2.2 Adding Names for ODBC Data Sources

The ODBC Administrator is a Microsoft utility to configure ODBC data sources and drivers.

All the information an application needs to connect to a particular database is called a data source in ODBC terminology. This information includes the driver name and location, network address, network software, and database name. Depending on the version of Windows, the ODBC Administrator stores data source information in text files or in the system registry.

The ODBC Administrator lets you enter the connection details for accessing a Dharma/SQL database and associate it with a data source name that users refer to when they need to access the data through an ODBC application.

2.2.1 Desktop

Use the Microsoft ODBC Administrator utility to add names of specific data sources you want to access.

1. Invoke the Microsoft ODBC Administrator from Windows (by default, from the Control Panel program group). The Administrator's Data Sources dialog box appears.
2. Click on the System DSN tab. A list of existing system data sources appears.
3. Click on the Add… button. The Add Data Source dialog box appears.
4. In the list box, double-click on the Dharma Desktop SDK driver. The Dharma ODBC Setup dialog box appears.
5. Enter information in the following text boxes:
   • Data Source Name: the name of the ODBC data source for use in ODBC connect calls and by the ODBC Administrator.
   • Description: an optional descriptive string.
   • Host: this field is ignored for the Desktop configuration.
   • Database: the database name. Use the same name here that was specified to the mdcreate utility (see page A-3) to create the data dictionary for the proprietary storage system.
   • User ID: the user name for the process.
   • Password: the password for the process.
   • Data Dir: the location of the data dictionary directory. Leave this field blank unless the mdcreate command used the -d argument. (If it did, specify the same value here as that used in the -d argument.)

You must supply the name of the data source. If you omit the database name, user name, or password, the driver prompts the ODBC application user for that information when it connects to the data source.

2.2.2 Client/Server

Use the Microsoft ODBC Administrator utility to add the names of any Dharma DataLink server data sources the ODBC Driver will connect to:

1. Invoke the Microsoft ODBC Administrator from Windows (by default, from the Control Panel program group). The Administrator's Data Sources dialog box appears.
2. Click on the System DSN tab. A list of existing system data sources appears.
3. Click on the Add... button. The Create New Data Source dialog box appears.
4. In the Installed ODBC Drivers list box, double-click on the Dharma ODBC SDK driver. The Dharma ODBC Setup dialog box appears.
5. Enter information in the following text boxes:
   • Data Source Name: a local name for the Dharma DataLink server data source for use in ODBC connect calls and by the ODBC Administrator.
   • Description: an optional descriptive string
   • Host: the name of the system where the Dharma DataLink server data source resides
   • Database: the database for the process to connect to on the host system. Use the same name here that was specified to the mdcreate utility (see page B-3) to create the data dictionary for the proprietary storage system.
   • User ID: the user name for the process
   • Password: the password for the process
   • Service: the service name used by the server. Leave this field blank unless the dhdaemon server process was started using the command line and the command specified the -s argument (see page A-2). (If it did, specify the same value here as that used in the -s argument.)

You must supply the name of the data source. If you omit the host name, database name, user name, or password, the driver prompts the ODBC application user for that information when it connects to the data source.

The ODBC Administrator utility updates the ODBC Driver manager registry entry with the information supplied in the dialog box.