Highlights: Did You Know There Are Three Informix Products??
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.
Table of Contents
Editorial
In my June editorial I expressed my concern about the future of Informix. As I said Informix is NOT dead. There is a road map for Informix v15. It has been delayed more than once. The current date is 2024 Q1.
We have yet to see if this date will be met and what will version 15 include. Will there be new innovations? Will Informix continue to lead technologically?
No one is going to kill Informix. IBM and HCL are happy with their revenues and many customers still depend on the product.
IBM is happy with Informix but it seems they are unhappy with the Informix user community. We feel as if they want to get rid of the IIUG. Probably because we have demands, we are telling the truth to our users, we want more. So, after 22 years of supporting the IIUG we have no budget. At the TechXchange conference there will be no Informix sessions. IBM does not want the IIUG to have a technical event in 2023.
We are unable to reach IBM management, except Scott Pickett. Letters from IBM top level executives addressing the Informix user community no longer happen.
I believe that an active user community is essential for any product.
Your posts mean you care. But we need more.
They say that hope is the last thing you lose.
I am still hoping.
Gary Ben-Israel
IIUG Insider Editor
IIUG Board of Directors
gary@iiug.org
Highlights
Did You Know There Are Three Informix Products?
In addition to IBM Informix, HCL Software, the company that IBM contracted with six years ago to maintain the Informix code, and its subsidiary were given the right to produce their own branches from that code. That has resulted in two other “Informix” RDBMS: HCL Informix and HCL OneDB. So, what are the differences, if any, between these three products? Here is the true skinny:
First and foremost any software written for any of the three, using any of their CSDK versions, will execute correctly and work just fine against any of the others as long as it does not require access to a feature that is not supported. So, what are the feature differences? Here it is in a nutshell:
Taking IBM Informix Enterprise Edition v14.10.FC10 (the current release) as the starting point:
- There are no “Editions” of either HCL Informix or OneDB. Both are at the same level for basic features and resources as IBM Informix Enterprise Edition. (OK, there is a “trial” version you can download free and use for testing purposes only, similar to IDS Developer Edition.)
- Licensing is different from IBM’s licenses. If you are interested in switching you should contact HCL or speak to an HCL partner. Depending on your current IBM licensing your HCL license may be more or less.
- HCL Informix v14.10.10 is identical to IDS v14.10.FC10 in every way except the branding and licensing.
- The current release of OneDB (v 2.01) is feature equivalent to IDS v14.10.FC6 so a handful of changes in .FC7 through .FC10 are not included. However, HCL has pledged that the next release of OneDB (v 3.0) and all future releases will be maintained to include all features in IDS releases starting with the next major IDS release.
- OneDB v2.01 includes several features that are not included in IDS. Those include:
- Support for the REST API v2 (IDS supports REST API v1)
- Support for custom REST API calls dedicated to handling Timeseries data (IDS only supports the standard REST API calls and has no specific support for timeseries)
- Support for Kubernetes, Helm Charts, and Docker packaging systems making OneDB easier to use on public Cloud systems like AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, etc. and in on-prem systems using those systems for release control
- All of the cNext features that will ultimately be included in the next release of IBM Informix will also be included in OneDB v3.0
- HCL intends to continue to support all three “Informix” engines.
Art Kagel
Informix Corner
Latest Releases of IBM Informix, What’s New and What’s Coming…
The development team is hard at work and focused on the IBM Informix vNext release but we are also pushing forward with other releases that have occurred in the last few weeks.
A new version of the Informix service for Cloud Pak for Data 4.7.0 was released at the end of June. This new release contains the 14.10.FC10 Informix server and we continue to release hand in hand with the Cloud Pak for Data major releases and plan interim releases as needed. With 4.7.0 release, the Informix service continues to improve the integration with the overall infrastructure and has worked to simplify the service deployment using the cpd-cli tool. Reduction of the service footprint has been a main theme for Informix and the overall Cloud Pak for Data releases.
