StarSQL for UNIX is a powerful ODBC/CLI driver that enables applications running on a UNIX workstation to transparently access, send SQL queries to, and retrieve results from DB2 databases running on remote IBM mainframe, midrange, or Unix systems. It supports the merged ODBC 3.0/CLI specification and is backwards compatible with IBM DB2 v2 CLI.
The following topics are addressed in these Release Notes. Refer to the StarSQL for UNIX Quick Start Guide for detailed information about installing StarSQL for the first time, and refer to the StarSQL for UNIX User's Guide (ssqlunix.pdf) for detailed information about using the StarSQL for UNIX driver.
This release of the StarSQL for UNIX introduces the following new features and improvements:
StarSQL for UNIX v5.5x introduced the following new features and improvements:
This section describes issues of interest for users who are upgrading from a prior version of StarSQL for UNIX.
Rebinding Packages
After installing StarSQL 5.5x, you should rebind StarSQL packages on the host system if you upgrading from a version of StarSQL prior to V5.38. We suggest that you use StarAdmin to do this; see the StarSQL technical document Binding StarSQL Packages Using StarAdmin for details. These packages are backwards compatible with StarSQL 5.38 through 5.4x clients. If you are using any version of StarSQL prior to v5.38, upgrade those clients to StarSQL v5.5 or use a different package collection. See the StarSQL for UNIX User's Guide (ssqlunix.pdf) for details about package compatibility.
Character Substitution
To identify problems with character conversion, StarSQL detects if one or more characters cannot be converted between the host and client character sets and substitutes a question mark, ?, in place of the character(s). A warning is generated when the substitution occurs, which may be problematic for certain applications that are not anticipating this warning. To avoid character conversion warnings, either correct any character conversion issues or, if the character substitution is acceptable, set the CharacterSubstitution value to Silent in the StarSQL DSN.
Dynamic SQL for Catalog Queries
To improve performance when connected to DB2 for z/OS servers, StarSQL executes dynamic SQL statements for catalog queries. This behavior differs from versions of StarSQL prior to v5.36, where static SQL located in the driver's host packages was used to perform all catalog queries. In order for StarSQL to use dynamic SQL for catalog queries, users must be granted SELECT privileges to the catalog tables, such as SYSIBM.SYSTABLES, SYSIBM.SYSCOLUMNS, SYSIBM.SYSROUTINES, etc. If you want the StarSQL driver to use static SQL for catalog functions, set the UseDynamicCatalogSQL parameter to No in the StarSQL DSN. Refer to the StarSQL technical document SQV00SQ051 - StarSQL User Requirements for Dynamic SQL Catalog Queries for details.
StarSQL (64-bit) and StarSQL (32-bit) can be installed on the same system and are independent of each other.
StarSQL (64-bit) can use the same StarSQL packages as StarSQL (32-bit). To use StarAdmin to bind host packages, install either the 32-bit version of StarSQL for Windows or the separate StarAdmin package for Windows or Linux. See the StarSQL technical document Binding StarSQL Packages Using StarAdmin for details.
ODBC data sources for 32-bit and 64-bit environments are configured independently using the appropriate version of ODBCConfig, or by editing $HOME/.odbc.ini or $ODBCSYSINI/odbc.ini (ODBCSYSINI is typically /usr/local/etc with the StarQuest-supplied version of unixODBC). The Driver parameter should be set to either StarSQL or StarSQL64.
Note that it is important to specify the correct driver name in File data sources or in DSN-less connection strings.
Both 32-bit and 64-bit Data Sources are visible to both 32-bit and 64-bit ODBC applications and both versions of ODBCConfig, but are only usable by the matching type of application (i.e. 64-bit applications only can use 64-bit DSNs, 32-bit applications can only use 32-bit DSNs). If your ODBC application attempts to use the incorrect type of data source, a "Data source name not found and no default driver specified" error is returned.
To help distinguish the type of a DSN, you may want to add "_32" or "_64" to the data source name.
You can install and run StarSQL for UNIX on computers with the following operating systems.
You can use the StarSQL driver to connect to any of the following host databases:
For native DRDA over TCP/IP support the host must run one of the following versions of DB2:
The following versions of DB2 support LOB (large object) data types:
If you will be accessing Unicode or ASCII LOB data on DB2 for OS/390 or z/OS, it is recommended that you have applied the PTFs described in the IBM APAR PQ85495. For details, refer to the expert setting UseSYSDUMMYAEU documented in the Customizing the unixODBC Driver Manager Configuration chapter of the StarSQL for UNIX User's Guide (ssqlunix.pdf).
This section describes specific IBM issues and the FixPak and PTFs that may be necessary for StarSQL to function properly.
Refer to StarSQL for UNIX User's Guide (ssqlunix.pdf) for specific IBM issues and the FixPak and PTFs that may be necessary for StarSQL for UNIX to function properly.
In addition to those documented in the User's Guide, the following FixPaks should be installed:
v7r1
If you are using Java stored procedures, install PTF 5770SS1-SI39711
If you are using LOB, install PTF 5770SS1-SI39331
v6r1
cum C8064610 or later
PTF 5761SS1-SI30581
If you are using LOB, install PTF 5761SS1-SI39331
If you are using stored procedures, install PTF's 5761SS1-SI36405 and 5761SS1-SI36136.
