RE: Porting from SCO Unix to AIX

>> From uunet!rmy.emory.edu!informix-list-owner Mon Jan 20 19:03:31 1992 >> From: Jim Gordon <uunet!ssf-sys.DHL.COM!jgordon> >> Subject: RE: Porting from SCO Unix to AIX >> To: microc!eric >> Cc: Emory Univ Infx News List <informix-list@rmy.emory.edu> >> >> > >Anyone have experience moving an Informix application from one flavor of Unix >> > >to the other? I may have to do this very thing soon and would like to know if >> > >> > >it is a cake-walk or otherwise. >> > We do this all the time! >> > We are the Informix distributors for the Caribbean and we have done >> > this at least 12 times from SCO to AIX (RS/6000). All you have to do >> > is to copy everything (frm, arc, 4gi, dbs, etc.) to the AIX machine, >> > load your new Informix and run it. You won't need to recompile them, >> > but if there's a newer version of Informix (i.e. 1.10 to 4.0) it's >> > better to recompile before running the applications. >> >> It is not as easy as this unfortunately. Informix say that source >> level is compatible for the same versions of Informix software. This >> is true to a great extent but there are occasional differences between >> the ports which mean that programs dont always compile or run >> correctly. (This isn't always Informix's fault as some of the ports >> are done by other companies - SCO being a case in point as far as I >> know). [4.00.UH and above SCO ports are done in-house] >> Also .03 code compiles under 4.0 pretty well though there are >> some differences such as the recent problem we and others have had >> with reverse video fields. >> >> As for compiled code this is pretty well guaranteed not to work as the >> C compiler and libraries are different on most different flavours of >> Unix/machine combinations as they are targetted to different chip and >> hardware designs. There is no way that a compiled 4gi from SCO would you mean *4ge* -- 4gi's (pcode) are indeed portable ^^^ >> work under AIX as the machine architectures are so different. >> >> I haven't personally tried porting the p-code version of Informix >> between machines, but there is a good chance that this would work on >> different machines as the pcode is the same and is interpreted at run >> time. Still there is the chance of porting bugs here so code would >> still need rigorous testing. Any such bugs would be in the runner, which would toast you either way. Any pcode should be *identical* to pcode from the same version of fglpc on *any* platform. In fact, pcode from the DOS 1.10.06E fglpc is identical to that from the 1.10.03 fglpc's on UNIX! Compiled forms and message files are likewise portable. >> Between different versions of Informix things get more complicated as >> you have new or different facilities built into the code. If you try >> and run 4.0 code with .03 runtime it wont work. Other way round you >> may get away with it but if you happen to use facilities which have >> been removed or changed in the 4.0 runtime the programs will crash. We do our best to keep them compatible. Sometimes, architectural changes made to fix bugs can pretty much force a recompile; any known cases are documented in release notes or other doc. (For example, any REPORT modules being run under 4.1 RDS must be recompiled under the 4.1 fglpc to ensure that proper control breaking is maintained). Obviously, recompiling is always the safe way to go (and it doesn't take that long with RDS, anyway). To be safe, the 4.1 4GL Supplement tells you that recompiling is necessary. Whatever you do, don't mix *intermediate* code between *compiled* 4GL versions. If you are upgrading and doing a partial compile, be sure to touch all .4gls or scratch any intermediate .ec, .c, and .o files before re-making your app with a new c4gl. >> One thing that Informix has said will be compatible is that 4.0 and >> 4.1 engines will work with .03 code. This works well, at the moment >> we do it a lot. I don't know whether the 5.0 engine will still work >> with .03 code but they have said it will be compatible with 4.0 code. ^^^^^^^ Lose the future tense, already -- it's shipping on some platforms! >> Hope this helps >> >> Jim >> Name: Jim Gordon Internet: jgordon@ssf-sys.DHL.COM -- Alan Denney # aland@informix.com # {pyramid|uunet}!infmx!aland "We must learn to live together as brothers, or we shall perish together as fools." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.