Copy data from and to IBM Informix using Azure Data Factory or Synapse Analytics

APPLIES TO: Azure Data Factory Azure Synapse Analytics

This article outlines how to use the Copy Activity in an Azure Data Factory or Synapse Analytics pipeline to copy data from an IBM Informix data store. It builds on the copy activity overview article that presents a general overview of copy activity.

Supported capabilities

This Informix connector is supported for the following capabilities:

① Azure integration runtime ② Self-hosted integration runtime

For a list of data stores that are supported as sources/sinks by the copy activity, see the Supported data stores table.

Prerequisites

To use this Informix connector, you need to:

• Set up a Self-hosted Integration Runtime. See Self-hosted Integration Runtime article for details.
• Download the 64-bit Client SDK for Informix to create an ODBC connection for the data store on the Integration Runtime machine. For SDK download and setup, refer this article for details, or contact IBM support team for driver installation guidance.

Getting started

To perform the copy activity with a pipeline, you can use one of the following tools or SDKs:

• Copy Data tool
• Azure portal
• .NET SDK
• Python SDK
• Azure PowerShell
• REST API
• Azure Resource Manager template

Create a linked service to Informix using UI

Use the following steps to create a linked service to Informix in the Azure portal UI.

1. Browse to the Manage tab in your Azure Data Factory or Synapse workspace and select Linked Services, then select New:

   • Azure Data Factory
   • Azure Synapse

   

2. Search for Informix and select the Informix connector.

   

3. Configure the service details, test the connection, and create the new linked service.

   

Connector configuration details

The following sections provide details about properties that are used to define Data Factory entities specific to Informix connector.

Linked service properties

The following properties are supported for Informix linked service:

Example:

{
    "name": "InformixLinkedService",
    "properties": {
        "type": "Informix",
        "typeProperties": {
            "connectionString": "",
            "authenticationType": "Basic",
            "userName": "",
            "password": {
                "type": "SecureString",
                "value": ""
            }
        },
        "connectVia": {
            "referenceName": "",
            "type": "IntegrationRuntimeReference"
        }
    }
}

Dataset properties

For a full list of sections and properties available for defining datasets, see the datasets article. This section provides a list of properties supported by Informix dataset.

To copy data from Informix, the following properties are supported:

Example

{
    "name": "InformixDataset",
    "properties": {
        "type": "InformixTable",
        "linkedServiceName": {
            "referenceName": "",
            "type": "LinkedServiceReference"
        },
        "typeProperties": {
            "tableName": ""
        }
    }
}
Copy activity properties
For a full list of sections and properties available for defining activities, see the Pipelines article. This section provides a list of properties supported by Informix source.
Informix as source
To copy data from Informix, the following properties are supported in the copy activity source section:



Property
Description
Required




type
The type property of the copy activity source must be set to: InformixSource
Yes


query
Use the custom query to read data. For example: "SELECT * FROM MyTable".
No (if "tableName" in dataset is specified)



Example:
"activities":[
    {
        "name": "CopyFromInformix",
        "type": "Copy",
        "inputs": [
            {
                "referenceName": "",
                "type": "DatasetReference"
            }
        ],
        "outputs": [
            {
                "referenceName": "
",
                "type": "DatasetReference"
            }
        ],
        "typeProperties": {
            "source": {
                "type": "InformixSource",
                "query": "SELECT * FROM MyTable"
            },
            "sink": {
                "type": ""
            }
        }
    }
]

Informix as sink
To copy data to Informix, the following properties are supported in the copy activity sink section:



Property
Description
Required




type
The type property of the copy activity sink must be set to: InformixSink
Yes


writeBatchTimeout
Wait time for the batch insert operation to complete before it times out.
Allowed values are: timespan. Example: "00:30:00" (30 minutes).
No


writeBatchSize
Inserts data into the SQL table when the buffer size reaches writeBatchSize.
Allowed values are: integer (number of rows).
No (default is 0 - auto detected)


preCopyScript
Specify a SQL query for Copy Activity to execute before writing data into data store in each run. You can use this property to clean up the pre-loaded data.
No


maxConcurrentConnections
The upper limit of concurrent connections established to the data store during the activity run. Specify a value only when you want to limit concurrent connections.
No



Example:
"activities":[
    {
        "name": "CopyToInformix",
        "type": "Copy",
        "inputs": [
            {
                "referenceName": "",
                "type": "DatasetReference"
            }
        ],
        "outputs": [
            {
                "referenceName": "",
                "type": "DatasetReference"
            }
        ],
        "typeProperties": {
            "source": {
                "type": ""
            },
            "sink": {
                "type": "InformixSink"
            }
        }
    }
]

Lookup activity properties
To learn details about the properties, check Lookup activity.
Related content
For a list of data stores supported as sources and sinks by the copy activity, see supported data stores.