Re: Please help! Querying Informix with Excel, MS Query with ODB
In reply to Jonathan Armstrong's email about Please help! Querying Informix with, on 2 May 97 Hi Jonathan > > *** Urgent *** > > Dear All, > > I am lookin for an ODBC driver so I can query an Informix database on a > Unix server from MS Access/Query/Excel on my NT worsktation. > > If you have ANY suggestions or if you can point me in the right > direction I'd be really grateful. > > Jonathan Armstrong. > Bondi Beach, Australia. > jono2@magna.com.au Direct from the Informix FAQ ( ver 2.5 - dated 1996/06/12 - might be a bit out of date -- you can find the latest version on http://www.iiug.org) It also contains some user feedback and comments. --------------- Begin FAQ section ------------------------------------ 6.2 What do I need to use MS-Access/Visual Basic with my Informix database? Doug Mason explains: There are several parts necessary to get an ODBC-compliant program talking to your Informix Database: You must have an ODBC compliant client application. This can be products like Microsoft Access, Lotus Approach, etc. These products produce a sort of "generic" SQL call Next you need the Windows Control Panel Manager for ODBC. This is usually included when you purchase ODBC drivers and controls all of the settings necessary to connect your application to the ODBC driver. The driver itself. Although the client application makes generic calls, you need to have a specific ODBC driver for the database format that you want to reach. Q+E sells an ODBC Library Pack that has about 20+ drivers for most database formats, including Informix. These are installed via the Control Panel Manager. The necessary protocol transport software for that particular database server. ie: I-Net on your PC, I-Star on your Server box. Li Chung Yuen (s920715@hp9000.csc.cuhk.hk) helpfully lists this database configuration : The Engine The Client Informix 5.01 MS Access 2.0 I-Star 5.0 Q+E ODBC 1.2 I-Net 5.0 PC/TCP 2.2 ... but regretfully informs us: It works, but the performance is not good. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6.3 Where can I get an ODBC driver? Q+E Software provide the most well-known ODBC interface to Informix (I think Q+E are an "InSync" Informix partner), but seem to be the most maligned on c.d.i. - if only because it needs I-NET and I-Star, and so is the most expensive Visionware have a product, SQL-Retreiver, which does *NOT* require I-NET on your PC. It's quite cheap but it implements almost no level 2 ODBC API calls (which you probably don't need) For further details contact: Phone/Web/Email UK: +44 113 251 2000 Web: http://www.visionware.co.uk Email: sales@visionware.co.uk US: +1 408 429 4500 Web: http://www.visionware.com Email: sales@visionware.com Visigenic have a solution, which Informix have been bundling under their own name. Informix should be able to help supply this one. VMARK software have HyperSTAR, which runs under SCO Unix. More information from lgz001@aol.com (Larry Zechter) EDA/SQL from Information Builders Intersolv have a couple of options: 'DataDirect' which is their original offering (which requires I-Net), and 'SequelLink' which they bought from Techgnosis early in 1996 (which does not require I-Net) DAL Server for Unix from Pacer Software. More information from Paul Kamp (pgk@pacersoft.com) OpenLink Software have ODBC drivers for Informix S.E/Online 5.x,6.x,7.x. This product does NOT require I-NET on the PC. (And seems to be the most popular with cdi viewers). More Information can be obtained from the following sources ;- CompuServe: GO OPENLINK Compuserve Mail : 72662,3403 Web: http://www.openlink.co.uk Email: oplodbc@openlink.co.uk Fax: ++44-81-681-7702 Tel: ++44-81-681-7701 There is also a solution from Gupta OmniAccess have an odbc driver and server for Informix available (so I guess it doesn't require INET). Their major feature is the ability to use a single client to access multiple database servers and claim to support "All Unix (If we have not got it we'll negotiate)". Contact Duncan Hare (dhare@metronet.com) Here's some observations about various ODBC drivers from Robert Lore (please note that these observations were made in late 1994 - things may have changed!): From: rlo@fmsc.com.au (Robert Lore) Date: 29 Nov 1994 00:03:10 -0500 So you also found that Q+E is [expletive deleted]! There are two products, both by English companies (co-incidence ?). One is called SQL-Retreiver, by VisionWare, (who also do a very good X-windows on Microsoft Windows), and OpenLink by OpenLink Software. VisionWare's SQL-Retreiver has some minor problems, insofar that it leaves around dead SPL processes on the server causing Informix to forbid more logins because it thinks there are already too many people logged in. It will not return result sets from stored procedures. You can use sp's for insert, update and delete, however. OpenLink does not have these problems, it is faster. We are using both concurrently, and they co-exist without any problems. We are leaning toward going with OpenLink, and will retire the VisionWare after about another 4 weeks. We are a development house and our first live site using Informix will be January 1995 with a 100 user licence for the ODBC. If you are in a similar boat, you will find either product heaps cheaper cos. you don't have to pay USD$300.00 for each pc to have I-NET and Q+E, or I-Star for the Server. Both products remove this requirement, they use remote procedure calls (RPC's). Also either of these products is heaps faster than Q+E, flames invited, we have tried all three, so there! Both are priced very similarly. In both instances their technical suport is excellent, you will speak to the people who work next to the ones who wrote the stuff. Have fun, Robert Lore More votes for OpenLink ...easy to configure ...performance results that blew away Intersolv 2.0 drivers. Stability has not been a factor either. When we were using the Intersolv drivers, we were constantly plagued with Windows GPF's and failed ODBC calls. We have yet to find any of these problems with the OpenLink. Very impressed with the performance. ...I'm not affiliated with Openlink in any way, except that my company is about to send them a purchase order right after the first of the year, so that we can put all of our R&R and MS-Access users on their ODBC system and shelve the old Intersolv ODBC/I-NET software. --------------- End FAQ section ------------------------------------ HTH, Ravi.... -- Ravi Joseph Pinto, mailto:ravi@in.dhl.com Consultant, Astra Infotech, voice :91-22-8503000 Mumbai, India extn. 1531 Standard disclaimers apply.