IIUG Insider (Issue #192) June 2016

Highlights:Informix version 12.10.xC7 is available

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

Things look slow this month. I hope it is just temporary and next month will be better. At the Customer Advisory Council held at the IIUG 2016 in May, IBM promised to decrees the time intervals between fix packs.

Informix 12.10 xC7 has just been released. We are waiting for xC8 to come out with more good stuff hopefully in the near future.

Gary Ben-Israel

Highlights

Informix version 12.10.xC7 is available

What’s new in IBM Informix version 12.10.xC7

Application development

JSON compatibility

Spatiotemporal searching

Time series

Spatial data

To find out what’s new in Informix go to: http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSGU8G_12.1.0/com.ibm.po.doc/new_features_ce.htm

Gary Ben-Israel

Works for me

In this section I will write about things that help me in my day to day work.

Most DBAs probably have their own ways to perform these tasks which may be different
than the way I do them. So, if you find an error or can think of a better way, please let me
know. If not feel, free to use these tips as is or modify them to fit your needs.
Today’s topic is a stored procedure my developers use to check if a user has permission to perform a select operation. It can be easily modified to check other permissions. You can perform a select on all the tables and views involved in the query and catch the error. We apply the following stored procedure on each table instead.


create function check_tab_auth(t_nmn varchar(128), u_nm varchar(16)) returning boolean
  define r_nm char(4);
  define t_rolenchar(32);

  foreach
    select b.grantee
      into  t_role
      from  systables a, systabauth b
     where a.tabname = t_nm
       and b.tabid = a.tabid
       and b.tabauth[1] = 's'

    if t_role = u_nm then
      return 't';
    end if

    if (select count(*)
          from  sysroleauth a
         where a.rolename = t_role
         start with grantee = u_nm
         connect by prior rolename = grantee) > 0 then
      return 't';
    end if
  end foreach
  return 'f';
end function;

Gary Ben-Israel

Informix news

New Informix videos

http://bit.ly/1Xoz783
Hari Ammundi
Senior DBA at Action Net

http://bit.ly/1Q3ew7m
David Link
Sr. Systems Engineer at West Corporation
Greater Omaha Area

http://bit.ly/1XW3IL2
Vicente Salvador
Software Architect & Project Manager at Deister Software

http://bit.ly/1UtUUJn
Neil Truby
Director at Ardenta Limited
Taunton, United Kingdom

http://bit.ly/1UTik6M
Miguel Carbone
CEO at MC S at Software
São Paulo Area, Brazil

Informix freeware binaries now on maven central

Informix is putting freeware binaries on maven central: http://search.maven.org/.
If you search com.ibm.informix you will see 2 versions of JDBC and 1 version of Informix Developer Edition. You can download right there or better yet make the binary coordinates part of a maven or gradle project. Most Java users will be doing this already. Here is a simple example of a gradle project’s build file:


[CODE: build.gradle]
apply plugin: 'java'
apply plugin: 'maven'
apply plugin: 'osgi'

version = '1.0.0.0'
group = 'my.personal.project.example'

description = 'Example project that depends upon Informix JDBC driver from maven central'

repositories {
mavenCentral()
}

dependencies {
compile 'org.ibm.informix:jdbc:4.10.+'
}
[/CODE]

With this code in your Java project (or in Eclipse Gradle project) your project will automatically download and depend upon the latest 4.10 Informix JDBC driver. I hope this is of interest.
Kevin J. Smith

RFE corner

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, is 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 a few days ago and will definitely keep registered, due to the value of the information delivered.

Check at this place.

New RFEs for May 2016
Slow activity for June in terms of new RFEs, but the vote activity has been consistent in June, see TOP 15 in next section.

RedBrick support for Windows10 OS

The customer need for the Red Brick Warehouse is supported on the Windows 10 platforms.1 vote.

