Re: Connecting to Sybase and Informix

[BOB LANG <herr_langer2@HOTMAIL.COM>]

Very thorough Stan. I learned quite a bit from your post.


>From: Stan Quick <stanley.quick@BRIO.COM>
>Reply-To: sqr-users@list.iex.net
>To: SQR-USERS@list.iex.net
>Subject: Re: Connecting to Sybase and Informix
>Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 19:06:32 -0800
>
>Russ,
>First, the technical aspect of your question.
>SQR is available with native connectivity to 5 data sources (we'll discuss
>Direct Data Objects (DDO)) in a minute).  The 5 sources are 1) Oracle 2)
>Sybase 3) DB2 4) Informix 5) ODBC (including SQL Server).  What this means
>is that the SQR executable (a C program) has been linked with the client
>libraries for each of these sources (e.g. Net80 for Oracle, OpenClient for
>Sybase, etc.)  When you use SQR/Informix, you are using the SQR.exe that
>has
>been linked to use Informix's client libraries.  Occasionally, when you
>load
>SQR on a machine (e.g. Sun Solaris), the client libraries are newer than
>the
>version that was linked by Brio.  In this case, you would have to run MAKE,
>which would let you re-link the new libraries.  You also use MAKE when you
>have C routines that you would like to add to SQR to extend its
>functionality.
>
>When you use SQR/Sybase, therefore, you are establishing a connection to
>ONE
>instance of Sybase, within which you can then use the "USE db" command to
>change databases as you work.  However, if you wanted to connect to
>Informix, you would not have the client library that would let you change
>connections to an IFX db.  SQR/ODBC, on the other hand, is linked to use
>ODBC connections...Any ODBC connection that is available on the server
>running SQR.  Therefore, switching between a DSN for an Informix db and a
>DSN for a Sybase db is easy -- just put -DB'DSN=...' on the begin-select
>and
>you're good to go.  I have done a lot of projects like this, and it works
>just fine.
>
>Since Unix shops tend to frown heavily on ODBC, there is no SQR/ODBC for
>Unix.  However, SQR 6.0 is now available with Direct Data Objects as an
>access option.  SQR/DDO uses Java-based drivers for all data access.  So,
>just as you did with SQR/ODBC, you can change connections dynamically on
>your select statements.  Since SQR/DDO is available on NT and Unix, you can
>access any relational db through its JDBC driver, as well as accessing XML,
>SAP R/3, Essbase, etc.
>
>Second, the licensing aspect of your question.
>SQR 4.3 is bundled with PeopleSoft.  The license agreement your company
>signed when it bought PeopleSoft is that your use of SQR is limited to use
>on PeopleSoft data ONLY.  To use it for any other purposes is a breach of
>contract, which leads to too much use of lawyers' time.  Thus, if you are
>looking to use SQR beyond the reading/manipulation of PeopleSoft data, you
>need to contact Brio Sales for an upgrade to your existing license (or a
>new
>license for a different connectivity version).
>
>Stan
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Russ Wulfson [mailto:rwulfson@BOST.COM]
>Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2001 10:01 AM
>To: SQR-USERS@list.iex.net
>Subject: Connecting to Sybase and Informix
>
>
>I have, what is to me, a rather complex question.  I recently posted a note
>about trying to connect to multiple databases (Sybase and Informix).  The
>answer that seemed correct was that I had a licensing issue.  We have sqr
>4.3 bundled with PeopleSoft and this version seems tied directly to
>Informix (our PeopleSoft database).  We're interested in getting a free
>standing version of Brio Report, but I'm concerned that this will not
>resolve my current problem.  I need to be able to run an sqr that will
>function primarily in Informix and allow me to use the -DB flag in my
>select and connect to Sybase.  We have Brio Enterprise and have not been
>able to find or make any drivers work on the UNIX side. So here's my
>questions:
>
>1) Does any one have any direct experience getting Sybase and Informix to
>work at the same time? or know anything specific about this issue?
>
>2)Do the newer versions of Brio Report use ODBC connections or some other
>type of connections?(I don't think I fully grasp the connectivity issues)
>
>Thanks for any help you guys can give me.
>
>Russ

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