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Highlights: The IIUG IDS vNext survey is out there and ready for your input. Do it NOW! Welcome to the International Informix Users Group (IIUG) Insider! Designed for IIUG members and Informix user group leaders, this publication contains timely and relevant information for the IBM Informix community. Contents:
Now. Turn the page... hit the 'pg dn' key... click down the page... whatever burns your BARN but read this issue of the IIUG Insider and then write me a note (david@iiug.org) . Do it NOW. :) :) :)
Greetings to all cheetaheads. One of the great perks of this job is that you can ignore all your responsibilities till the deadline is looming large and then, with cold sweat breaking over the brow... you just write it. And thus it is this month as well. No matter. There is a pile of great things happening in the world of the IIUG and it is my job to tell you about them. For a start there is the rugby... ??? Sorry. I guess 'the rugby' means nothing to most of you dear readers. But it does mean a lot to Kiwi's, Aussies, Bok'ers and odd Europeans. Ok ok... moving right along. Then there is the IIUG new feature survey for IDS vNext. And then there is the IIUG Informix Conference. And then....blah blah... You get the picture. So... Let's start with the IDS vNext survey. This is a 'gotta do' survey for all members. Compulsory??? No. But if you don't fill it out, then don't come crying to me if Jerry doesn't build what you want. So, do the survey now... even before reading any further... It is fun and it is funky and it will only take 10 minutes and then you are home free. To take the survey: http://www.iiug.org/url/vNext_survey.html OK... so if you have done the survey you will now know that I have exaggerated slightly. But it did only take 10 minutes... right? Now... if you are going to IOD in Los Vegas, then there are a lot of Cheetah events going down. And on the assumption that you are going to IOD to actually work, then you won't be disappointed. There is more going on than I can poke a stick at. But best of all, the IIUG has a booth located somewhere in the exhibition stall. Drop on by. I will be 'manning' the place on the Wednesday from noon to 1pm. Come and say hello. Better still come and tell me your best IDS story and I will publish it... perhaps. :) Talking about IDS stories... I did get some responses to my question about what Cheetaheads do in their working day. Lunch mainly (I have to say), but read on down, you may be surprised. BTW. If you are going to IOD then you have to go to the Cheetah Community Reception on Sunday night. Stu has promised every attendee will receive a copy to "the OAT". "The OAT"? I hear you ask. What on earth...???? The OAT is the new graphical open admin tool for Cheetah. It is yours, free, but you 'gotta be there' to get it. No excuses. One day, it is possible that we will have it as a free download to IIUG members but not just yet. Sorry. And... in a world first... this Insider is bought to you on recycled bytes. Yes, we take saving the planet seriously and have endeavored to reuse all the bytes that we could salvage from old copies of the last Insider. We are definitely GOING GREEN (check our logo) and working hard to reduce our carbon footprint. So, as you read this Insider, you can be assured that you too are helping save the planet. So, as always, here is the call to action. READ THIS RAG. Just grab a coffee (in a real cup... not that american polystyrene rubbish), slide on in and enjoy. David Fraser
The IIUG IDS vNext - New Feature survey is going live! THIS IS IMPORTANT. Take just 10 minutes, click the link below, and complete the IIUG IDS vNext - new feature survey. Do it now before you read any more. This is a really useful way that you can contribute to the direction of the IDS product roadmap. http://www.iiug.org/url/vNext_survey.html If you are reading this and have not done the survey then click the link above and do it. Please. Thanks, Kate Tomchik If you are going to IOD then get a load of this...
