APPX Software Library

Chapter 2: Install and Check APPX ODBC

Install the Driver on Another Windows Computer

A desktop connects to the gateway, not directly to the APPX login manager. Use the supplied 32-bit 5.5.2 driver with the verified client recipes in this edition. A 64-bit Office or LibreOffice process cannot load this driver, even when the 32-bit DSN exists on the computer.

  1. Record the gateway's hostname and measured listening port from the gateway Windows-service/listener check. The cookbook gateway uses TCP 1990.
  2. Download the matching 5.5.2 driver and ASQL package and compare its SHA-256 with the package table. The combined package is the one tested here. A routine user does not need to run ASQL or repeat the shared import.
  3. Run the installer as administrator and keep the default AppxODBCDriver folder. Keep Create System DSN selected. Enter AppxODBC, the gateway server's hostname, and Database appx. Use localhost only when the gateway is on this desktop.
  4. Back up this desktop's Windows services file and ensure sqlnw resolves to the gateway's actual port. The client and gateway have separate local services files; editing one does not edit the other. Resolve conflicting or duplicate mappings deliberately.
  5. Open C:\Windows\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe, select System DSN → AppxODBC → Configure, and check Host, Database and Service against the default data-source recipe. The optional ODBC Service field can be left blank or set explicitly to sqlnw. Both select the TCP port through the client's sqlnw mapping; definition and consequences.
  6. Close and reopen client programs after installing or changing a driver. Run the credential-prompting PowerShell query before creating a workbook or report. Verify both the count and complete sample values.

The separate desktop deployment is the same client setup with a different Host; the recorded acceptance tests ran on the gateway computer. A remote desktop also needs DNS resolution, firewall reachability and an authorized APPX account. Use the two-hop connection checks to isolate that path. Do not copy the gateway program or its SQL dictionary to every desktop.