more!

Try a tutorial today!
http://www.ibm.com/software/data/education/selfstudy.html#5?ca=novnl

Get on the road to success
By planning your next certification!

Have you recently earned an Information Management certification? If so, congratulations and start planning the next step using the Information Management Certification roadmaps! Available online, the roadmaps show you available certifications in your interest area, include required prerequisites and new exams.

Check out the roadmaps!
http://www.ibm.com/software/data/education/cert-roadmaps.html?ca=novnl

Connect with IM Education
Read the blogs!

Read about the latest news in the world of IM Education directly from our two bloggers: Susan Visser and Kate Dawson. Susan is the IBM Press Program Manager for Information Management and a long-time blogger who provides insight about IM books, certifications, tutorials, and more. Kate is a newer member of the Education team and she looks for answers to some of your top training, certification, and education questions in her blog.

Read the blogs today!
http://www.ibm.com/software/data/education/blogs.html?ca=novnl

Bring IBM training to your office
Save time and money!

Do you need to train a group of people? Are you searching for an affordable training option that provides a private training experience without the need to travel? Look no further than IBM Onsite Training. Enjoy greater flexibility, customized content, control over timing, and stronger results. You’ll be surprised at just how affordable Onsite Training can be.

Get a quote today!
http://www.ibm.com/services/learning/ites.wss/us/en?pageType=page&c=a0000055

Rely on IM Training
Enroll in our Guaranteed to Run Data Management Classes

With our Guaranteed to run courses, you can be sure that the Information Management Data Management classes you want will run no matter what! Rely on “Guaranteed to run” classes, and get the education you need.

Find a list of courses and enroll here!
/url/gtr.html

New! Informix courses
You need up-to date skills and we can help you succeed with our new Informix courses. Available in Classroom, instructor Led-Online and e-Learning options, you can learn according to your needs.

  • IX101: Developing Applications Using Informix 4GL
  • 3X101: Developing Applications Using Informix 4GL – Instructor Led Online
  • 3X500: IBM Informix Red Brick Warehouse Administration V6.30 – Instructor Led Online
  • 2X811: Informix Dynamic Server 11 System Administration-Self-Paced Virtual Class

Find more information here:
/url/courses.html

Services

Quick Start Services for Informix Dynamic Server 11

A Quick Start Service from IBM Information Management Software Services is designed to get your client’s new database environment up and running quickly. Additionally, we provide assistance with installation and configuration processes and help your clients exploit the newest functionality in IBM Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) 11. When your clients upgrade they take advantage of the power of IDS 11 and optimize their databases to better handle future growth.

Learn more!


Developer corner Back to top

Informix Chat with the Lab

Chat with the Lab – IDS Security Best Practices – What Must You Think About?

Date: Wednesday Dec 16
Time: 10:30 – 12:00 CST (GMT-06:00)

8:30 AM Pacific
10:30 AM Central
11:30 AM Eastern
4:30 PM London
5:30 PM Paris

Join IBM architect Jonathan Leffler at the upcoming Informix Chat with the Labs as he discusses IDS security best practices. Find out what issues you should be thinking about to ensure that your IDS servers are as secure as possible. This talk will briefly cover issues that everyone who manages IDS should consider, including encrypted communications, user activity tracking, and installation security.

Jerry Keesee, Director of the Informix Lab will introduce the call and Jonathan Leffler, STSM, Informix Database Engineering will be our technical speaker.

Presentation material will be available at http://www.ibm.com/informix/labchats prior to the event.

For questions or comments please contact ahujam@us.ibm.com

To register for this event, use the following link:

https://events.webdialogs.com/register.php?id=e7634fa39e&l=en-US

For webinar-specific questions, contact the moderator. For technical support, contact UnyteSupport@us.ibm.com.

New in DeveloperWorks

IBM Informix
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/products/informix/index.html
IBM Informix software delivers superior database performance for transaction intensive environments. developerWorks is the technical resource center for IBM Informix software, including technical articles, documentation, downloads, and support information.

26 Nov 2009

DBA Central
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/zones/dba/index.html
developerWorks DBA Central page is the technical resource center for the IBM Information Management database administrator and includes technical articles, tutorials, downloads, tools, code samples, and more.

