Eleven FAQ's About comp.databases.informix and informix-list@iiug.org
================================================== ===================

Last Update $Date: 2006/02/10 20:38:57 $

The comp.databases.informix news group is intended to be the primary
news group for discussing how to use the IBM Informix database products.

FAQ 1 - What is the informix-list@iiug.org mailing list?
--------------------------------------------------------

The informix-list@iiug.org mailing list is a bi-directional gateway to
the comp.databases.informix (c.d.i) UseNet news group. Messages posted
to the news group are forwarded by mail to subscribers of the mailing
list; responses sent to the informix-list@iiug.org email address are
also posted to the news group; and the gateway manages to keep track of
things so that postings do not repeat themselves. The mailing list is
'closed' in that you cannot post directly to the list unless you also
subscribe to the list. However, you can always post to the news group
instead; that is fully open and unmoderated.

The service is provided by the International Informix User Group, IIUG,
with the web site http://www.iiug.org/. The IIUG web site also has a
software repository with a lot of useful information in it -- check it
out. The IIUG also provides a number of other mailing list services to
IIUG members; details are available at the IIUG web site.

As of 2006-02-01, the official home of the Informix FAQ (Frequently
Asked Questions) list is at:

* http://www.smooth1.co.uk/pages/smoot...q/informix.htm

There is also a link on the IIUG main web page in the Resources menu.

The FAQ list is maintained by David Williams, whose (anti-spammed) email
address is david at smooth1.co.uk and has been updated during May 2005.
If you have suggestions to make, please send them to David.

There is another site with a simpler URL which provides a link to a
mirrored copy of the official home of the Informix FAQ, and also
provides you with the opportunity to customize the FAQ to meet your
needs:

* http://www.informixfaq.com/

This is run by Paul Watson of Oninit (http://www.oninit.com/).

FAQ 2 - How Can I Subscribe To comp.databases.informix by Email
---------------------------------------------------------------

In order to subscribe to the Informix List (informix-list@iiug.org), you
must be a member of IIUG. Membership is free. Go to the IIUG web site,
http://www.iiug.org, to join and subscribe.

If you are already a member of IIUG, you need your membership number,
name and email address to log into the member area. Go to the web site
and then to the Member Area to update your profile. If you don't know
your membership number, there is a link on the login screen to have it
emailed to you. Finally, if you can't obtain your member information,
send an email to webmaster at iiug.org (anti-spammed).

Once in the member area, click on either the "Subscribe" button or the
"Forums" button. There will be a list of email discussion groups
including informix-list.

FAQ 3 - How Can I Unsubscribe From informix-list@iiug.org
---------------------------------------------------------

Visit the IIUG web site once more, login to the the member area as
above, and use the Subscribe button. This will show you the list of
email discussion groups that are available, and you can unsubscribe
yourself by removing the check-mark against the "informix-list" entry.

FAQ 4 - What else do I need to know about this?
-----------------------------------------------

When you subscribe to informix-list@iiug.org, you should expect to
receive 20-50 emails per day from the news group.

Starting from February 2006, the IIUG does now offer a digest service.
A digest service accumulates the messages for a mailing list over the
course of a day (or part of a day, or sometimes several days) and then
sends out a single larger email message to the digest subscribers that
contains all the individual messages.

If you respond to a message in a digest, please ensure you set the
subject line correctly.

You can also register with http://groups.google.com, record an interest
in c.d.i, and select between three options (quoting Google in January
2006):
* "No email" (you'll read the news group on the web)
* "Abridged email" (offering no more than 1 email per day, with a
summary of new activity each day) and
* "Digest email" (approximately 1 email per day, with up to 25 full new
messages bundled into a single email).
There is also an option to 'get email alerts of messages containing
specific keywords'. The '1 email per day' for digests might be an
underestimate for c.d.i. The abridged email is quite nicely presented.

FAQ 5 - What Rules Exist Regarding Format, Content, Flame Wars, etc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

None; this is a news group! That is, there are no rules enforced by the
software. There are periodically discussions on c.d.i about what should
and should not be said. This is my FAQ, so it gets my spin on the rules
that should be followed.

