Re: Oracle or Informix,, which is better?

David,

I am working on two projects that use Powerbuilder as the front end tool and Oracle 7.2 at one site and Informix 7.2 at the other. I have only been using Informix for 3 weeks.

Your choice of development tool will impact on your choice.

I have found Informix to have a strong architecture, a better implementation of parallel queries and good data partitioning features. However, I have found some annoying limitations. There is a limited number of string functions. eg no upper or uppercase function, no datatype to support variable length columns above 500 characters and no efficient way of maintaining columns through triggers other than using an SQL update statement.

An important issue is locking. They both support row level locking however Informix does take shared locks on reads and row level locking is not the default. (I am assuming you do not like dirty reads).

Oracle and Informix have the best RDBMS and it is hard to separate them. Their respective version 8 products could help you differentiate between the two.

On balance I suggest Oracle. Their product has the benefit of being the leading RDBMS for a long time.

If you have any specific questions do not hesitate to ask. Regards,

Peter K

-- 
Peter Karouzos
Software Developer
pkarouzo_at_ozemail.com.au
David Fisher <dfisher_at_ioa.net> wrote in article
<01bb938a$a338d000$cd8083d0_at_Sbilt23>...


> My company is debating using Oracle or Informix.. we will be migrating


from


> a Unisys mainframe to an UNIX/hp.. any advice?

> 

>   David Fisher


>    dfisher_at_ioa.net

>