Connecting to a Database Environment

To connect to an existing database server, choose the Connect option from the CONNECTION menu. DB–Access displays a list of available database servers and prompts you to make a selection. Select a database server and DB–Access prompts you to enter a user name, as Figure 115 shows.

USER NAME >>   
Enter the login name you want to use for this connection. 

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If you do not specify a user identifier on the USER NAME screen and press RETURN, you see the standard SELECT DATABASE screen listing databases on the chosen database server.

If you enter the login name that you want DB–Access to use when connecting to the target database server, DB–Access displays the PASSWORD screen, as Figure 116 shows.

PASSWORD >>   
Enter the password associated with the user identifier. 

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From the PASSWORD screen, enter a password associated with the user identifier or press RETURN if you do not want to enter a password. For security reasons, the password that you enter on the screen is not displayed.

If the user identifier and password combination are valid, you connect to the target database server. You can then select a database from that database server. The SELECT DATABASE SERVER screen appears, as Figure 117 shows.

SELECT DATABASE SERVER>> 
Select a server with the Arrow Keys, or enter a name, then press Return.

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The SELECT DATABASE SERVER screen shows an alphabetical list of database servers from the $INFORMIXDIR/etc/sqlhosts file on UNIX or the sqlhosts entry in the registry on Windows NT. The first entry is highlighted. Press RETURN to select that database server or select a different database server. If entries span more than one page, use the arrow keys to move the cursor to highlight the ellipses (...), and the next page of database servers appears.

Permissions Needed

To access a specific database, you must have permission. If you do not have permission to connect to the specified database server, an error message appears. Select a different database server for which you have permission or ask your database server administrator for permission to connect to the database server.

If you have the correct permissions for the specified database server, you are prompted to specify a database to use on that database server.

When the SELECT DATABASE screen appears, the name of the specified database server is highlighted, as Figure 118 shows.

SELECT DATABASE >> 
Select a database with the Arrow Keys, or enter a name, then press Return.

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The SELECT DATABASE screen alphabetically lists all available databases on the specified database server. The database list on the SELECT DATABASE screen depends on the current connection. For example:

• If no current connection exists or the current connection is an implicit default connection, all the databases listed in the DBPATH environment variable setting are displayed.
• If a current explicit connection exists, all the databases in the DBPATH that pertain to the current server are displayed.

For information on setting the DBPATH environment variable, see the IBM Informix: Guide to SQL Reference.

To select a database, type the database name or use the arrow keys to highlight the name of a database, then press RETURN.

If you enter the CONNECT menu with a current connection, and the new connection succeeds, DB–Access disconnects from the previous environment and closes any databases that belong to that environment. For more information, see Implicit Closures.

If you enter the name of a nonexistent database or a database that DB–Access cannot locate, an error message appears.

To leave the SELECT DATABASE screen without selecting a database, press the Interrupt key. You return to the CONNECTION menu, but your database server connection is not severed.

Implicit Closures

DB–Access closes any open connections or databases when you connect to a new environment, in the following situations:

• When you connect to a new database environment without explicitly disconnecting from the current one, DB–Access performs an implicit disconnect and the database closes.
• When you connect to a database@server and then close the database, the database server remains connected.
• When you connect to a database server, open a database, and then close the database, the database server remains connected.
• If you open a database and then try to connect to a database server, DB–Access performs an implicit disconnect and closes the database.

  Only one connection is allowed. You must disconnect from the database server associated with the open database or close the database before you can connect to another database server.

If DB–Access needs to close a database that still has outstanding transactions, it prompts you to commit or rollback those transactions, as described in Transaction Processing.