26 Nov 2009

Use REALbasic to develop Informix Dynamic Server database applications on Mac OS
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/tutorials/dm-0911idsrealbasic/index.html
In this tutorial, see how to develop IBM Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) database applications for Apple Mac OS using REALbasic. REALbasic is a cross-platform programming language and development platform that you can use to write a single application code base and deploy it on Mac as well as Linux and Windows platforms. This tutorial shows you how to develop REALbasic database applications on Mac OS that leverage the functionality of IDS on the Mac OS platform.

25 Nov 2009

Informix Dynamic Server 11.50 Fundamentals exam 555 Certification Preparation, Part 5: Using SQL
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/tutorials/dm-ids-cert5555/index.html
This tutorial is the fifth in a series of tutorials designed to help you become familiar with all the different aspects of IBM Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) and help you get ready for the IDS Fundamentals Certification exam. This tutorial covers the use of SQL to manipulate data.

19 Nov 2009

Data warehousing
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/products/datawarehousing/index.html
IBM’s warehousing solutions provide you with all of the capabilities necessary to glean maximum return from your information.

19 Nov 2009

Open source development for Information Management
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/zones/opensource/index.html
Use PHP and other open source tools to develop applications for IBM Information Management servers.

19 Nov 2009

Information Management and XML technology
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/zones/xml/index.html
Support for XML in IBM Information Management products fosters the dynamic representation of data in a format that can be easily shared across databases and across platforms. developerWorks is the technical resource center for using XML technology with DB2, Informix, U2, and all the IBM Information Management products.

19 Nov 2009

Get started with Informix Warehouse Feature, Part 2: Extract, load, and transform your data in Design Studio
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/tutorials/dm-0911warehouse2/index.html
The new IBM Informix Warehouse Feature provides an integrated and simplified software platform to design and deploy a warehouse repository on your existing IBM Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) infrastructure. This tutorial, the second part of a series, gives you a hands-on and example-driven view of the Informix Warehouse Client component, the Design Studio. Follow the steps for designing and testing the data movements and transformations (Extract-Load-Transform, or ELT jobs) in the form of data flows and control flows that will do the task of populating the new data warehouse repository you created in Part 1 of this series.

12 Nov 2009

Information Management and SOA
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/zones/webservices/index.html
Learn how you can use SOA and Web services technology with IBM Information Management products.

12 Nov 2009

Consume Web services using Informix 4GL
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/library/techarticle/dm-0910i4glwebservices/index.html
Enable IBM Informix 4GL (I4GL) as a service consumer to leverage and reuse existing Web services and business logic coded in I4GL or other programming languages. Enabling I4GL as a service consumer opens up many possibilities of using I4GL to communicate with any programming language while still enjoying the ease of coding using I4GL.

29 Oct 2009

Use IBM Informix 4GL to develop applications that support UTF-8 character sets
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/library/techarticle/dm-0910informix4glutf8/index.html
After an introduction to the UTF character set, this article describes some of the Informix(R) 4GL capabilities, including searching, editing UTF characters, displaying UTF characters, and creating reports with UTF-8 characters. After reading this article, you will know how to configure Informix 4GL 7.50.xC1 to support the UTF-8 character set.

29 Oct 2009

For more information go to DeveloperWorks – Informix:
/url/devworks.html


IIUG Corner Back to top

The Voice of the IIUG Community Can Now be Heard on VendorRate!

VendorRate online customer satisfaction scorecards identify IT and Telecom companies that do a great job – and those who don’t. This is an exciting service every department should use before making costly purchasing decisions.

Bonus! IIUG members who rate an IT vendor will be entered to win a new 32 HD TV!* Rating is confidential and takes less than three minutes. But do it now; the drawing ends December 31st, 2009.

IIUG can impact the entire tech community right now

IIUG is helping VendorRate create a service for the entire IT community that will:

  • Identify the great vendors from the not-so-great
  • Reduce risk prior to making a purchase
  • Give a powerful, public voice to the Informix user community without disclosing a rater’s identity
  • Create an important new due diligence tool that supplements analysts such as Gartner and Forrester

Let’s show our support for Informix! Visit VendorRate.com to rate Informix providers and consultants today.

