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An Introduction To TimeSeries

Abstract

What is TimeSeries? TimeSeries has actually been around for a fairly long time dating back to 1992 where it started at Illustra.  It was then ported to Informix when Illustra was acquired by IBM, followed by the first Informix release of the TimeSeries Data Blade in 1996. However, it is now beginning to generate a lot of hype and interest.  The reason why we are only now starting to hear about TimeSeries with any persistence is quite simply due to need and achievability.  By this I mean: firstly, there are now larger amounts of data stored about numerous things than there were 15 years ago – simply put data is increasingly the lifeblood of every industry.  Secondly, the hardware capabilities have progressed sufficiently to manage these increasing amounts of data; however, due to these huge data stores, things are becoming sluggish, and companies are looking for improved ways to store and manage their data: enter TimeSeries…again!

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An Introduction To TimeSeries2020-08-18T15:44:05+01:00

How to calculate the size of databases

Abstract

The ability to view the size of all your databases can be of great value. However, there is no command currently provided with IBM Informix Dynamic Server that shows the total size of each of your databases in an instance. If you want to know which databases are using the most space, but do not have a GUI or need an automated script, this article provides an SQL statement that will enable you to view the size of any database you wish to measure .

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How to calculate the size of databases2020-08-18T15:44:36+01:00

Identifying and connecting to an HDR secondary server

Abstract

In cases where a simple IBM Informix Primary / HDR Secondary server pair exists, it may be considered unnecessary to implement Informix Connection Manager to manage switching between the two, as OLTP applications can simply connect to whichever is the active Primary in a group defined in the sqlhosts file. This article describes a unique method for connecting appropriate applications to the active HDR Secondary in this scenario.

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Identifying and connecting to an HDR secondary server2020-08-18T15:45:10+01:00

Generate and run update statistics on Informix

Abstract

One major factor to obtaining and sustaining good performance within an IBM Informix database is having the appropriate statistics available. This article provides another method and explores the “output to pipe” utility within SQL. There are several ways that statistics can be maintained, the most common, apart from home grown, are: What is focused on here is having a simple method to generate and run efficient update statistics commands providing the recommended set of required statistics without getting into setting up AUS or compilation of dostats – i.e. a simple way to ensure your database has the relevant statistics generated using a single command; ideal for test environments or small production environments. This also makes use of the IBM Informix SQL statement “output to pipe” which is used to pass output to another program, in this example, “awk”.

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Generate and run update statistics on Informix2021-06-08T16:36:39+01:00

How to restore with “ontape” from a different IDS edition

Updated June 2020

Open source C program “bsed” is no longer accessible and has been superceded by “bbe”:

Examples in this article have been reworked accordingly.

Abstract

Depending on your IDS version, you may be unable to restore a test instance from production using “ontape” if the edition (Ultimate/Enterprise, Growth/Workgroup or Innovator) is different, even if the version is otherwise the same. This article provides a solution.

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How to restore with “ontape” from a different IDS edition2020-08-18T15:47:38+01:00

Sub-queries: a faster alternative to NOT EXISTS

Abstract

Avoiding sub-queries can be essential to reduce long run-times on large data sets. However, it is sometimes necessary to identify rows in one table for which there is no associated row in another table. An example would be an order for which there are no order detail lines. The conventional approach is to use the NOT EXISTS (sub-query), but this can be extremely slow for large data sets. This article demonstrates how an ANSI join can achieve the same result much more efficiently, even on large data sets.

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Sub-queries: a faster alternative to NOT EXISTS2020-08-18T15:48:09+01:00

Use STDIO for quick backup and restores

Abstract

IBM Informix can use STDIO for TAPEDEV when performing backups / restores, which can be utilised to “pipe” backup data across to a target IBM Informix server, obviating the need for an intermediate file on disk. The following shows how this can be used for performing a quick copy of an IBM Informix instance.

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Use STDIO for quick backup and restores2020-08-18T15:48:35+01:00
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