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PREFACE:
Introduction to the Reference Section
In This Introduction
This Introduction provides an overview of the information in this book and describes the conventions it uses.
About This book
This book includes information about system catalog tables, data types, and environment variables that Informix products use. It also includes a glossary that contains definitions of common terms found in Informix documentation and a description of the demonstration databases that Version 9.2 of Informix Dynamic Server 2000 and Version 8.3 of Informix Enterprise Decision Server provide.
This book is one of a series of books that discusses the Informix implementation of SQL. Section Two of this book, Syntax, contains all the syntax descriptions for SQL and stored procedure language (SPL). The Informix Guide to SQL: Tutorial, Second Edition shows how to use basic and advanced SQL and SPL routines to access and manipulate the data in your databases.The Informix Guide to Designing Databases and Data Warehouses shows how to use SQL to implement and manage your databases.
Types of Users
This book is written for the following users:
- Database users
- Database administrators
- Database server administrators
- Database-application programmers
- Performance engineers
This book assumes that you have the following background:
- A working knowledge of your computer, your operating system, and the utilities that your operating system provides
- Some experience working with relational databases or exposure to database concepts
- Someexperience with computer programming
- Some experience with database server administration, operating-system administration, or network administration
If you have limited experience with relational databases, SQL, or your operating system, refer to the Getting Started manual for your database server for a list of supplementary titles.
Software Dependencies
This book assumes that you are using one of the following database servers:
- Informix Enterprise Decision Server, Version 8.3
- Informix Dynamic Server 2000, Version 9.2
Assumptions About Your Locale
Informix products can support many languages, cultures, and code sets. All culture-specific information is brought together in a single environment, called a Global Language Support (GLS) locale.
This book assumes that you use the U.S. 8859-1 English locale as the default locale. The default is en_us.8859-1 (ISO 8859-1) on UNIX platforms or en_us.1252 (Microsoft 1252) for Windows NT environments. This locale supports U.S. English format conventions for dates, times, and currency, and also supports the ISO 8859-1 or Microsoft 1252 code set, which includes the ASCII code set plus many 8-bit characters such as é, è, and ñ.
If you plan to use nondefault characters in your data or your SQL identifiers, or if you want to conform to the nondefault collation rules of character data, you need to specify the appropriate nondefault locale.
For instructions on how to specify a nondefault locale, additional syntax, and other considerations related to GLS locales, see the Informix Guide to GLS Functionality.
Demonstration Databases
The DB-Access utility, which is provided with your Informix database server products, includes one or more of the following demonstration databases:
- The stores_demo database illustrates a relational schema with information about a fictitious wholesale sporting-goods distributor. Many examples in Informix manuals are based on the stores_demo database.
- The sales_demo database illustrates a dimensional schema for data-warehousing applications. For conceptual information about dimensional data modeling, see the Informix Guide to Database Design and Implementation.
- The superstores_demo database illustrates an object-relational schema. The superstores_demo database includes examples of extended data types, type and table inheritance, and user-defined routines.
For information about how to create and populate the demonstration databases, see the DB-Access User's Manual. For descriptions of the databases and their contents, see this manual.
The scripts that you use to install the demonstration databases reside in the $INFORMIXDIR/bin directory on UNIX platforms and in the %INFORMIXDIR%\bin directory in Windows environments.
New Features
For a comprehensive list of new database server features, see the release notes. This section lists new features relevant to this book.
New Features in Version 8.3
This book describes the DBCENTURY environment variable, which is a Year 2000 compliance feature in Version 8.3 of Enterprise Decision Server.
New Features in Version 9.2
This book describes new features in Version 9.2 of Dynamic Server. The features fall into the following areas:
- Year 2000 Compliance
- Version 9.2 features from Version 7.30 of Dynamic Server
Year 2000 Compliance
This book describes the DBCENTURY environment variable in Version 9.2 of Dynamic Server.
Version 9.2 Features from Dynamic Server 7.30
This book also describes the IFX_UPDDESC environment variable, which was first released in Version 7.30.
Additional Documentation
For additional information, you might want to refer to the following types of documentation:
- On-line manuals
- Printed manuals
- Error message documentation
- Documentation notes, release notes, and machine notes
- Related reading
On-Line Manuals
An Answers OnLine CD that contains Informix manuals in electronic format is provided with your Informix products. You can install the documentation or access it directly from the CD. For information about how to install, read, and print on-line manuals, see the installation insert that accompanies Answers OnLine.
Informix on-line manuals are also available on the following Web site:
www.informix.com/answers
Printed Manuals
To order printed manuals, call 1-800-331-1763 or send email to moreinfo@informix.com. Please provide the following information when you place your order:
- The documentation that you need
- The quantity that you need
- Your name, address, and telephone number
Error Message Documentation
Informix software products provide ASCII files that contain all of the Informix error messages and their corrective actions.
To read error messages and corrective actions on UNIX, use one of the following utilities.
| Utility | Description |
|---|---|
| finderr | Displays error messages on line |
| rofferr | Formats error messages for printing |
To read error messages and corrective actions in Windows environments, use the Informix Find Error utility. To display this utility, choose Start?Programs?Informix from the Task Bar.
Instructions for using the preceding utilities are available in Answers OnLine. Answers OnLine also provides a listing of error messages and corrective actions in HTML format.
Documentation Notes, Release Notes, Machine Notes
In addition to printed documentation, the following sections describe the on-line files that supplement the information in this book. Please examine these files before you begin using your database server. They contain vital information about application and performance issues.
On UNIX platforms, the following on-line files appear in the $INFORMIXDIR/release/en_us/0333 directory. Replace x.y in the filenames with the version number of your database server.
| On-Line File | Purpose |
|---|---|
| SQLRDOC_x.y | The documentation notes file for your version of this book describes topics that are not covered in the book or that were modified since publication. |
| SERVERS_x.y | The release notes file describes feature differences from earlier versions of Informix products and how these differences might affect current products. This file also contains information about any known problems and their workarounds. |
| IDS_x.y or IDS_EDS_x.y | The machine notes file describes any special actions that you must take to configure and use Informix products on your computer. Machine notes are named for the product described. |
The following items appear in the Informix folder. To display this folder, choose Start->Programs->Informix from the Task Bar.
| Program Group Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Documentation Notes | This item includes additions or corrections to manuals and information about features that might not be covered in the manuals or that have been modified since publication. |
| Release Notes | This item describes feature differences from earlier versions of Informix products and how these differences might affect current products. This file also contains information about any known problems and their workarounds. |
The machine notes do not apply to Windows environments.
Related Reading
For a list of publications that provide an introduction to database servers and operating-system platforms, refer to your Getting Started manual.
Compliance with Industry Standards
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has established a set of industry standards for SQL. Informix SQL-based products are fully compliant with SQL-92 Entry Level (published as ANSI X3.135-1992), which is identical to ISO 9075:1992. In addition, many features of Informix database servers comply with the SQL-92 Intermediate and Full Level and X/Open SQL CAE (common applications environment) standards.
Informix Welcomes Your Comments
Let us know what you like or dislike about our books. To help us with future versions of our books, we want to know about any corrections or clarifications that you would find useful. Include the following information:
- The name and version of the book that you are using
- Any comments that you have about the book
- Your name, address, and phone number
Send electronic mail to us at the following address:
doc@informix.com
The doc alias is reserved exclusively for reporting errors and omissions in our documentation.
We appreciate your suggestions.