* Format: HTML postings are strongly discouraged; so are MIME
postings. Both cause problems with many frequently used news
readers. That means that attachments aren't encouraged either.
Also, sending the same information twice, once in HTML and once in
plain text, is downright wasteful.

* Smart Questions: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
If you've not read it, please do so - it is well written, and
people respond better to 'smart' questions. Google is your
friend. And the manuals are available online in HTML and for
download in PDF (and HTML) - URLs below.

* Content: straight technical answers to questions don't need any
special treatment. When the subject under discussion changes
sufficiently that the subject is no longer accurate, it is courteous
to change the subject. The standard, time-honoured NetNews
technique is "New Subject (was: Old Subject)". There is a strong
tendency for discussions in c.d.i to veer from the technical into
jocular commentary, often about the participants. It is courteous
to change the thread subject when you do this, and the standard
method used in most news groups is to add 'OT' to indicate
'off-topic' content. Marking off-topic messages makes it easier for
those who don't want to read the banter to avoid it. If you feel
compelled to put technical content into a thread currently marked
off-topic, remove the tag.

* Quoting Posts: when you respond to a post, please trim as much of
the quoted material as possible. However, do include enough of the
question to ensure that your answer is comprehensible. Leave out
the signature blocks (especially the obnoxiously irrelevant ones
about how you should not abuse this message if it was sent to you in
error) and any superfluous content. Be careful about misattributing
information to the wrong poster.

See also "How do I quote correctly in Usenet?" at
http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html

Note that if you read with Google's group reading, using the big
obvious 'reply' button doesn't include any of the previous posting.
This is bad. However, if you use the 'show options' link in the
message header, you get a 'reply' option that includes the posting
you are responding to in the classic format for responses.

* Top Posting: Alf P Steinbach's signature block (which, he says, he
got from someone else, who said they got it from someone else again)
sums it up beautifully:

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is it such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

Using Lotus Notes is not really an excuse for top posting. If you
need help setting up Notes so it doesn't post HTML, contact me; I
may be able to remember how to set it up.

* Versions: it is usually helpful to include platform and version
information for the software you are using. For example: Sun
Solaris 9, IDS 10.00.UC1, CSDK 2.90.UC1. Please include all the
information after the second dot (UC1, UC2X3, etc); lots of engine
crashes and language problems are version specific and most are
fixed in later releases. With Linux, both the version of the kernel
and the version of the GLIBC library are relevant. It is often
helpful to identify 64-bit hardware. If you have compilation
problems, the brand of C or C++ compiler and its version may be
relevant.

* Flame Wars: Don't! For the most part, the c.d.i group manages to
maintain a civilized discourse (even with the contributors who work
for Oracle) and ad hominem flame wars are strongly discouraged.

* Courtesy: it works wonders. Please remember that many people who
post here do not speak English as their mother tongue (primary
language).

* Banter: largely covered under content. Banter cannot be prevented.
Once you've been reading c.d.i for a week or two, it will be obvious
that banter figures quite prominently in the content (and usually
without any off-topic tag). Banter should be limited - more limited
than it is (there speaks The Curmudgeon who is not entirely in tune
with the regular posters of banter). Do it judiciously. If you do
indulge, make sure you trim the quoted content of messages to the
minimum and add the OT marker; someone passing two lines of jocular
remarks on a posting of several hundred lines of quoted material is
being discourteous to the other users of both c.d.i and the Internet
in general.

Recently (January 2006), there has been a lot of 'noise' on the news
group, and the volume of messages has been above the 20-50 per day
suggested above. If you get frustrated by this, rest assured you
are not alone, and (to quote Art Kagel) "Just do like the rest of
us; ignore these long-winded irrelevant digressions masquerading as
important concerns".

* Cross-posting: is not encouraged. Cross-posting outside the
comp.databases news group hierarchy is very seldom acceptable.

