IIUG Insider (Issue #173) November 2014

Highlights: Compare the Informix Version 12 editions

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

I’m enjoying beautiful Belem do Para, Brazil. It has nothing to do with Informix. The reason I’m telling you about it is that it’s my excuse for a short issue of the Insider. I hope you will still enjoy it and find some useful stuff.

Now that IBM Insight is behind us, it is time to prepare for the IIUG conference which is to be held Sunday April 26 – Thursday April 30, 2015 at The Marriott Mission Valley, San Diego, California, USA. Mark your calendars and make sure you attend. The insider will provide you all the information you need. Stay tuned.

Gary Ben-Israel


Highlights Back to top

Compare the Informix Version 12 editions

Learn the differences in features, functions, and pricing models.

Confused about the various editions of IBM Informix? Get an introduction to each edition and compare features, benefits, and licensing considerations in a side-by-side table. Regardless of which edition you choose, Informix brings you legendary ease of use, reliability, stability, and access to extensibility features.

Read all about it at at developerWorks.


Conference corner Back to top

IIUG 2015 Registration is now open!

As I am sure you know by now, IIUG 2015 is returning to San Diego, CA April 26-30, 2015 and the beautiful Marriott Mission Valley. We received a lot of positive feedback asking us to return to San Diego.

It has been a year since we were at the Marriott Mission Valley. There have been some recent renovations to the lobby and the guest rooms while we have been away. For those of you the have never been here, the hotel has a fantastic heated pool with whirlpool as well as a Fitness Center with cardio equipment and free weights. There is a great jogging and fitness trail for those who want to get away from the hotel and you are only steps from the Rio Vista Trolley with access to many of the top attractions in San Diego.

The Conference Planning Committee met in November to review and select the content and speakers for IIUG 2015. There were many great abstracts submitted. If you submitted a proposal, you will be hearing from a CPC member in the next week or so if you haven’t been contacted already. As far as content goes, here is an idea of what you can expect:

  • Certification Testing Review
  • Troubleshooting and Performance Tuning
  • IWA
  • TimeSeries
  • Internet of Things
  • NoSQL/JSON
  • Development
  • Cloud (ER, HDR/SDS/RSS)
  • Security
  • Hands on Labs
  • Thursday Tutorials (Full and Half Day)

Once we receive confirmation from our speakers we will start to list the sessions on www.iiug2015.org for you to start making plans.

Very tentative schedule, similar to last year:

  • Sunday – Welcome Reception with food and open beer and wine bar
  • Monday – Breakfast and Lunch, AM Keynote, Conference Sessions including Certification Testing Review, Hands on Labs, PM Event/Party with food and open beer and wine bar
  • Tuesday – Breakfast and Lunch, AM Keynote, Conference Sessions, Hands on Labs, PM Event/Party with food and open beer and wine bar
  • Wednesday – Breakfast and Lunch, Conference Sessions, Hands on Labs, No PM Event
  • Thursday – Breakfast and Lunch, Tutorials

One more thing about IIUG 2015, the IIUG will be celebrating 20 years as an organization. We will be having some special activities and are looking forward to all our attendees to help us celebrate this momentous event.

Registration is now open at http://www.iiug2015.org/register.php. Register for IIUG 2015 by January 15, 2015 to receive a $250 discount over the Regular conference price. Don’t forget that all IIUG members can save an additional $100 on registration through April 7, 2015. IIUG membership is free at www.iiug.org so become a member today.

We are looking forward to seeing many familiar faces and hopefully some new faces in April.

– IIUG 2015 Conference Planning Committee


Support corner Back to top

123 REST…

I had an opportunity recently to speak with Lance Feagan, one of the Informix Architects. I asked him – what exciting things are you working on with Informix? A lot of our conversation was technical, but I was impressed to see genuine excitement as he was telling me about CORS REST, also known as Cross-Origin Resource Sharing with the REST API. While the REST API has been present for a couple releases now, I was swept up into his excitement with the CORS part of the story.

CORS with REST means there is a handful of optional parameters that were added to the jsonListener.properties file which enable the developer to configure HTTP headers. These parameters provide access to JSON fields that are needed by synchronous JavaScript + XML (AJAX) applications in a web browser when these applications access the REST listener. A non-technical way to say this: using a browser interface, we can securely exchange data with just about any database vendor, with very little programming!