But also get along to the Key Note addresses as well. Informix is back. The Cheetah is growling. Be sure to get yourself to the IDS Community reception!!! All are welcome. Meet Jerry Keesee, Directory of IBM Informix Development, Stuart Litel, IIUG President, and the IIUG Board of Directors. It will be a great event... even if Stu is speaking :). BTW... Monday is Cheetah Day. Be there or be square dudes... And... if all that isn't enough... Take time out from the busy EXPO hall or a break between sessions, have a cup of coffee or just come in and relax. The Business Partner Cafe is the place to be at the IOD Conference where you can meet with IBM program experts to discuss Partner benefits and programs, Sales and Lead Generation tools and Information Management offerings to help you to close 2007 business and get a jump start on 2008! Meet informally with your peers or with your IBM Business Partner team. You can do it all in the Partner Cafe at Mandalay Ballroom K, Mandalay Bay South Convention Center. It's all happened in India!Last month we announced the Informix Executive briefing day in Bangalore. Here is the feedback.... "I should once again thank you for the support you provided. If not for your email blast, the awareness of the event would have been very restricted. And those who attended really appreciated the initiative taken. We too, talked about starting the India chapter of the IIUG and the participants were thrilled with the idea. Many of them volunteered to help." This was really great feedback to get. Well done guys in putting on a great event. Informix is alive and growling in India! The IIUG Informix Conference gains huge traction!
Save your pennies folks cuz the best Informix Conference on the planet is launching in Kansas in April next year. This will be a fabulous 3 day conference, heavily technical, a veritable geek heaven. (By the way, there has been much debate about the meaning behind the four pointy things in the logo. Four pillars of wisdom??? I have no idea but I will take all suggestions. :) Send suggestions to david@iiug.org.) Also I am taking suggestions for memorable bylines for the conference. I doubt that any will be used in anger by the planning committee but if you have a creative bent, or you are just simply bent, then send your suggestions to me (david@iiug.org). Here are the rules.
 The past summer has been a whirlwind for Informix users around the globe. IDS 11, announced in June and now available, has Business Partners, customers and IBMers buzzing about the new features and capabilities of the legendary server. The "Cheetah" has been unleashed for a few months, but the training activities have continued to attract great crowds over the summer. More events are scheduled this fall, including technical 3-day workshops designed to help you make revenue with IDS 11. The workshop covers server installation tasks and application building and is 25% lab participation. By the end of the 3 days, attendees will be able to utilize the latest and greatest IDS features, and begin to create and implement solutions. This event is definitely a must for anyone looking to take advantage of the many enhancements in IDS 11. But don't take our word for it. The success of the past workshops speak for themselves. They've been running for several months now around the globe, and have routinely drawn enthusiastic crowds. From Lenexa to London and Beijing to Bogota, attendees have been very vocal about their excitement over the new release. In many cities, they've stayed late to participate in labs and provided very positive comments. Presenter Scott Pickett is the talk of the blogworld for his "addictive presentations." At his Croatia workshop, attendees got up close and personal with IDS 11 during the labs, performing configurations in just minutes. Scott's announcement of even more exciting new features was met with a "rapturous reception" and declarations by attendees that they are ready to start using Cheetah. View the slideshow of the Croatia workshop. Scott doing the business in Croatia Across the globe, the impressive list of enhancements sparks excitement among Informix users. In particular, discussion of the Open Admin tool generated high interest and follow-up questions. Attendees also wanted to know more about check-pointing algorithms, non-blocking checkpoints and shared disc secondary servers. Participants were already starting to process what they had learned and apply it; most questions focused on how to make the best use of the new features in the real world. Lab feedback was outstanding as people were impressed at how easy IDS 11 is to run, set and maintain. If you want to experience this can't-miss 3 day technical event for yourself, mark your calendar and register for a workshop in a city near you today. Cities are still being added, so check the registration site for updates (For cities without a hotlink, please send an email to youngje@us.ibm.com to enroll).
