IIUG Insider (Issue #298) May 2025

Highlights: IBM Informix a Proven Database with a Bold Roadmap

 

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

As you can see in the highlights Informix is a proven database with a bold roadmap. 

The Insider editorial team is doing its best to provide you with technical information, event promotion and news. As I said many times, I’m always looking for content. If there is anything you want to know about, any news, or any technical content. Let me know. Starting with this issue I added a corner named HOW TO. Where I will share tips that helped my development team. Any comments or your own contribution will be blessed. 

 

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

 

Highlights

IBM Informix a Proven Database with a Bold Roadmap

IBM Informix remains a core asset for organizations demanding performance, reliability, and innovation. This new blog highlights its legacy, ongoing roadmap, and forward-looking features—from containerization to AI-readiness—as it moves confidently into versions beyond v15. 

Rest assured, IBMInformix isn’t going anywhere-it’s here to stay for the foreseeable future. 

https://community.ibm.com/community/user/blogs/anup-nair/2025/05/14/ibm-informix-a-proven-database-with-a-bold-roadmap 

 

Anup Nair
IBM

 

Conference Corner

IBM TechXchange Conference 2025 – Orlando, FL, USA

IBM TechXchange 2025

October 6-9, 2025

Orlando, Florida USA 

Preview the IBM TechXchange 2025 Session Catalog!  A sneak peek of the conference catalog is now live!

Mark your calendars for 13 dedicated Informix sessions, meticulously curated by IIUG. These sessions promise to offer valuable insights and practical knowledge, with a sneak peek coming soon.  You can also explore the more than 500 sessions and activities being offered.

  1. Lots of Ways to Learn – Varied session types to suit many learning styles 
  2. Role-based Navigation – Easily discover sessions that apply to your role and the work you do daily
  3. Technical Tracks and Topics – Curriculum organized by technical tracks and specific topics helps you build your agenda
  4. World Class Experts – Look for the leading lights of Enterprise AI and Hybrid Cloud in our Speaker Catalog 
  5. Get Certified – Prepare for your next certification and take advantage of online assessments, sample tests and study guides 
  6. Soft Skills – A technologist needs capabilities beyond technical mastery, including good communication, project management, leadership and more 

Build your learning path now

This is a fantastic opportunity to network with fellow Informix enthusiasts, learn from industry experts, and stay updated on the latest trends and best practices.

For those of you who missed the 30% last month’s registration discount, don’t despair!  We are working to get another discount.  Watch for future emails regarding this.

We can’t wait to see you in Orlando!

#IIUG #IBMTechXchange #Informix

Rhonda Hackenburg
IIUG Board 

 

 

Informix Corner

Informix Tech Talks on YouTube

Upcoming Informix Tech Talks

There is no Tech Talks scheduled for June!

Rhonda Hackenburg
IIUG Board

 

Last Informix Tech Talks Replay

Replay of the Last Informix Tech Talks:  Everything You Need to Know About Statistics and Data Distributions – Art Kagel, May 2025

 

Informix Tech Talks YouTube Channel

Our YouTube Channel now has:

  • 560 subscribers (8 new subscribers)

  • 113 videos (1 new videos)

  • 23,203 views (366 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

 

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
Implement st_distance_sphere funtion 

 

Popular 

Informix should be able to change owner on tables and any other objects (108 votes)

Backup Individual database, not entire instance (94 votes)

 

 

IBM Informix Forum Corner

Join and visit the IBM Informix Community Forum

Recent Posts:

Query using temp table is much faster then join/subquery 

is there a rowsize function in SQL similar to rowid? 

What triggers a blocking checkpoint? 

Informix 14.10xc8 crash 

 

 

Gary Ben-Israel
IIUG Board

 

How To

In this corner I will write about things that can help in your 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. 

back_ref_view 

This is a view you can use to find which tables are referencing the table you are dealing with. Some SQL editors can display this information but even when they do it is not always intuitive or easy. 

In DBACCESS for instance it takes you six steps. At least that’s what it takes me. Needless to say, developers are usually not familiar with DBACCESS and are not logged in to an Informix server. 

Performing this with a simple select statement can be helpful. 

Using the following view. 

create view back_ref_view
  (referenced_table, referenced_column, referencing_table, referencing_column,
   cascading_delete, constraint_name, back_ref_view_ik) as
 select a.tabname, d.colname, g.tabname, i.colname,
    case
    when e.delrule = “C” then
       “Yes”
    else
       “No”
    end,
    f.constrname, f.constrid
 from systables a, sysconstraints b, sysindexes c, syscolumns d,
    sysreferences e, sysconstraints f, systables g, sysindexes h,
    syscolumns i
  where b.tabid = a.tabid
   and b.constrtype = “P”
   and c.idxname = b.idxname
   and d.tabid = c.tabid
   and d.colno = c.part1
   and e.primary = b.constrid
   and f.constrid = e.constrid
   and g.tabid = f.tabid
   and h.idxname = f.idxname
   and i.tabid = h.tabid
   and i.colno = h.part1;

grant select on back_ref_view to “public”;

 

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.

Blogs

Art Kagel – https://informix-myview.blogspot.com/ 

IBM Informix RFE

IBM Informix RFE – Informix Requests for Enhancements.

 

Technical Articles

Oninit Group
WAIUG (Washington Area Informix User Group) Tech Tips
Over 10 Years of Informix Webcast Replays
Over 30 Years of Informix Blog Posts

 

Social Media

YouTube LinkedIn X Facebook

IIUG’s own Art Kagel was recently features on the Tech Sharmit Podcast to talk about his life and involvement with Informix and database systems.
Catch the podcast here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l81pLa7i-J0)

Forums, Groups, Videos, and Magazines

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