PowerShell Scripting to Replicate IBM Informix Data to MySQL

The CData Cmdlets for IBM Informix offer live access to IBM Informix data from within PowerShell. Using PowerShell scripts, you can easily automate regular tasks like data replication. This article will walk through using the CData Cmdlets for IBM Informix and the CData Cmdlets for MySQL in PowerShell to replicate IBM Informix data to a MySQL database.

After obtaining the needed connection properties, accessing IBM Informix data in PowerShell and preparing for replication consists of four basic steps.

Set the following properties to connect to IBM Informix

• Server: Set this to the name of the server running IBM Informix.
• Port: Set this to the port the IBM Informix server is listening on.
• Database: Set this to the name of the IBM Informix database.
• User: Set this to the username of a user allowed to access the database.
• Password: Set this to the password of a user allowed to access the database.

Collecting IBM Informix Data

1. Install the module:

   Install-Module InformixCmdlets

2. Connect to IBM Informix:

    $informix = Connect-Informix -Server $Server -Port $Port -User $User -Password $Password -Database $Database
    

3. Retrieve the data from a specific resource:

    $data = Select-Informix -Connection $informix -Table "Books"
    

   You can also use the Invoke-Informix cmdlet to execute pure SQL-92 statements:

    $data = Invoke-Informix -Connection $informix -Query 'SELECT * FROM Books WHERE Category = @Category' -Params @{'@Category'='US'}
    

4. Save a list of the column names from the returned data.

    $columns = ($data | Get-Member -MemberType NoteProperty | Select-Object -Property Name).Name
    

Inserting IBM Informix Data into the MySQL Database

With the data and column names collected, you are ready to replicate the data into a MySQL database.

1. Install the module:

   Install-Module MySQLCmdlets

2. Connect to MySQL, using the server address and port of the MySQL server, valid user credentials, and a specific database with the table in which the data will be replicated:

    $mysql = Connect-MySQL -User $User -Password $Password -Database $Database -Server $Server -Port $Port
    

3. Loop through the IBM Informix data, store the values, and use the Add-MySQL cmdlet to insert the data into the MySQL database, one row at a time. In this example, the table will need to have the same name as the IBM Informix resource (Books) and to exist in the database.

    $data | % {
    $row = $_
    $values = @()
    $columns | % {
    $col = $_
    $values += $row.$($col)
    }
    Add-MySQL -Connection $mysql -Table "Books" -Columns $columns -Values $values
    }
    

You have now replicated your IBM Informix data to a MySQL database. This gives you freedom to work with IBM Informix data in the same way that you work with other MySQL tables, whether that is performing analytics, building reports, or other business functions.

Notes

• Once you have connected to IBM Informix and MySQL in PowerShell, you can pipe command results to perform the replication in a single line:

   Select-Informix -Connection $informix -Table "Books" | % {
   $row = $_
   $values = @()
   $columns | % {
   $col = $_
   $values += $row.$($col)
   }
   Add-MySQL -Connection $mysql -Table "Books" -Columns $columns -Values $values
   }
   

• If you wish to replicate the IBM Informix data to another database using another PowerShell module, you will want to exclude the Columns, Connection, and Table columns from the data returned by the Select-Informix cmdlet since those columns are used to help pipe data from one CData cmdlet to another:

   $columns = ($data | Get-Member -MemberType NoteProperty | Select-Object -Property Name).Name | ? {$_ -NotIn @('Columns','Connection','Table')}