Setting up an ODBC data source for Informix on Windows

You must set up the ODBC data source for your Informix database prior to connecting to it from ArcGIS. If the ODBC data source was not set when the database was created and registered with the Informix Spatial DataBlade, follow the steps in this topic to set up the ODBC data source.

You must create an ODBC data source for each Informix database or geodatabase in Informix to which you will connect from ArcGIS.

Tip:

If you will use a DSNless connection string to connect directly to your Informix database, you do not have to set up an ODBC data source.

Steps:

1. Open the Windows ODBC Data Source Administrator dialog box.
2. Click the System DSN tab.
3. Click Add.

   The Create New Data Source dialog box appears, displaying the list of ODBC drivers that are installed on your system.

4. Choose the IBM INFORMIX ODBC DRIVER and click Finish.

   The Informix ODBC Driver Setup dialog box opens.

5. Create the administrator's data source by typing the name of the data source in the Data Source Name text box.
6. Click the Connection Tab to proceed to set up the connection properties.
7. Choose the name of the server and database from the Server Name and Database Name drop-down lists, respectively.
8. Choose olsoctcp from the Protocol drop-down list.
9. Type the host name and service in their respective text boxes.
10. Type a valid user name and password in the User Id and Password text boxes.
11. Click Apply & Test Connection to verify that the connection parameters are set correctly.
If the connection succeeds, delete the user name and password from the User Id and Password text boxes, click Apply, then proceed to the next step. If the connection does not succeed, correct the information provided and try again.
12. Click the Environment Tab to set up the environment properties.
13. Set the locale by doing one of the following:
    • Type the appropriate locales in the Client Locale and Database Locale text boxes.
    • Type the appropriate client locale in the Client Locale text box and check Use Server Database Locale to set the database locale.
14. Cursor Behavior must be set to 1 - Preserve because ArcGIS expects Informix cursors to remain open and active following a database COMMIT operation.

    Setting the Cursor Behavior to 0 - Close will have undesirable effects during data insertions and updates.

15. Click Apply.
16. Click OK to exit the Informix ODBC Driver Setup dialog box.

The data source you create appears in the System Data Sources list on the System DSN tab of the ODBC Data Source Administrator dialog box. You can update the data sources by clicking the Configure button on this dialog box. However, you should never change data sources if an ArcSDE service that uses the data source is running. Always shut down the ArcSDE service first.