Innovator-C Edition for Solaris SPARC

Please provide again Innovator-C Edition for Solaris SPARC 12.10.FC6IE. 1 votw

Table level restore

To enhance functionality of ontape/onbar utility to enable table level restore. 1 vote

TOP 15 RFE’s

Abstract Status Votes Progr.
In-Place Alter for varchar, lvarchar and boolean Under Consideration 45 0
Backup from RSS or HDR Secondaries using ontape, onunload, onbar, dbexport Under Consideration 41 0
SQL interface to obtain the temporary space usage (tables, hash, sorts…) Submitted 38 0
Obtain the query plan of a running query Under Consideration 28 0
Request to track and save a time stamp for last time an index was used. Nee… Submitted 28 0
New feature to have FORCE_DDL_EXEC functionality for all DDL changes Submitted 23 +1
Backup Individual database, not entire instance Submitted 22 +2
Implementation of regular expressions (adding to LIKE/MATCHES functions) Under Consideration 21 0
Implement CREATE OR REPLACE option for stored procedures
We are looking to deploy more code into the system hot, taking advantage of improvements have made to trap any -710 errors internally and re-parse transparent to the user session. 		Under Consideration 20 0
ALTER owner of database objects after creation Submitted 20 +2
Allow triggers install/updates without taking an outage for the box Under Consideration 17 0
Allow triggers install/updates without taking an outage for the box Under Consideration 17 0
Need an onmode option to terminate orphaned, tightly coupled global transac…
If a Java application that uses tightly coupled global transactions (such as from Geronimo / WebSphere app servers) abnormally terminates, it may leave the global transaction orphaned on the Informix … 		Under Consideration 16 0
Add constant to centralized Key of ER Consolidation Model
We want to consolidate the data from our stores to one centralized server, but we can’t modify the existing tables. Each store is identical. We need the consolidated model to have an additional valu…		 Subbmited 13 0
Ability to re-create views and procedures without dependent objects being d…
Some objects in a database often depend on other. As an example, if there is a view, another view can be built upon it.
Private and public synonyms can be created for those views, and permissions give…		 Under Consideration 13 0

You can access each RFE by clicking on the above links. At the bottom of each RFE page you will find a hyperlink to vote for it. You will see the Request stats, including number of votes for this request, on the right side of the request page. The more votes, the greater the chance an enhancement will be addressed by the Development Team, taking into consideration the general interest.
Take some time to examine the full list and vote for the enhancements you would like to see implemented.

Gary Ben-Israel

Informix corner

Welcome to the 2016 Informix Roadshow

Informix 12.1 is simply powerful.
Coming to a Location Near You

What is the Informix Roadshow?

The 2016 Informix Roadshow is a two-day, deep-dive technical event that gives you hands-on experience with the latest IBM® Informix® release features, and Informix Warehousing technology. This roadshow is designed to help you gain fresh, innovative ideas for optimizing your business performance and creative competitive advantage – and it’s absolutely free to attend these events.

The Roadshow topics include:

  • Latest features of IDS 12
  • Replication Technologies
  • Compression
  • Storage Manager
  • Time Series – Smart Metering
  • Informix Warehouse Accelerator
  • Embed and Autonomics
  • NoSql
  • Internet of Things
  • Roadmap

The current Informix Roadshow presentations and agenda, both of which are subject to change, and the last four years Informix Roadshow presentations are available here.

The current Informix Roadshow Agenda is here subject to change.

If you would like to try Informix for free, links to various software downloads are here:

Stay tuned for upcoming events:

Date Location
September 12-13 Zagreb, Croatia
September 15-16 Zagreb, Croatia
September 29-30 Buenos Aires, Argentina
October 3-4 Sao Paulo, Brazil
October 6-7 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
October 11-12 Mexico City, Mexico

Calendar of events

September – 2016

Date Event Location Contact
12-13 2016 Informix Roadshow Zagreb, Croatia
15-16 2016 Informix Roadshow Zagreb, Croatia
29-30 2016 Informix Roadshow Buenos Aires, Argentina

October – 2016

Date Event Location Contact
3-4 2016 Informix Roadshow Sao Paulo, Brazil
6-7 2016 Informix Roadshow Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
11-12 2016 Informix Roadshow Mexico City, Mexico

Informix resources

IBM Informix home page 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

Social media

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/25049
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IBM_Informix
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IBM.Informix
YouTube : https://ibm.biz/BdH2nb
Informix IoT Channel : https://ibm.biz/BdH2nm

Forums, Groups, Videos, and Magazines

  • The IIUG forums at /forums/technical.php
  • Informix Marketing channel on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/informixmarketing?feature=results_main
  • IBM DATABASE MAGAZINE at http://www.ibmdatabasemag.com
  • Credentials, the IBM Certification Newsletter at http://www-03.ibm.com/certify/email/201307credentials.shtml
  • The Informix Zone at http://www.informix-zone.com
  • There is now 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

Useful Links

In response to your input, we have created a new page on IIUG web site containing all the links we use to include. Please find it at /quicklinks.html

Closing and Credits

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 Information 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.

Editor: Gary Ben-Israel

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.