* Spam: don't do it. When spam postings arrive (they do), ignore
them. There isn't anything else that is truly effective. Do not
use the services or buy the products of companies that spam.

* Signature blocks: keep them short. Up to about 5 lines is OK (once
upon a long decade ago, 2-3 was about the maximum). If your
signature block is longer than that, you should ask yourself whether
everyone needs all that information (or your multi-line quote of the
month) every time you send a message.

FAQ 6 - Can I ask about Universe, Unidata, Cloudscape, Red Brick?
-----------------------------------------------------------------

You are welcome to ask questions about Universe and Unidata databases,
which are collectively known as U2, on the comp.databases.informix news
group -- they are Informix databases. However, it is realistic to note
that most people who read the news group are more familiar with the
traditional Informix databases than with the multi-valued, Pick-based U2
systems. There are other places where you can also ask questions about
these products:

* Multi-Value News Group:
Point your news reader at comp.databases.pick or Browse to
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=gr...databases.pick

* U2UG SBSolutions Email List (2006-02-01): send an email to majordomo
at listserver.u2ug.org (anti-spammed) with one or the other (not
both, usually) of the following lines in the BODY of the message.

subscribe sbsolutions
subscribe sbsolutions-digest

The first sends you all the messages individually, the second sends
you a digest roughly daily with all the messages for the day. As of
June 2005, the volumes appear to be 1-25 messages per day (with an
average of about 5 per day).

* International U2 Users Group: http://www.u2ug.org/

You may also ask questions about Red Brick and Cloudscape, but again,
most people who read the news group are more familiar with the
traditional Informix databases. (Note that Cloudscape is available from
Apache as project Derby. As of 2006-02-01, it is found at
http://db.apache.org/derby).

FAQ 7 - Can I ask about Perl, DBI and DBD::Informix? Other products?
---------------------------------------------------------------------

You may ask questions about Perl, DBI and DBD::Informix, but only if an
IBM or Informix database is involved, somehow -- it is not a general
forum for arbitrary questions about Perl. However, there are
alternative forums that you should also use, described in the product.
However, those locations have changed over time, so you should be aware
of the official home, http://dbi.perl.org/, which contains pointers to
how to subscribe to the dbi-users at perl.org (anti-spammed) mailing
list. Note that (with effect from 2005-03-01 and v2005.01) the email
address for DBD::Informix support is dbd.informix at gmail.com
(anti-spammed).

Similar comments apply to other products which use Informix databases
but are not supplied by IBM/Informix. For example, Informix Dynamic 4GL
(also known as 4J's Universal Compiler, and its heirs and successors)
can be discussed on an unmoderated but monitored mailing list run by
4J's; see http://www.4js.com/ for information on how to join the
fourjs-users at 4js.com (anti-spammed) mailing list. The Aubit4GL open
source project has its own discussion mailing list, aubit4gl-discuss at
lists.sourceforge.net (anti-spammed); you can find out how to subscribe
at http://aubit4gl.sourceforge.net/.

FAQ 8 - Can I ask about DB2?
----------------------------

You may ask questions about DB2, but you may get a better informed
response if you ask the question on the comp.databases.ibm-db2 news
group. Also, check out the International DB2 Users Group (IDUG) web
site at http://www.idug.org/.

FAQ 9 - Can I make job postings, commercial announcements, etc?
---------------------------------------------------------------

This is a contentious subject, and there are about as many views as
there are readers of the news group. In general, it is preferred that
you do not post job offers or other commercial announcements to the
c.d.i news group. However, if you occasionally post a job offer, or
pointers to where Informix-related job offers can be found, this breach
of protocol will usually be ignored. If you choose to post several such
messages in a week, expect to be inundated with objections. A short
message, once a month, not on the first of the month, would probably be
OK. Please ensure that the posting can be identified as a job offer,
perhaps using '[JOB]' at the start of the subject line. Also, remember
this is an international news group; be specific about where the job is
(for example, saying 'the Bay Area' is not precise enough; it might be
Tampa, FL or San Francisco, CA or various locations outside the USA) and
list any visa requirements for people outside your country who might
wish to apply. Similar comments apply to commercial announcements,
where the subject line should probably start '[ADV]'.

