Defining the OLE DB interface
Using the OLE DB Database Profile Setup
To define a connection through the OLE DB interface, you must
create a database profile by supplying values for at least the basic
connection parameters in the Database Profile Setup – OLE
DB dialog box. You can then select this profile anytime to connect
to your data in the development environment.
For information on how to define a database profile, see “Using database profiles”.
Specifying connection parameters
You must supply values for the Provider and Data Source connection parameters.
Select a data provider from the list of installed data providers
in the Provider drop-down list. The Data Source value varies depending
on the type of data source connection you are making. For example:
- If you are using Microsoft’s OLE DB Provider
for ODBC to connect to the EAS Demo DB, you select MSDASQL as the
Provider value and enter the actual ODBC data source name (in this
case EAS Demo DB) as the Data Source value. - If you are using Microsoft’s OLE DB Provider
for SQL Server, you select SQLOLEDB as the Provider value and enter
the actual server name as the Data Source value. In the case of
Microsoft SQL Server, you must also use the Extended Properties
field to provide the database name (for example, Database=Pubs)
since you can have multiple instances of a database. - If you are using the PB OLE DB Provider to connect
to an Oracle8i database, you select PB Oracle8
OLE DB Provider as the Provider value and enter the actual data
source name (which you should have previously defined using the
DataDirect OLE DB Administrator) as the Data Source value.
Using the Data Link API
The Data Link option allows you to access Microsoft’s
Data Link API, which allows you to define a file or use an existing
file that contains your OLE DB connection information. A Data Link
file is identified with the suffix .udl.
To launch this option, select the File Name check box on the
Connection tab and double-click on the button next to the File Name
box. (You can also launch the Data Link API in the Database painter
by double-clicking on the Manage Data Links utility included with
the OLE DB interface in the list of Installed Database Interfaces.)
For more information on using the Data Link
API, see Microsoft’s Universal Data Access Web site
.
Using a Data Link file versus setting the DBParm parameters If you use a Data Link file to connect to your data source,
all other settings you make in the OLE DB Database Profile Setup
dialog box are ignored.
This part describes how to set up and define database connections
accessed through one of the native database interfaces.