IIUG Insider (Issue #286) May 2024

Highlights: Re-launched Informix Page 

 

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.

Editorial

IBM stopped supporting user groups. At least financially. We do not charge our members, so funding by Informix and since 2001 IBM, has been our main source of revenue. We are looking for new sponsors and will keep you in the loop. 

We will keep supporting the IIUG.  So, there are no changes planned. 

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

 

Highlights

Re-launched Informix Page

IBM recently re-launched the Informix product page. It now shares the same graphical style and other design elements with the other database products. It highlights the recent integration of Informix into the WatsonX data framework as well as featuring product videos, links to white papers and more. 

View more…

Carlton Doe
IBM, Informix Database Specialist

 

 

 

Conference Corner

IBM TechXchange Conference Las Vegas, NV, USA

Title: IBM TechXchange Conference 2024

Date: October 21-24, 2024

Location: Mandalay Bay – Las Vegas, NV, USA

 

IMPORTANT:  In case you missed the April Insider, due to a delay in the release of Informix V15. There will not be sufficient content to provide an Informix track. Therefore, the IIUG will not participate.  We will continue to support this event and provide any Informix information regarding this event when it becomes available to us.

Be in the know about the latest tech, certifications, education & AI trends.

Join IBM to gain industry-leading skills, get a first look at the latest product roadmaps, engage in hands-on experiences, earn industry-leading credentials, network with thousands of peers, and hear from the best and brightest minds working in tech today. Discover what’s to come in your area of focus. 

For our Informix Community members who use or are interested in other IBM products you can learn more here: IBM TechXchange Conference 2024.

 

Rhonda Hackenburg
IIUG Board

 

 

Informix Corner

IBM Informix: A Key Part of IBM’s Hybrid Cloud and AI Strategy

Another feature for IBM Informix in the watsonx.data blog. Watsonx.data enables enterprises to unlock value in their existing data by connecting to existing storage and analytical environments.

View IBM Blog

Shripad Sonavnay
IBM, Principal Product Manager, GTM – Db2 & Informix

 

 

Upgrading to the Latest Fixpack of 12.10 and/or 14.10?

Please make sure to grab the latest and greatest PID release off of fix central:

12.10.xC16W1

14.10.xC10W2

 

These PID releases contain a fix for APAR IT45318 which is applicable only to the following releases of the Informix Server:

12.10.xC16

14.10.xc9

14.10.xc10

14.10.xc10W1

Or any special build containing the fix for APAR IT40986

Additional details pertaining to APAR IT45318 can be found here.

Karen Qualley
HCL

 

 

Informix Tech Talks on YouTube

Upcoming Informix Tech Talks

There will be no Informix Tech Talks in June at this time.

 

 

Last Informix Tech Talks Replay

Replay of the Last Informix Tech Talks:  Migrating Databases Under the Worst Conditions – with Fail-back! – Art Kagel – May 2024

 

 

Informix Tech Talks YouTube Channel

Our YouTube Channel now has:

  • 498 subscribers (7 new subscribers)

  • 106 videos (1 new video)

  • 17,614 views (483 additional views)

Informix Tech Talks YouTube Channel Videos

Past Informix Tech Talks Replays

 

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 Art Kagel or Rhonda Hackenburg for additional information.

Rhonda Hackenburg
IIUG Board

 

 

Schedule Your Informix 14.10 Exam Today

The Informix 14.10 Badge exam is still available!

The exam will be administered online. You are required to complete the exam with a proctor from our approved list, or nominate one of your own, to be approved by IBM or the IIUG Board. You will be required to have a live webcam running as you complete the exam.

For those not familiar with the term Proctor: Proctor is frequently used to describe someone who oversees an exam. In today’s testing environment, a proctor will typically verify a student’s identity by checking a photo ID and ensure academic integrity guidelines are followed during the exam. 

Click here to learn more or schedule your exam.

 

 

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

Indexable external tables 

Add function of updating chunk path by ontape and onbar 

Certify Informix 14.10 on red-hat 7 

Onaudit add events at the statement level for object read/write 

Backups to use temp dbspaces with most closlely matching page size 

Allow temp tables and backup before images to handle temp dbspaces which fill up. 

 

 

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: 108 (+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: 105 (+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: 93 (+0)

Created: December 24, 2018

Status: Future consideration

Gary Ben-Israel
IUG Board

 

 

IBM Informix Forum Corner

Join and visit the IBM Informix community forum

Recent Posts

Load progress – raw tables 

Replicate not starting  

Is it possible to import the copy made with ontape from one database to another PC? 

 

Gary Ben-Israel
IIUG Board

 

 

Informix Resources

IIUG Website

Not a member, become an IIUG member and keep updated on all things Informix. It’s free.

IBM Informix Community

Not a member, join the IBM Informix community and connect with other Informix data experts.

IBM Informix RFE

Informix Requests for Enhancements.

 

Technical Articles

https://www.oninitgroup.com/technical-articles/

Over 10 Years of Informix Webcast Replays

Over 30 Years of Informix Blog Posts

 

Social Media

YouTube LinkedIn X (Twitter) Facebook

 

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