Many old-timers might recall the Informix product used to provide data exchange with database vendors other than Informix. It is called the ‘Enterprise Gateway Manager’. EGM has quietly done its job for many years, and provided a way to hook up diverse database software vendors to Informix Dynamic Server. In other ways, while the EGM communication is functional, it has never been ‘robust’. With the Cross Origin Resource Sharing and the Rest API, we can now directly connect applications or devices that communicate through the REST API to Informix. By configuring the wire listener for the REST API, you can use MongoDB and SQL queries against JSON and BSON document collections, traditional relational tables, and even time series data. The REST API uses MongoDB syntax and returns JSON documents. With very little extra syntax the JSON output can be structured and saved (or retrieved) into normal use Informix tables and databases.

For a deeper Introduction to JSON, BSON, REST, and things to do with it, visit the knowledge Center pages for Whats new with the IBM Informix 1210xC4.

– David Jay


Informix news Back to top

CNN Money, 6 Nov 14 – Datawatch Wins IBM Insight 2014 Hackathon with Innovative Internet of Things Visualization App

Datawatch Corporation (NASDAQ-CM: DWCH), a leading global provider of visual data discovery solutions, was the winner of a recent Internet of Things (IoT) Hackathon at the IBM Insight 2014 Conference last week in Las Vegas. The Hackathon was designed to foster new ways to develop cloud-based IoT solutions using Informix as the database repository for sensor data. IBM provided a store of real-time sensor data that could be used to create applications ranging from municipal water usage monitoring to truck fleet maintenance to analyzing the flow of people and traffic in retail stores.

InformationWeek, 10 Nov 2014 – HP extends benefits of ARM architecture into the data center with new servers

HP announced two ARM-based servers, including the first enterprise-class 64-bit ARM-based server, for customers that value choice in their compute strategy…Available today IBM Informix is the only commercially available database to run HP’s new micro server architecture-ProLiant Moonshot. Informix offers a unique combination of flexible grid technology and efficient data architecture that can enable commercial grade workloads to take advantage of these new server architectures.

IBM Data Magazine, 23 Nov 2014 – Meeting the Fast-Growing Chinese Database Demand

Informix brings a high-performance business database platform to China.


RFE Corner Back to top

Just in case you are not aware, some time ago IBM created a public website to collect the requests for new features directly from users. The RFE (Requests For Enhancements) website is included in developerWorks. You can access it here.

Once you logged in with your usual IBM ID, choose “Information Management” in the Brand dropdown box and “Informix Servers” or “Client Products” in the Products dropdown box.

The interesting thing is that any request, including your request, if you place one, are submitted for to be voted on. This means the RFEs that receive more votes have a greater chance to be considered by the architecture and development teams for further consideration. In other words, this IS the opportunity to provide enhancement ideas even if you are not the biggest IBM customer on the planet earth.

Some RFEs will be of great interest, others will not seem useful to you. This is why your opinion is important. Do not hesitate to vote and place comments!

The idea of the RFE corner is to provide a digest on new Informix RFEs and make those RFEs more visible and accessible for the community, so that you can vote for them in a faster and easier way. By participating actively in this website, IBM will have solid and useful elements from the customer base to introduce new functionality to Informix product.

Also in the area of IBM website, a new functionality has been released: MyNotifications. You will want to register this webpage in order to receive the notifications of your choice (new product defects, new patch release, new versions etc…, on the frequency of your choice (daily, weekly). I have registered and will definitely keep registered, due to the value of the information delivered.

Check at this place.

New RFEs for November 2014

Apparently November FRE activity was weaker than last month, maybe a drop of energy with the fall.

Add tablename to -640 error
Error -640 demonstrate a sanity failure in the query plan( Never caught this one). The error message does not show any table name(s). Request to indicate the table name(s) in the error text.

CTAS (Create Table As)
Request to implement create table as in the DDL syntax. This functionality has already been implemented in 12.10 xC1

“dbschema” for replicate definitions.
With ER, recreating replicates and replicateset definintions is not a simple operation, and even worse when dealing with hundreds of replicates, or more… I like this one really. It would simplify enormously the ER administration. Request to implement the possibility to dump replicates and replicatesets definitions within the dbschema utility, just like dumping SPL or the storage space and logical logs definitions.

