Re: VB+Informix

In article <3ro6vr$3k2@blarg1.blarg.com>, ej@blarg.com (EJ) says: > >I've asked this question several times in several different ways, but >either my message isn't getting out, or I'm getting ignored :). > >Are ODBC drivers available for Informix? Specifically, I need to write >a Windows client to an Informix 7.1 online system. Who makes these drivers? >Is using Informix with VB any different than any other ODBC database? > >Is there any advantage whatsoever to using New Era instead of VB >for client access? > >I'd love any response whatsoever, even a 'quit annoying us with stupid >questions'. I'd RTFM, but I don't even know which FM to read... > >Thanks a million. > To the best of my limited knowledge of Informix databases the ODBC driver comes from Informix themselves. As for the choice between VB and NewEra, that can be a bit complicated. Are you porting existing 4GL code or writing from scratch? Do you need a lot of custom controls? Do you want to use data-aware controls? Currently NewEra does not support VBXs, though a future release is going to support OCXs. Because of this you are limited to using the controls that come with NewEra unless you feel comfortable dropping in to the C/Win API world and sub-classing some controls. On the other hand NewEra is tightly coupled to the Informix database and has some pretty slick features you won't get in VB - you can declare variables as the same type as columns in a table. If your DDL changes you simply recompile the app (I like that one). The grid control (called a super-table) has a cool message that is fired whenever someone else changes the data you are currently displaying. This allows you to update your display, inform the user, etc. NewEra is fully OO with inheritance, derivation,etc. VBs not. So really you need to look at the requirements of your app and then decide on which language to go with. Hope this helped some. Gene Dudley RDA Consultants Limited dudley@rdaconsultants.com