Christy Maver Did you know it takes just 3 online.log lines of output for IDS 9 to acknowledge a full DB log and back it up? Compare that to 42 log lines for another popular RDMS acknowledge a full DB log and back it up. Thanks to the dudette that submitted this. My mate Trev was sure pleased to know that fascinating fact. You too can help Trev's education by emailing in all the "things that you know but are too afraid to tell". Hit me with them at david@iiug.org. Question: How many Informix engineers does it take to change a light bulb? None... it never goes out! So what do Informix IDS DBA's do in a day?You will recall that I asked this question last issue. Guess what? Not only are there people out there that read this deeply intelligent journal... but they actually respond as well. Here are some of the responses. Note. The names have been randomized to protect the innocent. "Because I do not have to waste time with the database engine I can focus on using the data in it. This allows us to focus on our business." - Trev "Lunch." - Trev's mate "SQL query analysis, add chunks, add dbspace, UNIX system administration (ie. The SA is the DBA)." - Trevs other mate Then... when I accused him of having too much time for golf he added... "Migrating to the next release, uncovering defects in the vendor's product, initializing new instances, loading development data." Then one of the Trevettes added:
One bloke gave me a complete description of his day. He looks after about 20Tb data and in looking over the typical day I didn't see much pure DBA activity but lots of time on metric management, forecasting, data modeling and data flow modeling, new developments and documentation. And he does this in his spare time as he has to also look after Microsoft's and Oracle's stuff as well (plus an EMC Clarion). And he is also a lunch fanatic. Clearly the results of this scientific survey are that Informix DBA's generally eat lunch and manage the business, not the database. Any thoughts on this???? Email me at david@iiug.org. The Kazer Poster for IDS 11.1 is out nowYes... that Kazer crowd has done it again. All you ever wanted to know about IDS 11.1 (well at least the commands) is out now. If you live in the US then they will ship it to you free. If you don't then you will have to beg. (Don't worry... Stu has done the begging for you... Kazer said that they will ship it any where in the world, for the cost of the shipping). Everybody needs one of these posters. Get it while it is hot. Go to: Eclipse based - Common development tool for Informix IDS and DB2Hi All, I received a presentation talking about a new "Common Development tool" that can be used by both IDS and DB2. It's currently in Open Beta, and they would really like some feedback from IDS owners and developers. The link is: http://www.iiug.org/url/viper.html. This new tool has IDS support for IDS 10 and 11 and possibly for earlier than that. It is an Eclipse based tool that has, among other things,
Please take a look and give me some feedback in the IIUG Informix forum. Thanks. Mark Jamison IDS in DBTAHi Informix-Team, My fourth article about IDS 11 has just been published in Database Trends and Applications magazine. The following URL should take you directly to the e-edition of theDBTA magazine: http://es1.tecnavia.com/ee/databasetrends/# The article is called "Inside Informix V11" and you will find it on pages 18/19 of the magazine. Best of all: I don't need to provide an English translation this time :) Hope to see most of you at IOD 2007. Best regards, Eric Herber End of Service dates for IDS. READ THISEnd of Service dates have just been posted for IDS. IDS 7.31.0: End of service on 9/30/2009 The full announcement can be read at: http://www.iiug.org/url/eos.html Informix 4GL - A Historical Account and Possible Future!We had some feedback on Syed's article published in the August edition... "An excellent article by Syed Kamal. Informix 4GL is still a cut above other 4GLs" And "All of our in house applications were written using I4GL. The fact that there have been no upgrades to this product is THE fact that is causing us to look at other tools and other databases to replace it with. As an I4GL developer, I really wish that IBM had chosen to keep this product alive. It did a great job and did not deserve to be abandoned." Thanks guys for the feedback. I will take more comments on Informix 4GL. Just send me an email david@iiug.org New Informix Redbook has just been published!Informix Dynamic Server 11: Advanced Functionality for Modern Business Published: September 4, 2007 ISBN: 0738488798 388 pages Explore the book online at: http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247465.html?Open Get it before stocks run out!!!!!! Business Partners - play time at IOD!Information Management: Business Development Day: October 14, 2007 in Las Vegas 
