FW: Polling Databases on other machines

You can set up communication in the sqlhosts, /etc/hosts & /etc/services files and communicate from database to database without changing your INFORMIXSERVER. This answers your other question, you can then do everything from one 4gl program by using the syntax - databasename@hostname:tablename I just don't think you will be able to do this with Standard Engine (accept maybe if you are using I-Star. I haven't worked with I-Star, so I can't answer you on this). Another option, is to use Enterprise Replication. Set this up, and the databases will automatically update each other (even when down, see asynchronous replication) without having to right a program to do this. Here I am quite certain you won't be able to use SE to do this. Hope this helps Dirk -----Original Message----- From: owner-informix-list@iiug.iiug.org [mailto:owner-informix-list@iiug.iiug.org]On Behalf Of Candy McCall Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2000 5:45 PM To: Informix List Subject: Polling Databases on other machines We are currently looking at a project which will involve one central site with a large Dynamic Server database and several smaller sites with their own databases. The purpose is to enable the smaller sites to continue working if the main central site is ever down. What we would like to be able to do is to poll each of the smaller sites several times a day and update the main central site with the transactions that have occurred on the smaller sites. First of all, is it not possible to set up each of the smaller sites in the $INFORMIXDIR/etc/sqlhosts file such that by just changing the value of INFORMIXSERVER it will access the proper database? Is it possible for the smaller sites to have just the standard engine (SE)? The polling program will be written in Informix-4GL 7.31. Is it possible within the 4GL to select the database desired? Is it possible within the same 4GL program to read from one database and update another database on another machine? Thanks in advance for any input! Candy -- Candy McCall ONLINE Computing, Inc. (candym@olcinc.com)