Re: Help with antique Xenix/Informix on Altos Z-80

orville%weyrich@uunet.uu.net (Orville R. Weyrich) writes: >I have been asked by the widow of a mom & pop business to help extract >some mailing lists from an Informix database. Her late husband set the >system up, and she can't find complete documentation. :-( >The system: > Altos 986T-80. > Xenix 3.0e > Informix-SQL 1.10.2 >I get the impression that this computer runs on a Z-80 cpu. Is this true? No. It runs on an 8086. The postings that say it runs on an 80286 are NOT correct. It is NOT compatible with Altos 2086/80286 software. It is compatible with the Altos 186, 586, 586T, and 986. The "T" stands for built-in cartridge tape drive. This is not the most reliable machine in the world. The system had a lot of hardware and OS problems. If your machine was "tuned" by Altos around 1986, you should be OK. I believe that most of the OS bugs were ironed out by Xenix version 3.0e. >Does anyone know if Informix 2.0 for the above platform will be able to >handle the databases and forms created by Informix 1.10.02? [She has >a documentation set for version 2.0, and a set of 2.0 diskettes still >sealed in their licensing envelope.] I assume you mean Informix-SQL. I do not know. You should look at your 2.0 documentation set for information about this. There may be a utility to convert data/forms from 1.1 to 2.0. Check the appendices of the documentation. >[I fear depending on this system, but converting to a better supported >platform is not finacially feasible at this time]. Informix runs rather well on this platform, especially considering it's an 8086. I would worry about the hardware, though. The tape drive probably needs maintenance. >Does anyone have any software development tools for this version of Xenix? >[C compiler, BASIC interpreter, FORTRAN, COBOL, PL/I ...] There is a possibility that Altos may still have this stuff. You can call Acer/Altos in San Jose. -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Randall Rhea Informix Software, Inc. Project Manager, MIS Sales/Marketing Systems uunet!pyramid!infmx!randall