Kick off the IBM Information On Demand 2007 Global Conference with a day-long event exclusively for IBM Business Partners. Hosted by IBM Information Management executives, Business Development Day includes over 19 intensive sessions designed to share critical business insight, improve your sales strategy, strengthen your existing skills, and help you to define marketing plans for 2008. During these sessions, you'll hear from industry, product and marketing experts. Read more and get the agenda: http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/conf/bdd.html But wait... there is more... Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) Business Partner Marketing and Sales Come join us at the Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) Business Partner Marketing and Sales table to discuss growing your business with IBM Informix partner programs. Learn about the latest IDS 11 launch events, programs, activities, promotions, etc. and learn about what we are doing with our Business Partners. Discuss topics such as: porting and enablement assistance, sales and technical education, co-marketing opportunities, joint lead generation activities and make plans to take advantage of all the marketing going on around Informix Dynamic Server (IDS). Get in depth knowledge of new sales strategies and tactics as well as get a better understanding of pricing changes for the new IDS 11 release. http://www.ibm.com/software/data/partners/secure.jsp?tab=playbooks&content=LIplay-Cheetah New IIUG forum for the Open Admin ToolWe have set up a new Forum for those of you who are interested in using the new Open Admin Tool. Just go to http://www.iiug.org/forums. It's in there. :) Redlion in Los Vegas???Recently, I published an article in DB2mag about XML and Cheetah. It was the first of its kind, with lots of examples and how we use it in RedLion. "RedLion?" could you ask... RedLion is a GreenIvory solution. It helps businesses (like yours) being more aware about the information "out there". I got a very nice article from Christy Maver, in some IBM's publications, which I copy here (I love the text): 
"GreenIvory's RedLion is running with IDS 11, giving web publishers something to roar about. RedLion is adding innovation to GreenIvory's color palette. RedLion, a brand-new suite of SOA components for web publishing, seeks to help businesses by providing them with ground-breaking technological solutions. RedLion hunts down ways to bring web 2.0 to its users, easing publishing, gathering statistics, building portals and making websites more attractive. This is all made possible with the help of IDS 11." Thanks again Christy! RedLion is among the first solutions to be labeled by IBM "Ready for IDS". IDS did help, but there was quite a bit of manpower to have the solution up, running and reliable. For me, what's new (and great) is that we have customers and prospects for such services and tools... GreenIvory is still very strong on service. Finally, GreenIvory is also a French company. We have finalized its implantation and are starting our operations there. I will be at IOD in Las Vegas from Oct. 12th to Oct. 20th. If you happen to be there at the same time, well, come and see us at the "Demo Till You Drop" event on Wednesday October 17th 2007, starting at 6:30pm. The road to success is still long but hopefully we will succeed. See you sometime soon, Jean Georges
2008 IIUG Informix Conference Just a reminder... Save April 27th to 30th 2008 in your diary. This is a must attend event for all people on the planet who touch Informix. Not only will the conference be just fantastic but the location is inspired. Being in the same city at the US IBM Informix labs means that you will meet the very best of the Informix gurus, propeller heads, and pony tails. These guys and gals are seriously bright. It will be techo heaven. Registration if for the conference is not open yet but when it is I will tell you. Then you will need to be quick to sign up cause Kansas only has so many beds. David
If you read this in last months Insider then skip this section. Else READ IT this time dude. Seven "must reads" for Budding Informix GurusGet a complimentary advanced copy of our latest IDS 11 book when you attend select IDS courses Learning Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) 11 just got more interesting! Attend select IDS classes between August 1 and December 31, 2007 and you will receive an advanced copy of our new IBM Informix book, IBM Informix Dynamic Server 11, the Next Generation in OLTP Data Server Technology, by Carlton Doe, before its public release scheduled in April of 2008. Learn more... http://www.ibm.com/software/data/education/ids11bookoffer.html Save 50% on Information Management Certification when you attend select Training Classes! Distinguish yourself in this highly skilled marketplace by joining our elite group of IBM Certified Professionals. There is no better time! For now, with every qualifying IBM Information Management classroom training course you attend between June 5, 2007 and October 31, 2007, you will receive a certification discount voucher good for 50% off the cost of an eligible Information Management