Introduction to Informix CLI Stages

The Informix CLI stage is the Informix® implementation of the Microsoft Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) standard. It enables InfoSphere® DataStage® to read from Informix databases and write data to Informix databases.

It uses the Informix CLI native programming interface. The Informix CLI stage offers the following advantages over the ODBC stage:

  • Increased processing speed
  • Simplified configuration on UNIX platforms
  • Support for Version 9 of the Informix server software
  • Advanced support for target table DDL (Create and Drop Table)
  • Native metadata import

The Informix CLI stage lets you connect and process SQL statements in the native Informix environment. Because the CLI programming API is a native Informix implementation of the ODBC standard, Windows users must still use an ODBC driver manager to access CLI and use the ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure data sources.

Note: The term Windows represents the following:
  • Windows 2000
  • Windows Server 2003

In summary, the Informix CLI stage lets you do the following for a target Informix database:

  • Read and write data
  • Create and drop tables
  • Import table and column definitions
  • Browse native data with the custom user interface

Each Informix CLI stage is a passive stage that can have any number of links.