# informix-db

Pure-Python driver for IBM Informix IDS, speaking the SQLI wire protocol over raw sockets. **No IBM Client SDK. No JVM. No native libraries.**

## Status

🟢 **Phase 1 complete.** `connect()` / `close()` work end-to-end against a real Informix server. Cursor / execute / fetch land in Phase 2.

To our knowledge this is the **first pure-socket Informix driver in any language** — every other Informix driver (`IfxPy`, the legacy `informixdb`, ODBC bridges, Perl `DBD::Informix`) wraps either IBM's CSDK or the JDBC JAR.

## Quick start

```python
import informix_db

with informix_db.connect(
    host="127.0.0.1", port=9088,
    user="informix", password="in4mix",
    database="sysmaster", server="informix",
) as conn:
    # cursor() / execute() / fetchone() arrive in Phase 2
    pass
```

## Test against the official Informix dev container

```bash
docker compose -f tests/docker-compose.yml up -d   # IBM Developer Edition, pinned by digest
uv sync --extra dev
uv run pytest                  # 34 unit tests (no Docker needed)
uv run pytest -m integration   # 6 integration tests (needs the container)
```

## Phase 0 artifacts (still useful — they ARE the public reference)

- [`docs/PROTOCOL_NOTES.md`](docs/PROTOCOL_NOTES.md) — byte-level wire-format reference, derived from packet captures + JDBC decompilation, validated against a real server
- [`docs/JDBC_NOTES.md`](docs/JDBC_NOTES.md) — index into the decompiled IBM JDBC driver's wire-protocol classes
- [`docs/DECISION_LOG.md`](docs/DECISION_LOG.md) — running rationale for protocol / auth / type decisions
- [`docs/CAPTURES/`](docs/CAPTURES) — socat hex-dump captures of three reference scenarios (connect, SELECT, full DML cycle)
- [`tests/reference/RefClient.java`](tests/reference/RefClient.java) — re-runnable JDBC ground-truth client for capturing fresh traces

## License

MIT.