Rate Informix on VendorRate: /url/rate_informix.html

*Valid business email address required. Offer good for ratings and/or referrals entered during November & December, 2009. Ratings must meet VendorRate acceptability criteria. Please see our Sweepstakes Official Rules for full details. VendorRate Inc. 15559 Union Ave. No. 108, Los Gatos, CA 95032.

The Informix User Group for France is back

On the 20th of September, an event was organized in Paris with the help of IBM to give the French Informix User community a clearer picture of where Informix stands and where it is going. The objective of this event was to present the UGIF (User Group Informix France) with a direct link to the IIUG to allow the community to be able to share experiences and discover the latest features and technology advancements. This event was also to reassure the users of the engagement of IBM through a clear ROADMAP.

The day started with an introduction by Alain Szenicer, Sales Manager Data Management, IBM France, who presented the event and reassured the Informix users that IBM is definitely behind the Informix offering in France and in the world. Then Khaled Bentebal, CEO of ConsultiX, presented the User Group Informix France:

  • Why a local user group in France
  • Objective of UGIF
  • Missions of UGIF
  • Communications (forum, future events, newsletter) through the IIUG as the main support
  • The advantages of being a member of the UGIF ( latest information on the Informix developments, participation in the BETA program, sharing of experiences with other users, getting a newsletter, participating in events organized by UGIF and IBM)
  • How to become a member (free for all: France, Belgium, Switzerland, North Africa, through a charge for sponsors who desire to promote their solutions)

Gary Proctor, WW Channel Sales Leader – Informix, talked about the ROADMAP for Informix and the continued investment by IBM to clear some concerns that the French Informix user community had around the future of the Informix product line.

Jacques Roy, Technical Product Manager – IDS Development, talked about the strategy around the Informix product developments especially through some of the new offerings such as OAT and Informix Warehouse, and also addressed some of the concerns that the users had.

Khaled Bentebal, CEO of ConsultiX, presented the new great functionalities of Informix IDS, including some of the latest features in the upcoming Informix IDS V11.50.XC6 release.

The day ended with a presentation of Informix Warehouse and an open discussion with the users. Some of the users present at this event said that this is the first time in years that they felt that IBM had a clearer picture of where Informix stands in its offering today and in the future. They all expressed a desire to have more information: technical presentations, strategic presentations, newsletters, information on events and more involvement from IBM locally through marketing and commitment.

Khaled BENTEBAL
User Group Informix France


IBM Corner Back to top

Reduce your IT costs with IBM System x Informix Cluster Configuration

Now available are Informix cluster configurations with the IBM System x BladeCenter. These are predefined and pre-certified BladeCenter S clusters sized in small, medium, large and extra large configuration that are optimized for Informix solution needs. IBM Informix active-active clustering technology offers customers a wide range of choices to deploy for business continuity while maximizing IT infrastructure costs. With the IBM System x Informix Cluster Configuration, you can take this to the next level by consolidating multiple workloads onto a single System x BladeCenter S. At the same time, benefit from the Informix clustering technology to maximize server investment by utilizing disaster recovery hardware, and scale out for peak workloads. Save on your IT costs while delivering scalability on demand.

See http://www.ibm.com/informix.

Have you tried the New IBM Support Portal?

We’ve all been caught on the “support” merry-go-round: press 1 for Aggravation, press 2 for Time-wasting, press 3 for Wrong Department, and press 4 for Accidentally Cut Off and Have to Start Again.

If you’ve had it with support that isn’t supportive, you need to check out the IBM Support Portal. This portal is a unified, centralized view of all online technical support tools and information for all IBM systems, software, and services. You can tailor the pages to suit your needs, focusing on the products you care about and organizing the pages to reflect the way you work. The portal simplifies your online support experience, reduces the time it takes to find the information you need to solve problems, and alerts you to information that can help you avoid problems. The IBM Support Portal: complete, customized support.

The IBM Support Portal will replace the existing software and hardware technical support sites early next year. We encourage you to check out the Support Portal and give it a test run.

Learn more about the Support Portal at http://www.ibm.com/support/electronicsupport/portal.html.

Start using the IBM Support Portal at http://www.ibm.com/support/entry/portal.

