Re: BIG ROOKIE QUESTION

"Reiner Kunz" <Reiner.Kunz@pr-kunz2.M.eunet.de> wrote: :Hi Nils, : :the Informix I-CLI 2.5 drivers really work quite nice. Speed is not a :question for me but transformation of data types. Did you know that :Microsoft Access 97 has problems converting long DECIMAL INFORMIX Data type :in something readable for Access 97? In Access 97 I only get a conversion :from long floating point numbers into somple text strings. Do you know what :would happen if I use the OPENLINK data drivers? I only have MS Access for Windows 95 ver. 7.0 as my customers. It's mainly usable for some reporting tasks and add hoc query during development and testing. We have had no problems with any datatype we use including DECIMAL and FLOAT in the Informix databases. : The documentation I got for :my eval packages was quite rudimentary. Last time I've seen such a :"handbook" was when I got my first Sinclair ZX81 soldering kit. There are things lacking from the documentation. Have you however looked at this page: http://www.openlinksw.com/docs/mtdoc/tableof.htm There is some documentation that's ok at least. What makes the Informix CLI ODBC drivers more or less useless? Here are some of the points (some relate to the similar problems with the underlying I-Connect (formerly I-Net) connectivity service): 1. On installation a tremendous number of "environement variables" have to be set up with little or no help information unless you realy study several manuals. 2. The above have to be maintained on every client PC although many are realy determined by the server you connect to and shouldn't have to be set up again on the client. 3. There is absolutly no thought given to security. Anyone having Informix CLI installed can use a product like MS Access to gain free access to the database using their loginname/password from another MS Windows or Unix application. Using the Openlink drivers the client side can be freely installed anywhere. The licenses are handled by the server. Therefor when our applications are installed we first install them on a network drive with an .ini file that lists the databases users can connect to. When installing on each workstation PC (using the setup program installed on the network server) all that's currently seen of an ODBC installation is one check box asking whether you want ODBC installed or not. We plan to remove even that by detecting automatically whether the Openlink ODBC client side driver is installed and install or upgrade it if necessary. In the application it either connects to a fixed database (determined in the .ini file) or the user may get a list of databases he can connect to. There is reasonable security as we set up on the database server what users get what access with what applications and from which tcp/ip adresses. With other words, administration of all client installations is done one central place on the client network and security and several other issues are administered centrally on the database server machine. This is the one and only whay I can see that ODBC can be installed and administered in a way that we can live with or a way that anyone should have to live with. The way Informix handles this is just plain unacceptable. Even if I got the drivers for free I wouldn't think of using them. :cu Reiner : :P.S.: Hopefully, you've time to answer my mail. : : :Nils Myklebust schrieb in Nachricht <347f2f2b.42973803@gate.idg.no>... :>These drivers have several features that the Informix/Intersolve :>drivers lack and that you will eventually find that you need. Security :>is only one among them. : : : Nils.Myklebust@idg.no NM Data AS, P.O.Box 9090 Gronland, N-0133 Oslo, Norway My opinions are those of my company The Informix FAQ is at http://www.iiug.org