For more information on what’s new in Cloud Pak for Data 4.7.0, check here.
We are also happy to announce the release of IBM Informix 12.10.xC16 just this week. The 12.10 fixpack releases continue to focus on delivering high quality defect fixes for customer reported issues and the fix list for xC16 is in the final stages of publishing. Also In the 12.10.xC16 fix pack, the JRE version was upgraded to IBM Java 8 as the IBM Java 7 had reached the end of its support date. For more info on this please check out the What’s new doc here and also the JRE/Java Plans for Informix article published in this newsletter as well.
Going back to vnext to conclude, look out for more information about the upcoming beta program being planned to start in Q4, 2023 for vnext. Scott Pickett spickett@us.ibm.com is collecting the info for clients that are interested in participating and more info will be published regarding the beta soon!
Karen Qualley
HCL
IBM Product Announcement Letters are Available
The product announcement letters are available at IBM Documentation. Search for Informix 12.10 and select Announcement letters. See the announcement for the following information:
- Detailed product description
- Product-positioning statement
- Packaging and ordering details
- International compatibility information
IMPORTANT:
- HP-UX Itanium End of Support
HP is ending support for the Itanium processor and the HP-UX operating system. The fix-pack 12.10.xC15W1 is the last fix-pack update for Informix on the HP-UX platform across all releases.
This End of Support includes Client SDK 4.10.xC15 on HP-UX.
- End of Support for IBM Java 7
IBM Informix 12.10, Client SDK 4.10 and Informix Warehouse Accelerator 12.10 version prior to xC16 included IBM Java 7 with the Installer. IBM Java 7 has reached the end of its service in 2022, and as a result there are no more maintenance releases for Java 7 (https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/java-sdk-lifecycle-dates). Because of this, and the open vulnerabilities which will not be addressed (https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/java-sdk-security-vulnerabilities) we are moving to IBM Java 8, which is the version included in IBM Informix 14.10.
- Minimum OS Levels for Java 8
Java 8 minimum OS Levels are newer than the original 12.10 OS minimums. The 12.10.16 OS Level minimum will now match that of Java 8, where IBM Java 8 is available. Please refer to Informix system requirement document at https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/informix-server-system-requirements.
- Beyond Java 8
IBM Java 8 will continue to be supported with maintenance releases at least until April of 2025 (see java-sdk-lifecycle-dates above). On or before that EOS date we plan to stop shipping Java with Informix 14.10 and allow customers to provide their own Java. We will announce changes to the required Java level in future releases.
Since IBM can no longer provide security fixes for JAVA 7, and Java 8 will reach end of support date in 2025, IBM will no longer bundle Java with future release of Informix. Customers will have to download and install a supported Java version from their own vendor:
- Informix 12.10.xC16 will have Java 8 bundled; any later fix packs on Version 12 will not have JAVA bundled, but will support Java 8.
- Informix 14.10.xC10 has Java 8 bundled presently, later fix packs on Version 14 will not have JAVA bundled, but will support at least Java 11.
- Informix Vnext will not have Java bundled, but will be requiring Java 17.