After you’ve tried the IBM Support Portal, we invite you to fill out a short questionnaire at https://www-950.ibm.com/survey/oid/wsb.dll/s/ag26a that evaluates the IBM Support Portal in comparison to the existing IBM technical support website pages. You may have bookmarked your favorite IBM technical support sites, but if not, here are links to the current technical support pages:

The questionnaire is anonymous and should take just a few minutes. Please feel free to share this with your colleagues. Thank you for being part of the future of IBM technical support.

Get started with Informix Warehouse Feature Tutorial, Part 2

Get a hands-on and example-driven view of the Informix Warehouse Client component the Design Studio. Use Design Studio to extract, load, and transform your data from other sources into a target warehouse repository on Informix.

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/tutorials/dm-0911warehouse2/index.html

Surviving Changing Retail Paradigms in Today’s World

Retailers are facing increased competition, low margins and ever-demanding customers. IBM delivers solutions that can help retailers meet changing demands while keeping costs low. IBM Informix, along with IBM solidDB and the IBM Retail Integration Framework can deliver solutions that allow retailers to quickly and accurately access and process vast amounts of customer, inventory, and sales data – so they can personalize services, reduce downtime and lead times, thereby fueling customer sales.

Simplified deployment and low ongoing maintenance make IBM the cost effective solution that is already implemented by leading retailers worldwide.

Date and Time: December 10 at 12:00PM EDT
Speakers: Robert J. Abate, CBIP, CDMP with Cathy Elliott, IBM Informix Software Marketing Manager
Register: http://www.information-management.com/web_seminars/-10016467-1.html?st=Cust&s=sponsor

Informix resources Back to top

Informix Blogs and things

  • The IIUG forums at /forums/technical.php **** these are very good****
  • Blogs, Videos, News and more at http://planetids.com
  • IDS Experts at http://www-03.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/idsteam
  • Guy Bowerman at http://www-03.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/gbowerman
  • Madison Pruet at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/roundrep
  • Jacques Roy at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/jacquesroy
  • Cathy Elliott at https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/blogs/InformixVoices
  • Informix blogs at http://www.ibmdatabasemag.com/blog/main/archives/informix/index.html
  • Kate Dawson at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/katedawson
  • Fernando Nunes at http://informix-technology.blogspot.com/
  • Virtual Worlds, MMOGs, Serious data – Informix Technology for Persistent Worlds http://informix4virtual.wordpress.com/
  • IBM DATABASE MAGAZINE at http://www.ibmdatabasemag.com
  • The Informix Zone at http://www.informix-zone.com
  • The Informix mag at http://www.informixmag.com/
  • IIUG Developers Desktop /devnews/Vol_1_Iss_4/Home.html
  • There is an Informix group on LinkedIn. The group is called “Informix Supporter”, so anyone loving Informix can join, from current IBM employees, former Informix employees, to users. It will also be a good occasion to get in touch with others or long-time-no-seen friends. If you fancy showing the Informix logo on your profile, join. To join, simply go to: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/25049/5E4B2048E558

 


Calendar of events Back to top

December – 2009
Date Event Location Contact
1-3 2009 IDS 11.5 Bootcamp Shenzhen, China
1-3 2009 IDS 11.5 Bootcamp Ottawa, Canada
2-4 2009 IDS 11.5 Bootcamp Hursley, United Kingdom
April – 2010
Date Event Location Contact
25-28 2010 IIUG Informix Conference Lenexa, Kansas

 


Useful links Back to top

In response to your input, we have created a page on the IIUG web site containing all the links we used to include. Please find it at:

/quicklinks.html


Closing and credits Back to top

The International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is an organization designed to enhance communications between its worldwide user community and IBM. The IIUG’s membership database now exceeds 25,000 entries and enjoys the support and commitment of IBM’s Data Management division. Key programs include local user groups and special interest groups, which we promote and assist from launch through growth.

Sources: IIUG Board of Directors
IBM Corp.
Editors: Gary Ben-Israel
Tammy Frankforter

For comments, please send an email to gary@iiug.org.

Published
Categorized as Insider

By Vicente Salvador

Board member since 2014, a user since 1989 and Informix fan. I'am software architect which allow me to combine technical and business skills.