%META:TOPICPARENT{name="SingleTierExpressPreinstallMac"}%
= Pre-Installation Requirements for Single-Tier "Express" Edition ODBC Driver for Informix, for Mac OS X =

== DBMS Requirements ==

You need to know a variety of information pertaining to your Informix DBMS:

* [[HowCanITellIfInformixIsStartedInSocketsOrSharedMemory|Informix Instance Startup Mode (Sockets or Shared Memory)]]. <i><b>Note:</b> Shared Memory connections cannot be made with the Express Edition; these require either Lite Edition or Enterprise Edition.  Sockets-based connections are fully supported by the Express Edition.</i>
* [[HowCanIFindMyInformixDatabaseServerHostnameOrIPAddress|Database Server Hostname or IP Address]]
* [[HowCanIFindMyInformixTcpPortNumber|Informix TCP Port Number]] 
* Database Name 
* [[HowCanIFindMyInformixInstanceName|Informix Instance Name]]

== Software Requirements ==

* You must have a **Java Runtime Environment (JRE)** that is compatible with our components.
#* The JRE was part of the default Mac OS X installation, for Cheetah (10.0) through Snow Leopard (10.6).
#* As of Lion (10.7), you may need to manually choose to add Java, but the OS should prompt you to do so when you try to use Java components.
#* All Java software shipped by Apple and/or installed as part of Mac OS X, through Java 6 (a/k/a 1.6), is compatible.  <i><b>See 64-bit ODBC Application notes below!</b></i>
#* All Java software [[http://java.com/|obtainable from Oracle]] for Lion (10.7) and later, i.e., Java 7 and later, is compatible.  <i><b>See 32-bit ODBC Application notes below!</b></i>

* <i><b>Important notes for users of 64-bit ODBC Applications:</b></i> 
#* All Java software shipped by Apple and/or installed as part of Mac OS X, through Java 6 (a/k/a 1.6), is 32-bit only, and can only be used by 32-bit ODBC client applications, including <b>iODBC Administrator.app</b> (found in <code><nowiki>/Applications/iODBC/</nowiki></code>).  If you are using a 64-bit ODBC client application (e.g., Microsoft Excel 2016 or later), you must upgrade to [[http://java.com/|Java 8 or later from Oracle]], and then reinstall the Express Edition ODBC Driver.

* <i><b>Important notes for users of 32-bit ODBC Applications:</b></i> 
#* All Java software [[http://java.com/|obtainable from Oracle]] for Lion (10.7) and later, i.e., Java 7 and later, is 64-bit only, and can only be used by 64-bit ODBC client applications, including <b>iODBC Administrator64.app</b> (found in <code><nowiki>/Applications/iODBC/</nowiki></code>).  If you are using a 32-bit ODBC client application (e.g., Microsoft Excel 2011 or earlier), you must downgrade to [[http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1572|Java 6 from Apple]], and then reinstall the Express Edition ODBC Driver.

* <i><b>Important notes for users of Snow Leopard (10.6), Leopard (10.5), and Tiger (10.4):</b></i> 
#* <nop>PowerPC-based applications on Intel-based Macs cannot connect through our "Lite" Edition ODBC-to-JDBC Bridge, due to limitations in Mac OS X and its JRE.  Commonly problematic applications include Microsoft Query as shipped with Microsoft Office:Mac v.X through Microsoft Office:Mac 2011 (upon which Microsoft Excel 2011 and earlier depend), and FileMaker Pro v8 and earlier.
#* <nop>PowerPC-native applications on <nop>PowerPC-based Macs can connect through our "Lite" Edition ODBC-to-JDBC Bridge.
#* Intel-native applications, and Universal Binary applications which include Intel-native components, on Intel-based Macs can connect through our "Lite" Edition ODBC-to-JDBC Bridge.
#* <nop>PowerPC-based applications on Intel-based Macs can connect to Informix through the [[http://uda.openlinksw.com/mt/| Multi-Tier "Enterprise" Edition]] drivers.

== Configuration Requirements ==

* There are no software configuration requirements associated with the use of the "Express" Edition ODBC Driver for Informix.

== Next... ==
[[InstallInformixExpressOSX|Proceed to Installation & Configuration]].