PLATFORMS WITHDRAWN FROM SERVICE:
The following platforms are being discontinued due to lack of support for Java 8 (and no longer supported by vendor):
Platform: Linux Intel
|
Operating System Version |
Informix 12.10 |
|
RHEL 6 |
12.10.UC16 |
Platform: Linux – IBM POWER (Big Endian)
Hardware: IBM POWER (System p, System i, POWER Blades)
Note: The following codes are used in this table:
F = 64-bit
RHEL: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
|
Operating System Version |
Informix 12.10 |
|
RHEL 6 |
12.10.FC16 |
Platform: Linux – IBM Z
Hardware: IBM eServer z Systems
Note: The following codes are used in this table:
F = 64-bit
RHEL: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
|
Operating System Version |
Informix 12.10 |
|
RHEL 6 |
12.10.FC16 |
Platform: Windows
Hardware: Intel x86, x64 (AMD AMD64, Intel EM64T)
Note: The following codes are used in this table:
T = 32-bit on Windows platforms
F = 64 bit on x64 (AMD AMD64, Intel EM64T)
|
Operating System Version |
Informix 12.10 |
|
Windows 2012 R2 |
12.10.TC16 |
|
Windows 2012 |
12.10.TC16 |
Platform: Mac OS X
Hardware: Intel EM64T
Note: The following code is used in this table:
F = 64-bit
|
Operating System Version |
Informix 14.10 |
Informix 12.10 |
|
Mac OS X 10.10 “Yosemite” |
|
12.10.FC16 |
This is a slight exception to the JAVA issue in that presently it is an Apple unsupported version of MAC OS X and this O/S has been withdrawn from service and support by Apple (no security updates since 2015). Therefore, 12.10.FC15 is the last version of Informix available for any MAC OS X platform and it is no longer on a supported O/S. We may at a future date withdraw all binaries available for this platform as a result. There are presently no plans for further development on MAC OS X at this time.
PLATFORMS WITH JAVA SUPPORT LEVEL CHANGES:
Other platforms below, support level changes in italic indicating a minimum of a Java 8 support level and other requirements unless otherwise noted:
The minimum OS level for Java 8 has raised the 12.10 Minimum OS level. These minimum OS levels are not necessarily supported by vendor, so newer versions would be needed for support.
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/sdk-java-technology/8?topic=installing-supported-environments
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/informix-server-system-requirements
The following platforms highlighted in italic have upgraded minimum versions for JAVA 8.
Platform: IBM AIX
|
Operating System Version |
Informix 14.10 |
Informix 12.10 |
|
AIX 7.1 |
|
12.10.FC16 (AIX 7.1 TL3 7100-03) |
|
AIX 7.2 |
14.10.FC10 |
12.10.FC16 (7200-00) |
|
AIX 7.3 |
14.10.FC10 |
|
Platform: Linux Intel
|
Operating System Version |
Informix 14.10 |
Informix 12.10 |
|
RHEL 7 SR 4 FP10 |
14.10.FC10 Additional OS requirements: Standard C++ library, libstdc++.so.6, must be installed |
12.10.FC16 Standard C++ library, libstdc++.so.6, must be installed |
Platform: Linux – IBM POWER (Big Endian)
Hardware: IBM POWER (System p, System i, POWER Blades)
Note: The following codes are used in this table:
F = 64-bit
RHEL: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
|
Operating System Version |
Informix 14.10 |
Informix 12.10 |
|
RHEL 7 SR 4 FP10 |
|
12.10.FC16 Standard C++ library, libstdc++.so.6, must be installed |
Platform: Linux – IBM POWER (Little Endian)
Hardware: IBM POWER8® for ppc64le
Note: The following codes are used in this table:
F = 64-bit
RHEL: Red Hat Enterprise Linux for PPCle64 Linux, the P7 hardware/OS is not supported by Java 8. You must be on Power 8 or above.
|
Operating System Version |
Informix 14.10 |
Informix 12.10 |
|
RHEL 7 SR 4 FP10 |
14.10.FC10 – Base kernel version 3.10.0 |
12.10.FC16 Standard C++ library, libstdc++.so.6, must be installed Power8 or later |
|
RHEL 8 |
14.10.FC10 – Base kernel version 4.18 |
|
|
SuSE SLES 12 |
14.10.FC10 |
12.10.FC16 Standard C++ library, libstdc++.so.6, must be installed Power8 or later |
Platform: Linux – IBM Z
Hardware: IBM eServer z Systems
Note: The following codes are used in this table:
F = 64-bit
RHEL: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
|
Operating System Version |
Informix 14.10 |
Informix 12.10 |
|
RHEL 7 SR 4 FP10 |
14.10.FC10 Additional OS Requirements: – Minimum update 4 – Base kernel version 3.10.0 - Glibc version 2.22 – Compiler 4.8.5 |
12.10.FC16 Standard C++ library, libstdc++.so.6, must be installed |
|
SuSE SLES 12 |
14.10.FC10 Additional OS Requirements: – Minimum service pack 3 – Base kernel version 4.4.73 - Glibc version 2.22 – Compiler 4.8.5 |
12.10.FC16 Standard C++ library, libstdc++.so.6, must be installed |
Platform: Solaris SPARC
Hardware: SPARC
Informix is supported with or without Zones.
