ODBC connection to V7 and V8 databases simultaneously

[byrocat]

Up until now, I've been working with V& DB2 UDB databases, using
Embarcadero DBArtisan as my GUI tool. I also have other tools that I
use in my day-to-day job so running directly on the server via the CLP
is not a viable option.

I've just had a number of V8 DB2 UDB databases added to my task list.

Of course #1, the old V7 DB2 ODBC client software doesn't connect to
V7 databases.

Of course #2, the initial version of the V8 DB2 ODBC client doesn't
talk to V7 databases.

Does the newer versions of the V8 client include the backward
compatibility that I need?

Alternately, does anyone know of a non-IBM DB2 ODBC client that
supports both V7 and V8 databases?

Thanks in advance!

[Dave Hughes]

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 11:59:42 -0700, byrocat scribbled:

Up until now, I've been working with V& DB2 UDB databases, using
Embarcadero DBArtisan as my GUI tool. I also have other tools that I use
in my day-to-day job so running directly on the server via the CLP is
not a viable option.

I've just had a number of V8 DB2 UDB databases added to my task list.

Of course #1, the old V7 DB2 ODBC client software doesn't connect to V7
databases.

I assume you mean "V8 databases"? Even so, in theory it ought to work
(see below).

Of course #2, the initial version of the V8 DB2 ODBC client doesn't talk
to V7 databases.

Not sure what you mean by "initial version" - you mean v8 with no
fixpaks, or a beta version or something else? What's the error that you
get when you try this?

Again, this should work fine - at least it always has for me. We have a
v8 server which connects to several other servers to extract data. Those
other servers are either v7 or v8, running on z/OS, AIX, Linux or Windows
(actually, they're all v8 after the last one *finally* migrated to v8 a
few weeks ago :-).

Does the newer versions of the V8 client include the backward
compatibility that I need?

Always has. As I understand it, the DB2 compatibility policy is that any
given client version can connect to servers at the same version, one
version behind (backward compatibility), or one version ahead (forward
compatibility), i.e. a v8 client can connect to a v7, v8 or v9 server, a
v9 client can connect to a v8 or v9 server (and presumably a v10 server
in future) but not a v7 server (as it's two versions behind).

That said, there can be problems connecting to servers (even at the same
level) after fixpaks have been installed, particularly if the DBA's
forgotten to rebind the packages for a given client version.

(This is probably my number one gripe with DB2 - at the moment it's
stopping us moving to v9. As mentioned above, all our data sources are
now v8 so in theory we can install v9 and still use them. However,
testing with a v9 client I can connect, but can't SELECT or EXPORT
because ... surprise surprise ... the DBAs haven't rebound their
databases for the v9 client yet ... grrr)

Alternately, does anyone know of a non-IBM DB2 ODBC client that supports
both V7 and V8 databases?

There are third party ODBC clients available (e.g. DataDirect) but they
cost money and I've no idea what their compatibility against different
versions is.
Cheers,

Dave.

[byrocat]

Thanks, Dave!

Just going through your notes and realized that you have some issues
of confusion (probably my fault).

I'm using DBArtisan to connect to various databases that I'm working
on. Up until now, they have all been V7 databases, and I installed
the client software from a V7 release CD that had been supplied to me.

Recently, I've become involved with some new databases that were
created on servers that are running V8.

DBArtisan can't connect to the V8 databases and presents me with an
error message that talks about 32-bit versus 64-bit compatiblity.

I went down to the group that's programming the V8 databases and got a
CD from them that contained a V8 client, the exact version being
unknown. This ODBC code allowed me to connect to the V8 databases but
not the V7 ones.

Thinking back and asking a few more questions, I suspect that this may
have been a special-test-release of DB2 where there is an underlying
assumption that the software wasn't going to be used in a mexed-
version environment.

Of course, trying to go back now has problems for both DB2 version now
giving error messages.

Fortunately, I have not had to connect to any DB2 databases so I have
time to get a good version of the DB2 client software.

Does anyone have a URL for the latest-version V8 client software from
the IBM website?

[Dave Hughes]

On Tue, 28 Aug 2007 12:29:06 -0700, byrocat scribbled:

Thanks, Dave!

Just going through your notes and realized that you have some issues of
confusion (probably my fault).

Could well be my fault, see below... :)

I went down to the group that's programming the V8 databases and got a
CD from them that contained a V8 client, the exact version being
unknown. This ODBC code allowed me to connect to the V8 databases but
not the V7 ones.

It appears my assertion that a given client version could connect to a
server version one behind, equal to, or one ahead has a caveat in the
case of a v8 client connecting to a v7 server. From the InfoCenter [1]:

"""
You cannot access a DB2 Connect Version 7 server from a DB2 Universal
Database Version 8 client.

To access a DB2 Universal Database Version 7 server on a Linux, UNIX, or
Windows operating system from a DB2 Version 8 client, you must

* Have DB2 Version 7 FixPak 8 or later installed on your server; and
* Have run the db2updv7 command.
"""

Don't worry about the first paragraph as it's talking about Connect
servers and I don't think that's what you're trying to access.

The second paragraph is the interesting one. Can you find out what fixpak
level of the v7 server you're trying to access? If it's FP7 or below you
might need to nudge the server admins to throw a fixpak [2] on there (I'd
be rather surprised given that FP7 is over 5 years old!).

If not, it might be worth checking if they've run the db2updv7 command
against the database you're trying to access (running the command is part
of the fixpak installation instructions but I've seen enough admins
ignore these to know it's worth checking :).

Thinking back and asking a few more questions, I suspect that this may
have been a special-test-release of DB2 where there is an underlying
assumption that the software wasn't going to be used in a mexed- version
environment.

If that is indeed that case there's not a great deal I can suggest, other
than trying to migrate to a "standard" version...

DBArtisan can't connect to the V8 databases and presents me with an
error message that talks about 32-bit versus 64-bit compatiblity.

Interesting - if none of the suggestions above pan out, could you post
the error message and (more importantly) any error numbers provided?

Does anyone have a URL for the latest-version V8 client software from
the IBM website?

Unfortunately the only reference I can find to a freely downloadable DB2
v8 client is the "DB2 Runtime Client Lite" link on the client & fixpak
download page for DB2 v8 [3]. It suggests it supports ODBC, which would
appear to be what you need, but it's not a package I've ever used so I'm
not 100% sure.

[1] http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infoce...2luw/v8/topic/
com.ibm.db2.udb.doc/start/t0011929.htm

[2] http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview...id=swg21259593

[3] http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview...id=swg21256059
HTH,

Dave.