Design and Manage Informix Databases with DbSchema

Build a clearer workflow for Informix: reverse engineer existing schemas into interactive ER diagrams, model changes visually, and generate reviewed SQL scripts before deployment.

DbSchema is built for visual modeling, schema documentation, and deployment. Keep an offline model in Git, collaborate across teams, and publish documentation that developers, analysts, and stakeholders can navigate in minutes.

DbSchema Database Designer

Download DbSchema See Informix Features Download Informix JDBC Driver

What happens after you download?

Get to your first Informix schema diagram in minutes. No account, no credit card.

1
Install in minutes

Download the installer for Windows, macOS, or Linux and launch DbSchema. No signup required.

2
Connect to Informix or open a sample

Reverse engineer an existing Informix database or open a sample model to explore tables, relationships, and indexes.

3
Design, document, and deploy

Edit schema visually, generate documentation, and prepare reviewed migration scripts for safer releases.

Get Started Free

IBM Informix is a high-performance relational database with a rich extension ecosystem covering time-series data (TimeSeries DataBlade), spatial data, and native JSON storage. Its catalog system tracks tables, views, synonyms, and stored procedures across multiple database spaces. DbSchema connects via the IBM JDBC driver, reads the system catalog, and renders the full schema — including synonym chains and view dependencies — as a navigable ER diagram suited for DBA audits and architecture reviews.

Visualize Informix Tables, Views, and Synonyms

Informix schemas can include synonym chains where an application accesses a base table through one or more synonym layers. DbSchema maps these relationships in the diagram, making it possible to trace the full resolution path from application-level synonym to the underlying table — a task that is opaque when reading the catalog through command-line tools alone.

Download DbSchema Free See Informix Features

DbSchema rendering an Informix schema with tables, views, and synonym relationships

Edit Informix Table Structures Visually

Adding columns or adjusting data types in Informix requires familiarity with its extended SQL syntax — particularly for types such as LVARCHAR, DATETIME intervals, and SERIAL sequences. DbSchema's table editor exposes Informix-compatible types in the type picker and generates correct ALTER TABLE DDL for each change, reducing the chance of syntax errors on a live database.

Table editor modifying an Informix table with Informix-specific data types

Generate Schema Documentation for DBA Audits

DbSchema produces structured HTML documentation from the Informix system catalog, capturing table definitions, column types, constraints, indexes, and view SQL. For Informix environments that have grown over years without formal documentation, this export provides an immediate baseline for change management, compliance audits, and team onboarding.

Schema documentation generated from an IBM Informix database catalog

Connecting to Informix

Informix listens on port 9088 by default. The JDBC URL takes the form jdbc:informix-sqli://host:9088/dbname:INFORMIXSERVER=servername, where the INFORMIXSERVER value must match the server name entry in the sqlhosts file on the Informix host. Download ifxjdbc.jar from IBM Fix Central and register it via DbSchema's driver manager. The connecting user also requires SELECT privileges on the Informix system catalog tables — systables, syscolumns, and related tables — for schema discovery to complete successfully.

Why Use DbSchema with Informix

  • Render Informix schemas including synonym chains and view dependency graphs
  • Edit table structures with Informix-native data types in the visual editor
  • Generate schema documentation for compliance and DBA audit workflows
  • Run Informix SQL queries and inspect catalog metadata interactively
  • Compare schemas across Informix database spaces and environments