Note: The following codes are used in this table:
F = 64-bit
U = 32-bit (Clients, Customer must provide their own Java)
Prerequisite: IBM is not supplying 32-bit Java 8.
Customers must supply their own Java 8 to install the 32-bit product.
|
Operating System Version |
Informix 14.10 |
Informix 12.10 |
|
Solaris 10 |
|
12.10.FC16 |
|
Solaris 11 |
14.10.FC10 (64-bit only) |
12.10.FC16 |
Platform: Solaris x64
Hardware: AMD, AMD64, Intel EM64T
Informix is supported with or without Zones.
Note: The following code is used in this table:
F = 64-bit
U = 32-bit (Clients, Customer must provide their own Java)
Prerequisite: IBM is not supplying 32-bit Java 8.
Customers must supply their own Java 8 to install the 32-bit product.
|
Operating System Version |
Informix 14.10 |
Informix 12.10 |
|
Solaris 10 |
|
12.10.FC16 |
|
Solaris 11 |
|
12.10.FC16 |
Platform: Windows
Hardware: Intel x86, x64 (AMD AMD64, Intel EM64T)
Note: The following codes are used in this table:
T = 32-bit on Windows platforms
F = 64 bit on x64 (AMD AMD64, Intel EM64T)
|
Operating System Version |
Informix 14.10 |
Informix 12.10 |
|
Windows 10 (SR1 FP10) |
14.10.FC10 |
12.10.FC16 |
|
Windows 2016 (SR4) |
14.10.FC10 |
12.10.TC16 |
|
Windows 2019 (SR5 FP35) |
14.10.FC10 |
|
Scott Pickett
IBM Informix Product Management
Informix Mexico Tour
Date: August 23, 2023
Time: 8:30 am – 1:00 pm CST
The event will be held at:
Innovation Studio
IBM Santa Fe
Alfonso Nápoles Gandara 311
Santa Fe Peña Blanca 01210
To register, please email Bryan Cardenas – byrancf@ibm.com
For more information in Spanish, please click link below:
Invitacion Informix Tour Ago 2023
Informix Tech Talks on YouTube
Upcoming Informix Tech Talks
Title: Informix and OneDB
Date: August 24, 2023
Time: 1:00 pm EDT
Speaker: Paul Watson
Description: This presentation will detail the differences and similarity between the two products and how to upgrade to OneDB.
Register for Informix and OneDB
Rhonda Hackenburg
IIUG Tech Talks Committee
Last Informix Tech Talks Replay
Replay of the Last Informix Tech Talks: June 1, 2023: Lycia Low Code Development Platform, Hubert Hölzl from Querix
Informix Tech Talks YouTube Channel
We now have 399 subscribers (54 new subscribers since January 2023) to our YouTube channel.
We have 99 videos (10 new videos since January 2023) on YouTube on our Channel.
Our Channel has received 11,629 views (3287 new views since January 2023) so far!
Informix Tech Talks YouTube Channel Videos
Past Informix Tech Talks Replays
Bruce Simms
In Search of Tech Talks Speakers
We are looking for additional speakers and especially any new speakers to share your Informix knowledge with our user Community via the IIUG Tech Talks. We will assist you in preparing for your Tech Talks presentation by prerecording your session. This will allow you to be available to answer any questions that come up in the chat during you presentation.