If you are using stored procedures, install PTF's 5722SS1-SI22551, 5722SS1-SI36406, and 5722SS1-SI36059.
Suppress Warnings from stored procedures
After upgrading from an older version of StarSQL or an older version of DB2, you may encounter new warning messages when invoking stored procedures; for example:
[DB2]PROCEDURE JPPNODOP RETURNED 1 QUERY RESULTS SETS
If you have an existing application that expects the older behavior, you can suppress warnings from stored procedures by adding the following to the [Default] section of $STARDIR/etc/swoodbc.ini (Where STARDIR is the directory where StarSQL is installed):
SuppressSpWarnings=Y
OpenOffice (Linux & Solaris)
There is a known issue with ODBC support in the 64-bit version of OpenOffice (OpenOffice Issue 103847). We recommend either using the 32-bit version of OpenOffice and the 32-bit version of StarSQL, or use the JDBC support of either the 32-bit or 64-bit version of OpenOffice with StarSQL for Java.
There is a known issue with using OpenOffice 3.1.1 and ODBC on Solaris to update tables (OpenOffice Issue 105068). If you need this functionality, we recommend using an earlier version of OpenOffice (we have verified that the problem does not exist in OpenOffice 2.2) or use the JDBC support of OpenOffice with StarSQL for Java.
JDBC-ODBC Bridge ( Solaris 64-bit)
There is a known issue with the JDBC-ODBC bridge in the 64-bit JRE on Solaris. We recommend either using a 32-bit JRE and the 32-bit version of StarSQL, or use StarSQL for Java.
PHP ( 64-bit)
There are known issue when using a 64-bit version of PHP; patches for PHP are available. Refer to the technical note Using StarSQL with PHP and php-odbc for latest information.
Applications Built with cc or gcc (HP-UX)
We recommend using aCC when building custom ODBC applications to be used with StarSQL. Using an application created with gcc or cc (e.g. JDBC-ODBC Bridge) may result in one of the following error messages:
Solution: Set the LD_PRELOAD environment variable to the C++ runtime libraries:
$ LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libstd.sl:/usr/lib/libstream.sl:/usr/lib/libCsup.sl:/usr/lib/libm.sl; export LD_PRELOAD
or (64-bit):
$ LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/pa20_64/libstd.sl:/usr/lib/pa20_64/libstream.sl:/usr/lib/pa20_64/libCsup.sl:/usr/lib/pa20_64/libm.sl; export LD_PRELOAD
Application error (HP-UX)
You may see the following error message with some ODBC applications (e.g. perl-static):
[unixODBC][Driver Manager]Driver's SQLAllocHandle on SQL_HANDLE_DBC failed (SQL-IM005)
Solution: This error may result if the ODBC application was built with SHLIB_PATH support disabled.
Use chatr to determine whether SHLIB_PATH support is enabled in your application. If it is disabled, you can enable it with:
$ chatr +s enable <Executable>
You can enable SHLIB_PATH support when building your ODBC application by using the aCC compiler option -Wl,+s:
$ aCC -Wl,+s dl.cxx
In the specific case of perl, be sure to use /opt/perl_32/bin/perl-dynamic (or /opt/perl_64/bin/perl-dynamic) rather than perl-static.
Alternatively, If your ODBC application was built with SHLIB_PATH support disabled and you cannot change it, set the _STARSQL32 or _STARSQL64 environment variable to your StarSQL installation location:
$ _STARSQL32=/opt/starsql; export _STARSQL32
Conversion error message (FreeBSD)
You may see the following error message on FreeBSD, indicating that the system-supplied version of libiconv.so in /usr/lib is being used rather than the StarQuest-supplied libiconv.so.
SQLState = 22000, [unixODBC][StarSQL][StarSQL CLI Driver]Conversion from current locale character code set US-ASCII to host code set IBM-500 (CCSID 500 in StarSQL configuration file 'ccsid.csv') is not configured
Solution: Include /usr/local/share/starsql/lib in your LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable, or add it to the system library path with ldconfig.
$ LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/share/starsql/lib:/usr/local/share/starsql/odbc/lib; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
or (64-bit)
$ LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/share/starsql64/lib:/usr/local/share/starsql64/odbc/lib; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
Multithreading Applications (FreeBSD)
Certain ODBC applications (e.g. JDBC-ODBC bridge or perl) may fail with a segmentation fault.
Solution: Set the LD_PRELOAD environment variable to the unixODBC driver manager:
$ LD_PRELOAD=/usr/local/share/starsql/odbc/lib/libodbc.so; export LD_PRELOAD
or (64-bit)
$ LD_PRELOAD=/usr/local/share/starsql64/odbc/lib/libodbc.so; export LD_PRELOAD
Installation to non-default location (AIX)
If you install StarSQL for AIX to a location other than the default (/usr/lpp/starsql), you may receive the following error message:
SQLState = 08004, [unixODBC][StarSQL][StarSQL CLI Driver]Some connection parameters are missing for Data Source.
