Preface

This manual describes the Oracle Transparent Gateway for Informix, which enables Oracle client applications to access Informix data through Structured Query Language (SQL). The gateway, with the Oracle database server, creates the appearance that all data resides on a local Oracle database server, even though the data can be widely distributed.

This preface covers the following topics:

• Audience

• Documentation Accessibility

• Organization

• Related Documentation

• Conventions

Audience

This manual is intended for Oracle database administrators who perform the following tasks:

• Installing and configuring the Oracle Transparent Gateway for Informix

• Diagnosing gateway errors

• Using the gateway to access Informix data

  
  

  Note: You should understand the fundamentals of transparent gateways and the HP-UX operating system before using this guide to install or administer the gateway.

  
  

Documentation Accessibility

Our goal is to make Oracle products, services, and supporting documentation accessible, with good usability, to the disabled community. To that end, our documentation includes features that make information available to users of assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Accessibility standards will continue to evolve over time, and Oracle is actively engaged with other market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For more information, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program Web site at

http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/

Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation

Screen readers may not always correctly read the code examples in this document. The conventions for writing code require that closing braces should appear on an otherwise empty line; however, some screen readers may not always read a line of text that consists solely of a bracket or brace.

Accessibility of Links to External Web Sites in Documentation

This documentation may contain links to Web sites of other companies or organizations that Oracle does not own or control. Oracle neither evaluates nor makes any representations regarding the accessibility of these Web sites.

TTY Access to Oracle Support Services

Oracle provides dedicated Text Telephone (TTY) access to Oracle Support Services within the United States of America 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For TTY support, call 800.446.2398.

Organization

This document contains:

Chapter 1, "Introduction"

This chapter introduces the Oracle Transparent Gateway for Informix.

Chapter 2, "Configuring the Gateway"

This chapter explains how to configure the gateway for Informix.

Chapter 3, "Informix Gateway Features and Restrictions"

This chapter explains how to use the gateway to access Informix data, pass Informix commands from applications to the Informix database, perform distributed queries, and copy data.

Chapter 4, "Case Studies"

This chapter contains case studies that demonstrate some of the features of the Oracle Transparent Gateway.

Appendix A, "Data Type Conversion"

This appendix describes how the gateway converts Informix data types to Oracle data types.

Appendix B, "Supported SQL Syntax and Functions"

This appendix describes the SQL statements and Oracle functions supported by Informix.

Appendix C, "Data Dictionary"

This appendix contains information about data dictionary support, data dictionary mapping, and gateway data dictionary descriptions.

Appendix D, "Heterogeneous Services Initialization Parameters"

This appendix contains information about Heterogeneous Services initialization parameters.

Related Documentation

For more information, see these Oracle resources:

• Oracle Database New Features

• Oracle Call Interface Programmer's Guide

• Oracle Enterprise Manager Administrator's Guide

• Oracle Database Administrator's Guide

• Oracle Database Application Developer's Guide - Fundamentals

• Oracle Database Concepts

• Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide

• Oracle Database Error Messages

• Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide

• Oracle Database Reference

• Oracle Database SQL Reference

• Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide

• SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference

• Oracle Database Heterogeneous Connectivity Administrator's Guide

• Oracle Database 2 Day DBA

• Oracle Database Security Guide

Many of the examples in this book use the sample schemas, which are installed by default when you select the Basic Installation option with an Oracle Database installation. Refer to Oracle Database Sample Schemas for information on how these schemas were created and how you can use them yourself.

Printed documentation is available for sale in the Oracle Store at

http://oraclestore.oracle.com/

To download free release notes, installation documentation, white papers, or other collateral, please visit the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). You must register online before using OTN; registration is free and can be done at

http://otn.oracle.com/membership/

If you already have a username and password for OTN, then you can go directly to the documentation section of the OTN Web site at

http://otn.oracle.com/documentation/

Conventions

This section describes the conventions used in the text and code examples of this documentation set. It describes:

• Conventions in Text

• Conventions in Code Examples

Conventions in Text

We use various conventions in text to help you more quickly identify special terms. The following table describes those conventions and provides examples of their use.

Conventions in Code Examples

Code examples illustrate SQL, PL/SQL, SQL*Plus, or other command-line statements. They are displayed in a monospace (fixed-width) font and separated from normal text as shown in this example:

SELECT username FROM dba_users WHERE username = 'MIGRATE';

The following table describes typographic conventions used in code examples and provides examples of their use.

[ ]

DECIMAL (digits [ , precision ])

{ }

{ENABLE | DISABLE}

|

{ENABLE | DISABLE}
[COMPRESS | NOCOMPRESS]

...

CREATE TABLE ... AS subquery;

SELECT col1, col2, ... , coln FROM employees;

.
 .
 .

SQL> SELECT NAME FROM V$DATAFILE;
NAME
------------------------------------
/fsl/dbs/tbs_01.dbf
/fs1/dbs/tbs_02.dbf
.
.
.
/fsl/dbs/tbs_09.dbf
9 rows selected.

acctbal NUMBER(11,2);
acct    CONSTANT NUMBER(4) := 3;

Italics

CONNECT SYSTEM/system_password
DB_NAME = database_name

UPPERCASE

SELECT last_name, employee_id FROM employees;
SELECT * FROM USER_TABLES;
DROP TABLE hr.employees;

lowercase

SELECT last_name, employee_id FROM employees;
sqlplus hr/hr
CREATE USER mjones IDENTIFIED BY ty3MU9;