CODEWITHSUNDEEP
informix
Jack Casas
Jack Casas

Reputation: 994

Read data from Informix Database. Having folder app.dbs with *.IDX, *.Dat files

I have a friend who has a management application, and he would like to import some of his data in Excel.

The thing is I have no idea about how to read this type of files,

In his application directory he has a folder named app.dbs. Inside there are *.idx and *.dat files.

What would be the easiest way to read this files? Maybe ODBC connector, or installing some version of Informix DB??

Upvotes: 1

Views: 3751

Answers (2)

Jonathan Leffler
Jonathan Leffler

Reputation: 754060

The name app.dbs containing the .dat and .idx files is an almost sure indication that you have an Informix SE (Standard Engine) database (someone might have faked it, but it is pretty improbable).

Given that you may be able to use an Informix ODBC driver and SE itself to access the database, or you may be able to use an ISAM-based ODBC driver to access the database. It depends in part on whether this is a one-time migration or an ongoing access while the application continues to work on the database.

Assuming all of this is installed on Windows, you should indeed find a %INFORMIXDIR% directory, which will have a dbaccess.exe in the bin sub-directory, and an sqlexec.exe either in the bin directory or in the lib directory (it would be in $INFORMIXDIR/lib on Unix; I'm not sure about Windows). These should be able to access the database. If you find sqlexec but not dbaccess, then you've got a seriously old version (more than 20 years old, but I know of other people still using such archaic versions). You should be able to identify the version by running dbaccess -V or sqlexec -V. If it is 7.25, it is reasonably recent (that's been current for a decade or more); if it is older than that, it is verging on the archaic.

Upvotes: 0

RET
RET

Reputation: 9188

That sounds like C-ISAM files, or an Informix-SE (Standard Engine) install. You most certainly can't read them directly. Googling Informix C-ISAM files ODBC generates plenty of results. Also this page explains the relationship between the two.

I've never used SE, but assuming its installation is reasonably similar to its big brother Informix Dynamic Server (and I believe it is), have a look on your friend's computer for an 'Informix' directory. You may find an %INFORMIXDIR% environment variable to point you in the right direction. Within that, look for an executable in its subdirectory bin called dbaccess.exe. Run that from a DOS prompt and you should hopefully get an SQL interpreter that allows you to read and extract the data.

If you have no luck finding such a directory, then it's more than likely the "management application" is writing C-ISAM directly, and you'll need an ODBC driver for C-ISAM, as you surmised.

Upvotes: 1

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