First-In-First-Out Virtual Processor

The database server uses virtual processors of the FIF class to process high-performance loads and unloads through a FIFO (first-in-first-out) data file.

The operating system opens and checks for the end of file differently for FIFO files than for ordinary files. Unlike ordinary operating-system files, pipes do not have a 2-gigabyte size limitation.

For more information on using named pipes to load and unload tables, refer to the chapter on loading with external tables in the IBM Informix: Administrator's Reference.