How to pipe IBM Informix Data to CSV in PowerShell

The CData Cmdlets Module for IBM Informix is a standard PowerShell module offering straightforward integration with IBM Informix. Below, you will find examples of using our Informix Cmdlets with native PowerShell cmdlets.

Creating a Connection to Your IBM Informix Data

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.

$conn = Connect-Informix  -Server "$Server" -Port "$Port" -User "$User" -Password "$Password" -Database "$Database"

Selecting Data

Follow the steps below to retrieve data from the Books table and pipe the result into to a CSV file:

Select-Informix -Connection $conn -Table Books | Select -Property * -ExcludeProperty Connection,Table,Columns | Export-Csv -Path c:\myBooksData.csv -NoTypeInformation

You will notice that we piped the results from Select-Informix into a Select-Object cmdlet and excluded some properties before piping them into an Export-Csv cmdlet. We do this because the CData Cmdlets append Connection, Table, and Columns information onto each "row" in the result set, and we do not necessarily want that information in our CSV file.

Deleting Data

The following line deletes any records that match the criteria:

Select-Informix -Connection $conn -Table Books -Where "Category = US" | Remove-Informix

Inserting and Updating Data

The cmdlets make data transformation easy as well as data cleansing. The following example loads data from a CSV file into IBM Informix, checking first whether a record already exists and needs to be updated instead of inserted.

Import-Csv -Path C:\MyBooksUpdates.csv | %{
  $record = Select-Informix -Connection $Informix -Table Books -Where ("Id = `'"+$_.Id+"`'")
  if($record){
    Update-Informix -Connection $informix -Table Books -Columns ("Id","Price") -Values ($_.Id, $_.Price) -Where ("Id = `'"+$_.Id+"`'")
  }else{
    Add-Informix -Connection $informix -Table Books -Columns ("Id","Price") -Values ($_.Id, $_.Price)
  }
}

As always, our goal is to simplify the way you connect to data. With cmdlets users can install a data module, set the connection properties, and start building. Download Cmdlets and start working with your data in PowerShell today!