certification exam as well as a complimentary t-shirt. Learn more... http://www.ibm.com/software/data/education/voucher.html Complimentary Professional Certification at IBM Information On Demand 2007 Do not miss the chance to validate your Information Management skills at this premier event! Information Management Professional certification exams will be available to registered attendees throughout the conference. Up to 3 exams can be taken at no charge, a fee of $75 USD for subsequent exams will apply.We will also be hosting a Certification Members' Lounge this year! This members only cafe-style lounge is designed for relaxation with comfortable seating and quiet study areas http://www.ibm.com/software/data/conf/tech.html Pre-conference Informix Technical Education Classes at IBM Information On Demand 2007 Get an early start to building your skills at the Information On Demand Global Conference by attending one of our full day education classes. These classes will be offered on Sunday only, October 14th, 2007 from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Education will be offered in a number of technology areas spanning the Information Management portfolio including Informix topics; Spotlight on IDS 11 - Transition Topics and Informix Dynamic Server System Administration - A Beginner's Look and Survival Guide. Registration is now open! http://www.ibm.com/software/data/conf/education.html New System Administration for IBM Informix Dynamic Server V11 Professional Certification Now you can validate your IDS V11 skills by becoming an IBM Certified System Administrator - Informix Dynamic Server V11! To achieve certification in this new role, candidates must take and pass the new exam (918). This new exam is broken up into seven sections consisting of 71 multiple choice questions. Candidates have 120 minutes to complete the exam and must achieve 70% or greater to pass. http://www-03.ibm.com/certify/certs/30001104.shtml New IBM Informix Dynamic Server 11 System Administration Certification Preparation Tutorial Series This series of eight tutorials has been developed to help you prepare for the IBM Informix Dynamic Server 11 System Administration Certification Exam (918). These tutorials provide a solid base for each section of the exam. However, you should not rely on these tutorials as your only preparation for the exam. After a quick registration, you can begin a tutorial. Currently parts 1 and 2 are available in this series of eight. Each tutorial should take less than two hours to complete. You can take the tutorials online, or download a PDF. http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/education/selfstudy.html#5 New IDS 11 training courses IBM has developed four new training courses to help you build or enhance your IDS 11 skills. Just released are:
Coming soon will be IX80 Informix Dynamic Server 11 Systems Administration. For more information and our global training search, please visit, http://www.ibm.com/training/global. Thanks, Nicole Silvia Hayes
IIUG uses IDS 11.1 Yep. Stu upgraded the IIUG database to IDS 11.1. It took him half an hour. The boy is losing his touch as he reckons the upgrade to version 10 only took 15 minutes. What is new in CheetahCheck this out: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/db2/library/techarticle/dm-0705saraswatipura/ It has the full list of what's new. Have you looked yet!!!! Get in there dudes. :) Where to get a copy of the Carlton Doe "Cheetah" bookGo to the Cheetah releases. I heard a rumor that it had hit the New York Times top ten "best seller list" but I just can't verify it. No one returns my calls. :)
Informix Blogs and Things Get the real oil on Informix from: The IIUG forums at http://www.iiug.org/forums/technical.php **** these are very good**** IDS Experts at http://www-03.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/idsteam Guy Bowerman at http://www-03.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/gbowerman Fernando Nunes at http://informix-technology.blogspot.com/ Bell Micro and the Informix City at http://www.informixcity.com/ Check out their Oracle survey :) The Informix mag at http://www.informixmag.com/ JGP himself at http://www.jgp.net The Informix Zone at http://www.informix-zone.com
In response to your input, we have created a page on the IIUG web site containing all the links we used to include. Please find it at: http://www.iiug.org/quicklinks.html
The International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is an organization designed to enhance communications between its worldwide user community and IBM. IIUG's membership database now exceeds 25,000 entries and enjoys the support and commitment of IBM's Data Management division. Key programs include local user groups and special interest groups, which we promote and assist from launch through growth.
For comments, ideas, information, more ideas, gossip, lies and general dudette type chatter, please send an email to david@iiug.org. |
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