Using CLI as a common ODBC client interface for Informix Dynamic Servers ...

Just couple of days back, we've published a developerWorks article on "Get started with the IBM Data Server CLI Driver for Informix". I encourage our Informix user community to read this and check few of the benefits they would see using CLI as their ODBC client interface. URL: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/library/techarticle/dm-1012dsclidriver/index.html

IBM CLI 9.7 FP3a released on Oct-23rd ... includes DB2 v10 z/OS support

IBM recently released DB2 v10 on z/OS (mainframe) data server (include unique temporal capabilities!). To be able to leverage many of the new server features, IBM CLI enhanced it's support in 9.7 FP3a (note 'a' at the end!). It is recommended to use 9.7 FP3a CLI version to work with new features of DB2 v10 z/OS. Few of the features to highlight here are:

• New SQL_C_BINARYXML data type support: Retrieves XML column data in binary format from the server. Reduced the network load due to binary version of the XML data.
• variable-length SQL_C_TYPE_TIMESTAMP_EXT support -- precision (0-12).
• New SQL_C_TYPE_TIMESTAMP_EXT_TZ data type support to bind equivalent server's SQL_TYPE_TIMESTAMP_ WITH_TIMEZONE data type.
• Currently Commited support for ConcurrentAccessResolution

Note that few of above enhancements were already available by CLI against  DB2 UDB (LUW) data servers; it is just that CLI has now extended those for DB2 v10 z/OS as well.

DB2 CLI v/s IBM Data Server CLI ...

CLI client driver is *still* well-known as "DB2 CLI" in the industry. So I just want break the ice here a bit and explain why it was fine saying "DB2" CLI earlier and now we better call it as "IBM Data Server CLI" or just CLI to keep it simpler.

Before IBM acquired Informix Inc. in July-2001, IBM's CLI client driver used to support these IBM Database product lines: DB2 on LUW (UDB), DB2 on zSeries (mainframes), DB2 on iSeries. But post Informix acquisition, IBM put extensive efforts in getting Informix's IDS (Informix Dynamic Server) complied to a DRDA protocol (a common protocol used across all IBM database servers listed before). So now starting with 9.7 FP1, our CLI driver (which also adheres to DRDA protocol while talking with each IBM database servers) officially supports IDS version 11.10.

As IDS is not DB2!,  it is now unfair to call our CLI package "DB2" CLI. Hence now we refer CLI as either IBM Data Server CLI or just CLI and you would have noticed this getting reflected pretty much where it's feasible to do so. Unfortunately, this change does not get reflected in our product files (for example, we cannot rename db2cli.ini, db2dsdriver.cfg that easily to ensure proper backward compatibility etc.), but for all documentation purpose, our attempt was to get new terminology reflected.

With IDS support with CLI, you can leverage having common CLI application talking to DB2 product-lines and IDS (you can very well have same application dealing with both DB2 and IDS using different connection handles!).

Where to download my client drivers from ?

It sometime takes a while before searching a web-page from where one can download DB2 fixpack products (which includes client driver packages too). Here is the link you want to bookmark to avoid this pain going ahead!

 

Great thing about this link is that it has outlined all supported DB2 fixpacks just as one would have expected, moreover, each individual fixpack links has categorized each available packages well and is self-explanatory!

 

Fix Packs by version for IBM Data Server Client Packages (having just IBM Data Server clients):

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=4020&uid=swg27016878
 

DB2 Fix Packs by version for DB2 for Linux, UNIX and Windows (having both DB2 LUW servers and clients): 

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=71&uid=swg27007053

I do like to hear feedback (+ve as well as -ve!); so as to get this page to as user-friendly as possible.
     

ODBC and CLI Development for DB2 and DB2 Connect

Long waited forum for ODBC and CLI (http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=2312) is finally available now! I was hoping to have similar stuff in my blog here; but now that this forum is in place, I plan to use that channel to share most of the tips and FAQs associated with ODBC and CLI. This do not mean my blog is going away; but will use this as a placeholder for stuff where forum is not appropriate. If anyone has any suggestions for this forum, do not hesitate to contact me.

Introduction ...

This is supposedly to be my 1st professional blog since I join IT industry 12 years back :) Always wanted to have one; but apart from excuses like "I don't know what to write here", I never realized, until now, the value I can add for others, after reading through some blogs by others. So here is how my blog got evolved; I'm expecting it to take some time to get me used to this before I can be fluent to this forum.

As about me professionally, I'm currently working as senior technical lead for IBM Data Server CLI/ODBC driver at IBM India Software Lab (aka ISL), Bangalore. I manage (technically) pretty much all the new development features and enhancements to CLI driver. I'm here in this team since July-2008; before which my most of the 10+ years career devoted to development of Informix product range: starting from Informix 4GL, eXtended Parallel Server (XPS) and Informix Dynamic Server (IDS). I did spend little less than a year in the IBM DB2 server tools development and leading functional testing (FVT) of Table Partitioning project for DB2 UDB v9.1.

I hope I can edit this page later and will add more information about me personally as well :) My aim would be to see my blog page as one of your valuable bookmark!