Menlo Park, California-based Informix Software Inc has introduced the Informix-OnLine 5.0 release of its relational database, saying it is optimised for high volume distributed transaction processing and decision support environments. It is shipping this week for Sun Microsystems Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co HP 9000 and AT&T Co systems, with versions for other Unix systems to follow next quarter. The company claims that the new release is the first relational database to support the X/Open Co Ltd’s XA standard for heterogeneous distributed transaction processing and the first Unix implementation that is 100% compatible with the ANSI SQL-89 standard for SQL databases. It adds stored procedures, which can reduce message traffic in a client-server environment; the ANSI SQL 89-compliant declarative integrity constraints, which enforce a set of safety checks on all applications accessing the data, to enhance security; and distributed updates with two-phase commit recovery when used with the optional Informix-Star product. Informix-OnLine 5.0 will also feature a multi-threaded architecture, initially to be implemented on Sequent Computer Systems Corp Symmetries, with other major systems to follow in the next release. Optional add-ons include Inform ix-OnLine/Workstation Manual, electronic graphical documentation for database administrators with Hyper Text-like links and active graphics; Informix-OnLine/Optical generic interface to optical disk subsystems; Informix-TP/XA, which can be used to connect the database with any X/Open-compliant transaction manager such as Unix Labs’ Tuxedo, NCR Corp’s Top-End, Transarc Corp’s Encina and Siemens AG’s UTM for distributed transaction processing. The company also added Informix-4GL Forms code generator and form painter, and Informix-Menus development tools for use with its proprietary Informix-4GL language; both are licensed from FourGen Software Inc.