Include the regexp datablade into the Informix product
As of today, regular expressions are handled by a datablade developed by a Canadian university and reviewed by Chris Boch at Informix Software. (check here) This datablade should definitely be (first perform a QA then) implemented into the regular editions. Request to include regular expressions into Informix

Request to back port Informix internal RTC # 22663 to V11.7
Inforshpere Gardium allows auditing the IFMX traffic between server and clients. It cannot work when encryption is used. An Informix utility will be created to use the Guardium library, allowing auditing of the connection by the DBSA.

Command to recreate all the CDR DEFINE SERVER/REPLICATE commands from the syscdr database
This RFE is very similar to “dbschema for replicate definitions”. The requirement is definitely the same, the requested implementation is different. One of both ways will have to be chosen. I personally prefer the dbschema one, which seems to be more versatile once you can pick what you want from the output. Request to implement an easy way to rebuild replicates and replicates set.

New feature to have FORCE_DDL_EXEC functionality for all DDL changes
12.10 implemented a new environment variable FORCE_DDL_EXEC that allows to force out current transactions/locks running on ‘unidentified’ tables in order to execute an ALTER FRAGMENT on TABLE operation. The idea of this request is to have a similar mechanism that could be used for schema modifications. This mechanism can be very handy when dealing with thousands of sessions, avoiding complex scripting to identify where are locks and which sessions are locking. Request to implement a mechanism to force out transactions before executing DDL operations.

Do not forget to vote for one or several of those RFE’s if they fit your requirements. The more vote, the more chances that the Dev Team will seriously consider the request.

Eric Vercelletto


Informix corner Back to top

Washington Area Informix User Group meeting

Our next Washington Area Informix User Group meeting is coming up – Thursday, Dec 11, 8:30 AM — 12 Noon at the IBM office in Washington DC. I hope you will attend. Please register now.

This event will feature content rich presentations by leading Informix Users and experts that will most certainly touch on aspects of the Informix software features that you are using and may be interested in.

  • Art Kagel, Independent consultant and IIUG Board Member, will present on programming, concurrency, and tuning applications against Informix
  • Carlton Doe, IBM Informix Database Specialist, presenting on Informix Flexible Grid
  • Tom Beebe, Advanced Data Tools consultant and IIUG Board Member, will speak about running Informix on the ARM architecture

Date: Thursday, December 11, 8:30 — Noon
Location: IBM, 600 14th St NW, Washington DC

There are 2 metro train stations very close by. Metro Center is 2 blocks to the East and McPherson Square is 3 blocks to the North. There are also pay garage parking alternatives in the close vicinity.

The start time will be 8:30 (doors open at 8:00).

Please register at http://www.waiug.org.

London “Internet Of Things” Event

Event Title: Constructing the IoT solution: Creating real world sensor-to-business value Internet of Things applications

Event Details: With the emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) and the proliferation of connected devices, businesses of all types – manufacturers, servicing organizations, public utilities for electricity, gas, water, and heating are adopting the use of sensor technology to lower operating costs and increase business value. This is driving the need for instant access to information for speed-of-thought insight and the ability to deliver new services in record time.

IBM and Hildebrand are holding a special event at the IBM Executive Briefing Center at Southbank, London on December 10. This half-day event will feature a real world solution using IBM Cloud TimeSeries technology with Hildebrand data collection and analytics solutions. Participants can learn how real world solutions can be implemented now and take the opportunity to meet the IBM team supporting IoT industry solutions in the UK.

Is your business ready for the Internet of Things?

Download this one-pager that explains the challenges faced by organizations that are already developing plans and experimenting with IoT solutions to hone their competitive edge. Get a feel of IBM Informix, the Intelligent Database for IoT.

View the one-page here.


Calendar of events Back to top

December – 2014
Date Event Location Contact
11 Washington Area Informix User Group Meeting IBM Office, Washington DC James Edmiston
April – 2015
Date Event Location Contact
26-30 2015 IIUG Informix Conference San Diego, CA Cindy Lichtenauer

 


Informix resources Back to top

IBM Informix home page

http://www.informix.com or directly at: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/informix/

Informix blogs and wikis

Blogs and Wikis that have been updated during the last month

More Blogs and Wikis

Forums, groups, videos, and magazines

  • The IIUG forums
  • Informix Marketing channel on YouTube
  • IBM Data Magazine
  • Credentials, the IBM Certification Newsletter
  • The Informix Zone
  • 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.

Useful links Back to top

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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
Rhonda Hackenburg

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.