Setting up an ODBC data source for Informix on Linux or UNIX

On Linux or UNIX systems, the odbc.ini file contains ODBC connectivity information. Copy the $SDEHOME/tools/informix/odbc.ini template to the ArcSDE administrative user's home directory as a hidden file (~sde/.odbc.ini) and edit it to define one or more ODBC data sources as appropriate for your system.

The following is the content of the template odbc.ini file that you will find in the $SDEHOME/tools/informix directory:

[ODBC Data Sources]
; Define one or more ODBC Data Sources by editing / copying 
; the four-line template below. Replace any values surrounded by 
; angle bracket characters with values appropriate for your system 
; -- Each data source name in this file must be unique 
; -- The Database name can differ from the data source name 
; -- The Servername value should be the name of your INFORMIXSERVER 
; -- The CursorBehavior value must be 1 
; -- The ODBC section of this file must specify UNICODE=UCS-2 
; -- The edited file should be saved as ~sde/.odbc.ini 
[<DATASOURCENAME>] 
Database=<DATABASENAME> 
Servername=<INFORMIXSERVER> 
CursorBehavior=1 
[ODBC] 
UNICODE=UCS-2 

Comments in the template odbc.ini file indicate how it can be edited to define one or more ODBC data sources.

Steps:
  1. Log in to the database as the ArcSDE administrative user (sde).
  2. Copy the $SDEHOME/tools/informix/odbc.ini template to the ArcSDE administrative user's home directory as a hidden file (~sde/.odbc.ini).
  3. Edit the file to define one or more ODBC data sources as appropriate for your system.

    Here is an example odbc.ini file after it has been edited to define ODBC data sources for three separate ArcSDE instances: one connecting to an IDS 11.50 geodatabase, another connecting to an IDS 11.10 geodatabase, and a third (an ArcSDE 9.3 instance) connecting to an IDS 11.10 geodatabase.

    [ODBC Data Sources]
    [sde_myhost_ids115] 
    Database=sde115 
    Servername=myhost_ids115 
    CursorBehavior=1 
    [sde_myhost_ids11]
    Database=sde11
    Servername=myhost_ids11
    CursorBehavior=1
    [sde93_myhost_ids10]
    Database=sde10
    Servername=myhost_ids10
    CursorBehavior=1
    [ODBC] 
    UNICODE=UCS-2 
    

11/18/2013