C-ISAM Data Files

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Accessing C-ISAM Data Files

On UNIX and Linux platforms, Recital Terminal Developer, Recital Mirage Server and the Recital Database Server support access to Informix compliant C-ISAM files.

Data access is achieved through a C-ISAM Bridge. This requires the creation of a Bridge file and an empty Recital table that has the same structure as the C-ISAM file.

Creating the Recital Table Create a Recital table with the same structure as the C-ISAM file. The fields/columns in the structure file must exactly match the data type and length of those in the C-ISAM file. The Recital table will have one byte more in total record length due to the Recital record deletion marker.

To create the table, use the SQL CREATE TABLE command or the Recital Terminal Developer CREATE worksurface. The table should be given a ’.str’ file extension (rather than the default ’.dbf’) to signify that this is a structure file only.

Please see the end of this section for information on matching Informix and Recital data types.

Creating the Bridge File In Recital Terminal Developer, the Bridge File can be created using the CREATE BRIDGE worksurface. For Recital Database and Mirage Server clients, the Bridge File can be created in two ways: by using an ’ini’ file, or by the SQL CREATE BRIDGE command.

Maximums Widths The following maximum widths apply to the bridge elements:


Element Maximum Width in Characters Description
Type 10 Bridge type: CISAM
External 80 External file name
Metadata 80 Recital ’structure’ table name
Alias 10 Alias name


’ini’ file Firstly, an ’ini’ file should be created on the server in the data directory where the C-ISAM file is held. The ini file has the following structure:

[bridge] bridgetype=<bridgetype> externalname=<name of the C-ISAM file> databasename=<name of the Recital structure table> alias=<the name to use to access your file>

e.g. cisamdemo.ini

[bridge] bridgetype=CISAM externalname=cisam.dat databasename=cisamstru.str alias=cisamdemo

NOTE: There should be no white space either side of the ’=’ signs.

The Bridge file can now be created from the ini file. This can be given a ’.dbf’ file extension (rather than the default ’.brg’) so that it can be accessed like a normal Recital table. The SQL EXECUTE IMMEDIATE command is used to run the Recital/4GL CREATE BRIDGE FROM command:

e.g.

create bridge cisamdemo.dbf from cisamdemo

CREATE BRIDGE (SQL) The CREATE BRIDGE SQL command defines and creates the bridge in one step:

e.g. exec sql CREATE BRIDGE cisamdemo.dbf TYPE "CISAM" EXTERNAL "cisamdemo.dat" METADATA "cisamdemo.str" ALIAS "cisamdemo";

//or

exec sql CREATE BRIDGE cisamdemo.dbf AS "TYPE=CISAM;EXTERNAL=cisamdemo.dat;METADATA=cisamdemo.str;ALIAS=cisamdemo";

Using the Bridge The Bridge can now be used. To access the C-ISAM file, use the ’alias’ specified in the Bridge definition.

e.g.

Select * from cisamdemo

Data Types

Informix Recital
Byte Numeric
Char Character
Character Character
Date Date
Datetime Character
Decimal Numeric
Double Precision Float
Float Real
16 Bit Integer Short
Integer Numeric
Interval Character
32 Bit Long Integer
Money Numeric
Numeric Numeric
Real Numeric
Smallfloat Numeric
Smallint Numeric
Text Unsupported
Varchar Character