Converting .dat files to ASCII

I'm trying to get data from a proprietary Informix-based AIX accounting application. I do not know Informix. I do not know UNIX. I am contractually obligated to leave the RS6000 & its its SE 4.x runtime module alone. So, I set up a box with RedHat Linux and downloaded the Informix & ESQL/C Bundle 7.24.UC5. I FTP's the .dat, .idx, & .h files over from the AIX to the Linux machine. I set DBPATH to the data directory. I went into dbaccess to try the load command to send the tables to an ASCII table, but it can't find the database. I believe it can't find the database because there is no database; just a bunch of .dat files. I'm so close. Can anyone help me with the next step? TIA dc@severson.com