title: Perl DBD::ODBC to Informix DBMS
body: <p>I'm attempting to bring up an ODBC connection to an Informix DB inside a Perl script (v5.12.4) using DBD::ODBC.  I've read through lots of docs and seem to be hitting a wall and was hoping to get some tips here.</p>
  
  <p>I have unixODBC 2.2.14 installed with empty odbcinst.ini and odbc.ini files (not good, I know).  I've also downloaded the CSDK for Informix from IBM's site.  If I check the available drivers for DBI, Informix is listed there as well.</p>
  
  <p>I guess my issues are related to populating the .ini files with the correct info for the drivers and dsn.  I'm not sure where the Informix drivers are, how I reference them or the syntax of the dsn.  I've been using DBI with mysql for a while just fine but ODBC seems to be more in depth and a bit over my head right now.</p>
  
  <p>When I attempt to run a script to connect, I get:</p>
  
  <pre><code>DBI connect........failed: [unixODBC][Driver Manager]Data source name not found, and no default driver specified (SQL-IM002) at Informix.pl line 20
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>If I'm missing any important details in the post please let me know and I'll include.</p>
  
  <p>Thanks!</p>
  
  <p><strong>UPDATE</strong></p>
  
  <p>I got some help on a separate post to find that Java and my OS don't play nice and so I wasn't able to get the CSDK installed correctly.  So, I ripped out Ubuntu and installed SuSE.  I have (I hope) installed the CSDK correctly now and have updated the .ini files.  On a side note, I'm not able to run nm to view symbols but I do have several .so files in the /opt/IBM/informix/lib/ dir which I'm trying to reference in my odbcinst.ini file.  When I run the isql connection, I'm getting : </p>
  
  <pre><code>[01000][unixODBC][Driver Manager]Can't open lib '/opt/IBM/informix/lib/nameofdriver.so.   : file not found
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Do you have any recommendations on this one?  I've checked the file for rogue spaces/characters and I'm running the connection request as root.  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks!</p>