Windows 2000 Administration in a Nutshell

Name

Data Sources (ODBC) — H

Synopsis

Configures data sources for ODBC database connectivity.

Description

In Windows NT this tool was called ODBC and was found in the Control Panel. In Windows 2000 it has been updated a bit and moved to the Administrative Tools program group. The tool is implemented as a dialog box, not a console, and its actual title is ODBC Data Source Administrator.

The main function of this tool is to add, configure, and remove data sources by associating an ODBC driver with a data-source name or DSN. Applications on the computer can then use the data source to interact with a database on the local computer or on a remote computer on the network.

The dialog box has seven tabs:

User DSN

Can be used by the current user only and is local to the computer. (Local data sources are stored in the \Program Files\Common Files\ODBC\Data Sources folder.) To create a user DSN, click Add to specify an ODBC driver for the database. Then specify a name for the DSN, the location of the database file you want to access, and various configuration options that vary depending on the type of database you are accessing.

System DSN

Can be used by any logged-on user or by any service running on the computer and is local to the computer. You add a system DSN the same way you add a user DSN.

File DSN

Can be used by any logged-on user and need not be local to the computer. (In other words, these data sources can also be stored on a shared folder on a remote computer on the network.) You add a file ...