INFORMIX Online, JBuilder, SQL Links and DataGateway any good?

Hi, Maybe someone here can answer my questions. That would be very, very helpful. I am working for the German Bundesanstalt fuer Arbeit, which is possibly INFORMIX largest German customer. We have INFORMIX Online on SINIX-RM600-servers installed in about 180 offices all over the country. Now we're planning to migrate the user interfaces to WinNT an add INTRANET and INTERNET services. We're evaluating right now which are the best tools for us in this area that is new to us. I have experience with the Borland tools and the Borland Database Engine that provides native INFORMIX drivers, the SQL Links. With these SQL Links for INFORMIX I already developed a Client/Server desktop application, a fat client, using Borland's Delphi. Tools for the INTERNET/INTRANET besides Delphi that is able to create ActiveX are IntraBuilder, their JavaScript tool and JBuilder, their Java RAD tool. There is the DataGateway for Java available which comes with native Java drivers for the client side and a server, that has to run on a Windows NT machine where the BDE, SQL Links and INFORMIX Net has to be installe dfor accessing the INFORMIX Online database on the SINIX servers. The DataGateway has basiclly the same funcionality as dbANYWHERE as I was told. It is a class 3 driver because of this middle tier on NT that is not nativelly Java. Now on to my questions: (1) Is a class 4 driver always better as a class 3 driver? Is it alway faster? I think a class 3 driver supports a thin client approach where a class 4 driver needs more to download on the client than a class 3. (2) Is there a class 4 driver available for INFORMIX. Is it only in Universal Server? (3) How is Your opinion about the SQL Links? Are they faster than an ODBC-driver solution? What is Your opinion about the DataGateway? Is it a performance bottleneck? Is it a good solution together with JBuilder and INFORMIX if You consider the fact that the BDE would be a common layer for other applications, probably written in Delphi, C++Builder or IntraBuilder? Are the SQL Links slower than a program that uses ESQL to access the database? (4) What do You think about JBuilder? Would INFORMIX have chosen JBuilder if the would have been offeresd to integrate it instead of ORACLE (as I am writing to Your private account I hope You are able to respond reely <s>)? (5) How do the JDBC-drivers for INFORMIX compare to JOI (Java Object Interface)? Can I use JOI with JBuilder, which is a 100% pure Java tool? (6) Borland also has this DCE-tool ENTERA/DCE that comes with an RPC-interface for INFORMIX - what do You think abot that? It would be nice if someone could send me some information about JOI and the JDBC-drivers, too, or point me to a web page, where I can donload this info. Thanks vrey much in advance, -Adrian Vogler Bundesanstalt fuer Arbeit +49 911 179-1868 (posting from personal account, too <s>)