FAQ 10 - Which URLs Should I Know About?
----------------------------------------

IBM:
http://www.ibm.com/ -- IBM Home Page
http://www.ibm.com/informix -- Short cut to...
http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix
-- Informix Home Page at IBM
http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix/pubs/library
-- Manuals
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/idshelp/v10/
-- IBM IDS Information Centre
-- Online manuals
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/db2/zones/informix
-- Technical writings about
Informix

As of 2006-02-01, the old Informix web site (http://www.informix.com/)
redirects you to the Informix home page at IBM as noted above.

(Note: the numbers after www - such as 306 in this example - change
every so often, maybe in part depending on where you are in the world.
You can, arguably should, omit the numbers when accessing the URL; you
will be directed to an appropriate machine.)

IIUG:
http://www.iiug.org/ -- International Informix Users
Group
http://www.iiug.org/software -- Software Archive
http://www.iiug.org/resources/faq/ifaq.htm
-- IIUG copy of Informix FAQ

Other Informix-related sites:
http://www.4js.com/ -- BDL (Business Development
Language,
successor to Informix Dynamic
4GL
aka 4J's Universal Compiler)
http://www.artinsoft.com/ -- Conversion of 4GL to Java
http://www.querix.co.uk/ -- Another alternative to I4GL
http://aubit4gl.sourceforge.net/ -- Open Source alternative to I4GL

http://www.coppereye.com/ -- CopperEye indexing datablade
for IDS
http://www.serverstudio.com/products/ssje
-- Informix DBA tools in Java.
http://www.rs.com/portfolio/visionary/
-- Informix's former Visionary
product, a reporting tool.

http://www.gillani.com/ -- Owner of the FourGen trademark
http://www.fourgen.com/ -- Another way to Gillani's web
site
http://www.fourthgeneration.com/ -- One of several companies that
bought
some rights to Fourgen in 1997

11. How do I notify Informix Technical Publications of errata?
--------------------------------------------------------------

In older manuals, the documented email address is doc at informix.com
(anti-spammed), and this still works (unlike almost every other Informix
email address). However, in newer manuals, the email alias is docinf at
us.ibm.com (anti-spammed), and you should now use this to report
problems instead.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
My thanks go to Mark Gassis, James Edmiston, Jack Parker, Paul Mosser,
Walt Hultgren, Andrej Falout, Christopher Coleman, Syed Kamal, Andrew
Hamm, Stuart Litel, David Williams, Mike Aubury, June Hunt, Claus
Samuelsen, Art Kagel, Ajay, Alf P Steinbach, and probably others for
various editorial corrections and additions.
Let me know if I've missed you off this list - it was accidental.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

All other things being equal, this message will be sent automatically
once a month on the first of the month, just as a reminder.

Send amendments and additions to me...

== January/February 2006: I've been getting spam/virus emails from
== johnl@informix.com. This was my old email address prior to 1998 at
== Informix, and has not been used since then. It's nothing to do with
== me; you can safely delete anything from that email address.

--
Jonathan Leffler #include <disclaimer.h>
Informix Database Engineering, IBM Information Management
Email: jleffler@us.ibm.com Phone: +1 650-926-6921
Guardian of DBD::Informix v2005.02 -- http://dbi.perl.org/
"I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it!"

PS: Yes, I am a member of the IIUG. No, I am not an official spokesman
for the IIUG. Yes, I work for IBM in the Informix Database Engineering
group, but I am not an official spokesman for IBM either. Neither the
IIUG nor IBM controls the content of the comp.databases.informix news
group. Nor do I -- I just wish I could, sometimes. I control the
content of this message, but accept advice from others. No, the
epithet in my sig block isn't one I created; I just like it and use it.

@(#)$Id: cdi.monthly.faq,v 3.12 2006/02/10 20:38:57 jleffler Exp $