How do I read v old Informix data Answered: amber (solid confidence) — Peter gives a concrete, plausible migration path (check byte order; if it matches, create the new schema with dbschema and copy the raw .dat/.idx files across, otherwise unload/reload), based on his own successful v2.1-to-7.2x port, but the original asker never confirms it worked for his data.

Advisory only.

Posted in 2000

💣 This thread may describe something risky to do carelessly

Peter's suggestion of directly copying raw .dat/.idx chunk files between Informix major versions (v2.1 and 7.2x) whenever byte order matches, instead of using dbexport/dbimport or onunload/onload, glosses over on-disk page-format changes across major engine versions; following this casually on a version pair where the formats actually differ can silently corrupt data.

cp *.dat *.idx (raw chunk/file copy across Informix major versions instead of export/import)

Advisory only — not a substitute for testing in a non-production environment first.

Topics: General Discussion

Nathan Scott — Sun, 16 Jan 2000 18:33:02 -0000 — source: Informix-list mailing list archive (1991-1998)

I have some data (.DATs and .IDXs) which I believe is Informix v2 on a unix box I have contacted informix who no longer support this and can't find any way of reading the stuff. I want to port it to another platform but need to read it first. Does anyone know of any pref free way of doing this? I'd be very grateful... Nathan

↪ replying to Nathan Scott

Michael Krzepkowski — Sun, 16 Jan 2000 19:56:48 GMT — source: Informix-list mailing list archive (1991-1998)

Hi! How big is this database (in MB). I have Informix 2.10 (SQL version vintage 1988 or so) and Informix 3.30 (non-SQL before 1985) and can get the data for you. E-mail me with more details. Michael Nathan Scott wrote: > I have some data (.DATs and .IDXs) which I believe is Informix v2 on a unix > box > > I have contacted informix who no longer support this and can't find any way > of reading the stuff. I want to port it to another platform but need to > read it first. > > Does anyone know of any pref free way of doing this? > > I'd be very grateful... > > Nathan

↪ replying to Michael Krzepkowski

Marc Fearnehough — Mon, 17 Jan 2000 14:24:28 GMT — source: Informix-list mailing list archive (1991-1998)

I have the 3.03 version also for AT&T unix as well as 4GL. I am looking for the 3.03 in a DOS version for a small part of what I used on the UNIX box. If anyone has it available please email me direct. Marc Fearnehough mrf5@earthlink.net Michael Krzepkowski wrote: > Hi! > > How big is this database (in MB). > I have Informix 2.10 (SQL version vintage 1988 or so) and > Informix 3.30 (non-SQL before 1985) and can get the data for you. > > E-mail me with more details. > > Michael > > Nathan Scott wrote: > > > I have some data (.DATs and .IDXs) which I believe is Informix v2 on a unix > > box > > > > I have contacted informix who no longer support this and can't find any way > > of reading the stuff. I want to port it to another platform but need to > > read it first. > > > > Does anyone know of any pref free way of doing this? > > > > I'd be very grateful... > > > > Nathan

↪ replying to Nathan Scott

Peter — Wed, 19 Jan 2000 15:25:08 GMT — source: Informix-list mailing list archive (1991-1998)

Hi, take a look at the byte order! Last year we ported a V2.1 to 7.2x, both maschines used the same byte order, so we just copied the *./dat/*.idx-files after making a new db via dbschema. Other way: unload the data and load again. Have luck Peter On Sun, 16 Jan 2000 18:33:02 -0000, "Nathan Scott" <Nathan@scott31w.freeserve.co.uk> wrote: >I have some data (.DATs and .IDXs) which I believe is Informix v2 on a unix >box > >I have contacted informix who no longer support this and can't find any way >of reading the stuff. I want to port it to another platform but need to >read it first. > >Does anyone know of any pref free way of doing this? > > >I'd be very grateful... > > >Nathan > > >

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