Overview and Requirements

APPX/ODBC makes APPX^® data available to Windows^® applications as an ODBC data source. Windows^® applications such as Crystal Reports^™, Access, Excel as well as other programs that can access ODBC data sources can readily access your APPX^® data using APPX/ODBC. The APPX^® data can be stored locally on your PC or remotely on—for example—an NT or UNIX server that has APPX^® installed on it. APPX/ODBC eliminates the need for the data to be converted into fixed-text or comma-delimited files for importation into a spreadsheet, database application, or other Windows^® application and eliminates the need to transfer files between the server and the client. With APPX/ODBC, APPX^® data can be accessed directly from APPX^® databases whether local or remote without the time-consuming conversion and transfer process.

APPX/ODBC honors any file or field security settings that may exist in the APPX database, so your data is still protected. If there are File Level Event Points associated with a file, then will be triggered when an ODBC client updates the file, thus ensuring the integrity of your database.

Installing and configuring APPX/ODBC is quick and easy. Everything needed is self-contained in the APPX/ODBC installation program.

If you intend to access remote APPX^® databases, there are two requirements that must be in place before APPX/ODBC can successfully access the data. But, if the APPX^® data you wish to access resides locally on your PC or can be accessed from a shared disk, these two requirements do not apply.

1. The APPX^® Connection Manager must be running on the APPX^® server. This may be appxd (on UNIX servers) or winappxd (on Windows NT^®/2000 servers). If you are already using the APPX^® Client to run APPX^® remotely, the APPX^® Connection Manager is already installed and configured and is not an issue. However, if you are not already using the APPX^® client software, please refer to the Technical Guide for the APPX^® Connection Manager for installation instructions.
2. Your client PC must be running Windows^® 95 or better and must be able to access the APPX^® server across a TCP/IP network link. You can verify TCP/IP access to the server via telnet (UNIX machines), or by pinging the server from the client.

Tip: Before continuing, verify that you can connect to the APPX^® server using the same server user id and password you plan to use for your APPX/ODBC connection. This will verify there are no issues with spelling or case sensitivity of your user id or password.

To install APPX/ODBC on your client PC, visit http://www.appx.com and go to the ‘Download’ Link. From there, choose ‘Desktop Products’ and follow the link APPX/ODBC.