Solution: Include <INSTALLDIR>/lib in your LIBPATH environment variable:
$ LIBPATH=/mystarsql/lib:/mystarsql/odbc/lib; export LIBPATH
JDBC-ODBC Bridge (AIX)
There are known problems using the JDBC-ODBC bridge in IBM JRE 1.6 prior to SR9. When using the JDBC-ODBC bridge and JRE 1.6SR9, use the standard unixODBC libraries in odbc/lib rather than odbc/lib.ar. Also consider using IBM JRE 1.4 or 1.5, or using StarSQL for Java in place of StarSQL with the JDBC-ODBC bridge.
Singlethreaded vs. Multithreaded applications (AIX)
StarSQL/UNIX for AIX is distributed as a set of multithreaded shared libraries and should work with multithreaded applications. If the application that you are developing is not multithreaded, we suggest that you compile and link it with the multithreading options anyway. Use the xlc_r compiler instead of the xlc compiler or, for C++, use the xlC_r compiler instead of the xlC compiler.
SQLNativeSQL() API & ODBC Tracing (64-bit)
There is a known problem with unixODBC ODBC tracing and the SQLNativeSQL() API on 64-bit platforms.
Unicode Applications and Character Data
When a Unicode application uses the StarSQL ANSI driver, it cannot send late-bound character data, i.e. character data bound using the SQL_LEN_DATA_AT_EXEC macro, for the C types SQL_C_CHAR, SQL_C_WCHAR, or SQL_C_TCHAR.
Documentation Errata
The manual installation chapter in the StarSQL for UNIX User's Guide documents the use of admintool on Solaris. This application is no longer available on Solaris 10; use pkgadd and pkgrm instead.
This section provides information about problems or enhancements that are made available as "point releases" and major releases of the StarSQL for UNIX software.
| Version Number | Release Date | Significant Changes |
|---|---|---|
| v5.63.0304 | Feb 2014 | 12050 Fixes for columns-wise binding for result sets and parameters (64-bit) 12487 Problems passing string parameter larger than 8k using ADO 12272 StarSQL returning incorrect data for some decimal datatypes 12714 Return SQLSTATE=42S02 for table not found error |
| v5.60.1310 | Nov 2012 | 9230 Solaris x86 build 11836 return a truncation error when called for a zero-length varchar with a zero-length buffer 11907 64-bit driver: Some numeric/decimal values returned incorrectly in SQL_C_NUMERIC struct |
| v5.57.0523 | May 2011 | 11695 Leak in SQLparser stack buffer code |
| v5.56.0117 | Jan 2011 | 11545 Problems binding DECIMAL/NUMERIC values using SQL_C_NUMERIC (x64 & UNIX) |
| v5.55.0727 | Jul 2010 | 11296 Catalog issue on DB2/UDB 9.7 (unicode) 11301 StarSQL reporting BIGINT precision 11302 StarSQL misinterprets length when SQL_WCHAR is specified improperly 11304 SQLBindParameter don't use supplied length for fixed length output parameters 11321 Restore support for iSeries V4R4 11385 Support option to enable "old" driver behavior for reporting warnings |
| v5.52.1130 | Nov 2009 | 10995 Solaris 64-bit 10974 Invalid cursor state error when user lacks bind privileges on UDB 10990 Add additional SBCS conversion awareness for PC-MBCS CCSIDS 10985 Misinterprets ACCRDB replies - RDBAFLRM is error, regardless of SQLSTATE 10987 SQICONV problem with CCSID lookup for MBCS 10989 permit override of SBCS CCSID to a MBCS converter 11017 Misinterpreted ODBC spec for some 64-bit APIs 11023 64-bit ODBC Call to SQLDescribeParam for CALL statement fails |
| v5.51.0921 | Sept 2009 | 5.51 release for HP-UX, AIX & FreeBSD 10902 "Autobind" option and keepdynamic setting |
| v5.51.0910 | Sept 2009 | 5.51 release for Linux & Solaris 10619 port to 64-bit (x64) Linux 10617 add default value (swtcp32.dll) for Netlib parameter 10746 starlic-tester w/o sleep parm - segmentation fault |
If you need to contact technical support, please provide the following information to help the support engineers address your issue. You can contact Stelo via phone, email, or facsimile as indicated at the bottom of this page.
| Company Information | Address Phone |
| Contact Information | First and Last Name of individual contact Email Address |
| Host Type | Hardware and Operating System (i.e., IBM i 7.3) |
| Network Protocol/Gateways | Protocol and/or Gateways used (i.e., TCP/IP, SSL/TLS) |
| Client Type | Client Type and Operating System (i.e., Windows Server 2019, Oracle Linux 8.6) |
| Stelo Product, Version, and Source |
Which Stelo product and what version is installed (i.e., StarSQL for Windows v6.41.0719) Where you obtained the software (i.e., direct from Stelo, name of specific reseller) |
| Problem Information | Provide as much detail as possible, including information about any application that is using the Stelo product when the problem occurs and the exact error message that appears. |
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