ODBC Connectivity Testing Using the Microsoft Data Link API Tool

Products

• Advantage Data Transformer

Issue/Introduction

Problem
Have you ever tried testing an ODBC Data Source for connectivity to an Oracle RDBMS? You create your System DSN from within the ODBC Data Source Administrator, but how do you know if you have a valid connection or not?

Solution
One tool that you could use is the Microsoft Data Link API. This API allows you to quickly test for ODBC connectivity without having to download additional files. This can come in handy when trying to determine if your ODBC Data Source is configured correctly. Here's what you need to do to use this tool for testing ODBC connectivity.

Setup

• Right Click on the Desktop ' Select New ' Select Text Document, and a text document called "New Text Document.txt" will appear on the Desktop.
• Rename the document using the extension "UDL". You can rename it anything you want as long as the extension is "UDL" (e.g. TestODBC.UDL). Once renamed, the text document icon will change to a Data Link icon.

How to Use

• Double-click the Data Link icon and the Data Link Properties dialog window will appear.
• Select the Connection Tab. Here you will specify how to connect to your ODBC data.
• Select the "Use data source name" radio button under section 1.
• Select the ODBC System DSN you would like to test from the drop down box in section 1.
• Enter User name (id) and Password to log onto the server.
• Select the "Test Connection" button to determine your ODBC connectivity.

If you would like to know more about the Microsoft Data Link API tool, select the Data Link Properties "Help" button for additional information.

Environment

Release:
Component: DWM