If you are interested in producing a 15 – 45-minute presentation, please contact either Bruce Simms or Rhonda Hackenburg for additional information.
Rhonda Hackenburg
IIUG Board
IBM TechXchange Conference – September 11-14, 2023
Join IBM for their newest technical event, IBM TechXchange! Learn the latest IBM technologies, including hybrid cloud and AI, including product roadmaps.
The event will be held at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas from September 11-14, 2023.
Reminder: at the time of this publication, there are still NO Informix sessions offered at this event.
Click here to register for the event or learn more about IBM’s TechXchange
Rhonda Hackenburg
Informix Training
Free Informix Tutorials Videos – a step by step approach to using Informix Database Servers are available at https://advancedatatools.com/tech-info/informix-tutorials/
RFE Corner
IBM has an RFE – Request For Enhancements website.
Please visit the RFE site to vote for your favorite enhancements and place new requests. It is friendly and has a nice look and feel.
Recent
Timeseries support more than 1 concurrent write per container/chunk.
Timeseries support compression
Add MDC Multidimension Clustering Tables to Informix same as DB2
Add Materialized Views to Infomrix same as Oracle and DB2
Fix FLOAT error in Informix HQ
Popular (Over 50 votes)
Obtain the query plan of a running query
Many times a DBA is called to check upon a slow process. Most of the times those processes are running a slow query.
Sometimes it’s hard to know if the query is using the best query plan or not. A DBA can reproduce the query, but it it was prepared without values or if the statistics were changed after it started there is no guarantee that the query plan seen by the DBA is the same as the running query.
We have “onstat -g pqs” which sometimes can give us a clue, but it’s mostly cryptic and undocumented. If a user has X-Windows he can try xtree, but it’s a bit strange for todays standards.
We also have SQLTRACE, but if it was not set when the query was launched it will not capture the info (and besides, due to the circular nature of the buffer it may not be there at the time we need it).
A simple pseudo-table in sysmaster could probably implement this with ease.
It could also be extended to support the “last” query plan making it easy to get the query plan in any tool
Votes: 105 (+0)
Created: December 24, 2018
Status: Future consideration
Informix should be able to change owner on tables and any other objects
If user=informix creates all database and all tables, then programmer creates table but user=informix cannot change it. Only drop it.
Votes: 100 (+0)
Created: December 24, 2018
Status: Future consideration
Backup Individual database, not entire instance
Need a mechanism, similar to ontape, to backup a live database (as opposed to entire instance), without locking it.
Votes: 91 (+0)
Created: December 24, 2018
Status: Future consideration
Gary Ben-Israel
IBM Informix Forum Corner
Join and visit the IBM Informix community forum
Recent Posts
dbexport and dbimport – partitioned table
Smart BLOB 16359 bytes, w/ ref count = 1, yet apparently not used by any table
Want to DROP an empty rootdbs chunk
Gary Ben-Israel
Informix Resources
Not a member, become an IIUG member and keep updated on all things Informix. It’s free.
Not a member, join The IBM Informix community and connect with other Informix data experts.
Informix Requests for Enhancements.
Informix Blogs ans Wikis
Andrés Repossi https://andreserepossi.wixsite.com/hablemosinformix (In Spanish)
Technical Articles
https://www.oninitgroup.com/technical-articles/
https://www.oninitgroup.com/faq-items/cloud-backups-with-informix-14-10/
Over 10 Years of Informix Webcast Replays
Over 30 Years of Informix Blog Posts
Social Media
| YouTube |
Forums, Groups, Videos, and Magazines
The IIUG old forums at http://www.iiug.org/forums/technical.php *** NO LONGER ACTIVE ***
Informix Marketing channel on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/informixmarketing?feature=results_main
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 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.
Editors: Gary Ben-Israel, Rhonda Hackenburg
For comments, please send an email to gary@iiug.org or rhonda@iiug.org