Types of environment variables

Two types of environment variables are explained in this chapter:

Environment variables that are specific to HCL Informix®
Set HCL Informix environment variables when you want to work with HCL Informix products. Each HCL Informix product publication specifies the environment variables that you must set to use that product.
Environment variables that are used with a specific operating system
HCL Informix products rely on the correct setting of certain standard operating system environment variables. For example, you must always set the PATH environment variable.

In a UNIX™ environment, you might also be required to set the TERMCAP or TERMINFO environment variable to use some products effectively.

The GLS environment variables that support nondefault locales are described in the Informix GLS User's Guide. The GLS variables are included in the list of environment variables in Uses for environment variables.

The database server uses the environment variables that were in effect at the time when the database server was initialized.

The onstat - g env command lists the active environment settings.

Tip: Additional environment variables that are specific to your client application or SQL API might be explained in the publication for that product.

Important: Do not set any environment variable in the home directory of user informix (or in the file .informix in that directory) while initializing the database and creating the sysmaster database.