Generic ODBC Client For Windows
Installation Notes

Client Components Installation
ODBC Data Source Name (DSN) Configuration
Configuring ODBC System & User Data Source Names (DSNs)Creating a File DSN
Advanced Settings
Server Components Installation

Client Components Installation

1. After downloading the OpenLink Data Access Driver Suite client components from our Website, Unzip the contents of the ZIP format archive into a temporary installation directory on your client machine.
   
   
2. Run the setup.exe installer program from the temporary installation directory and then follow the on screen prompts.
   
   
3. The OpenLink ODBC Driver installer automatically determines if earlier versions of the OpenLink ODBC client components have been installed on your machine. By default it will install a new set of client components alongside your existing components as opposed to replacing them (you can choose to replace your older client). The dialog depicted below illustrates this step
   
   
   
   
   
4. After installation you will be able to safely remove the files in the temporary directory.

ODBC Data Source Name (DSN) Configuration

Once you have completed the installation process, proceed to create an new ODBC DSN using the ODBC Driver Manager (the ODBC v3.0 Driver Manager is depicted below displaying a list of installed ODBC Drivers) situated in the Windows Control panel.

Configuring ODBC System & User Data Source Names (DSNs)

ODBC 2.0 & 3.0 Driver Manager (depicted below with a list of existing ODBC System DSNs) allows the creation of User, System, and File DSNs. The steps for creating a User or System DSN are as follows:-

1. Pick the ODBC Driver to be used to create your ODBC DSN, in the case of the OpenLink Data Access Driver Suite 3.2, this would be the Driver identified below as "OpenLink Generic 32 Bit Driver".
   
   
   
   
   
2. Once you have selected the "OpenLink Generic 32 Bit Driver", you will be presented with the OpenLink ODBC Data Source Configuration dialog (depicted below).
   
   
   
   
   
3. Configure the fields of the ODBC "System" or "User" DSN Configuration dialog in the manner explained below :-

Name: (Datasource) The name of the ODBC DSN, this is how you will interact with the OpenLink ODBC Driver from within ODBC compliant applications once your ODBC DSN has been created.

Comment: Additional information that further describes the ODBC DSN that you are creating.

Domain: This is how you pick the Database Engine Type that your ODBC DSN is to be associated with e.g. Informix 7, Oracle 7, Progress 7 etc.

Protocol: Select the network transport protocol used to connect your ODBC DSN with a remote database engine.

Hostname: Enter the hostname or IP address that identifies a Server Machine running OpenLink Server Components, that speak the OpenLink Data Access Protocol.

Name: (Database) This is how an actual database name within the Provider Type Domain is identified, for instance "stores7" indicates an "Informix 7" database called "stores7".

Server: This is where you place any database specific database connection options. This field in a majority of cases should be left blank by default.

Username: The default database UserID to used when logging on to a remote database engine (identified by the Provider Type above).

Read-only connection: Specify whether the connection is to be "Read-only". Make sure the checkbox is unchecked to request a "Read/Write" connection.

No Login Dialog Box: Suppress the ODBC "Username" and "Password" login dialog box when interacting with your ODBC DSN from within an ODBC compliant application.

Row Buffer Size: This attribute specifies the number of records to be transported over the network in a single network hop. Values can range from 1 to 99.

Creating a File DSN

This format of ODBC DSN enables the creation of centralized ODBC DSNs on a designated NT or Windows 95 Server machine, thereby reducing the administrative overhead of ODBC DSN configuration for every single machine within your infrastructure.

The steps for creating an ODBC File DSN are as follows: -

1. Select the File DSN Tab from the ODBC Driver Manger (see Screen Shot of Driver Manager ODBC DSN listing above)
   
   
2. Enter a name that describes your File DSN (e.g. "Sales Region " as depicted below) for future use when interacting with it from ODBC compliant application and environments.
   





Once you hit the "Next" button you will be presented with another dialog as depicted in the next screen shot.

When you hit the "Finish" Button you will be presented with the OpenLink ODBC File DSN configuration dialog and then configure your File DSN as follows :

1. Enter a Username and Password in the designated fields of the dialog depicted below.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Configure the fields of the ODBC File DSN Configuration dialog in the manner explained below :-
   
   

Domain: This is how you pick the Database Engine Type that your ODBC DSN is to be associated with e.g. Informix 7, Oracle 7, Progress 7 etc.

Hostname: Enter the hostname or IP address that identifies a Server Machine running OpenLink Server Components, that speak the OpenLink Data Access Protocol.

Protocol: Select the network transport protocol used to connect your ODBC DSN with a remote database engine.

Name: This is how an actual database name within the Provider Type Domain is identified, for instance "stores7" indicates an "Informix 7" database called "stores7".

Server: This is where you place any database specific database connection options. This field in a majority of cases should be left blank by default.

Row Buffer Size: This attribute specifies the number of records to be transported over the network in a single network hop. Values can range from 1 to 99.

Read-only connection: Specify whether the connection is to be "Read-only". Make sure the checkbox is unchecked to request a "Read/Write" connection.

 

Advanced Settings

The settings in this section have default values which are recommended in most situations.

If you run a complex query through the database it may take a long time before any data is actually returned. In this situation you may need to increase the ReceiveTimeout value, described below, only to cater for it. 2 Minutes (default) is usually more than adequate.

16bit Client Advanced Settings.

Client global configuration information is contained in the file OPENLINK.INI in the OpenLink Client installation directory, e.g c:\openlink.

The file is a Windows type INI file which can be opened in any text editor such as notepad. Please ensure that the file is saved in pure text only.

Important values that you may need to change are listed in the table below. The default values are recommended in most cases:

32bit Client Advanced Settings.

Client global configuration information is contained in the sub section OPENLINK.INI of the registry. Windows 32bit platforms use the registry to store all configuration information. To edit or view to registry, run the 'regedit' program. To view the OpenLink settings expand the following sections:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE…
SOFTWARE…
ODBC…
OPENLINK.INI

Important values that you may need to change are listed in the table below. The default values are recommended in most cases:

Server Components Installation

1. Download into a temporary directory on your local hard drive OpenLink Server components for Windows NT, using our product download selection wizard to choose one or more of the DBMS Engines that you intend access via ODBC/JDBC/UDBC
   
   
2. Extract the ZIP archive into your temporary installation directory
   
   
3. Run the program "setup.exe", and follow the on screen prompts
   
   
4. Proceed to create an ODBC, JDBC, or UDBC Data Source
   
   
5. Attempt a connection to the Data Source you have just created, from an ODBC, JDBC, or UDBC based application or environment.