ACC: Requirements to Connect to SYBASE SQL Server

• Microsoft Access versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0

SUMMARY

Advanced: Requires expert coding, interoperability, and multiuser skills.

The SQL Server ODBC driver included with Microsoft Access 1.x and 2.0 is designed to work with both Microsoft SQL Server and SYBASE SQL Server 4.9x.

NOTE: The SQL Server ODBC driver included with Microsoft Access for Windows 95 version 7.0 is designed to work with only Microsoft SQL Server. It is not designed to work with any version of SYBASE SQL Server.

This article describes requirements for running Microsoft Access versions 1.x and 2.0 with Microsoft SQL Server and SYBASE SQL Server.

MORE INFORMATION

The SQL Server ODBC driver works with both Microsoft and SYBASE SQL Servers 4.9x. However, the Microsoft applications that shipped with the SQL Server driver (Visual Basic version 2.0 and Microsoft Access) were tested and verified with Microsoft SQL Server only.

The following sections discuss the issues you should be aware of when using the Microsoft SQL Server ODBC driver with SYBASE SQL Server with Microsoft Access versions 1.x and 2.0.

ODBC Driver Requires Catalog Stored Procedures

The ODBC driver requires the catalog stored procedures that ship with SQL Server version 4.2a. Until the 4.9.1 SYBASE release, these catalog procedures did not ship with SYBASE servers. To install the procedures, you must run the INSTCAT.SQL script against the SYBASE server.

NOTE: Sybase changed the system catalogs in their 4.8 release. Therefore, SYBASE SQL Server versions 4.8 and later require a modified script called INSTCAT.48. This revised script is available from Microsoft Product Support. This script is required with Microsoft Access version 1.0. With Microsoft Access 1.1 and 2.0, the INSTCAT.SQL file applies to all versions of Microsoft SQL Server for OS2, as well as to all versions of SYBASE SQL Server 4.9x. The INSTCAT.SQL file does not apply to Microsoft SQL Server for NT.

ODBC Driver Comes with Named Pipe Network Library (Net-Library)

The SQL Server ODBC driver that ships with Microsoft Access and Visual Basic 2.0 comes with the Named Pipe Net-Library. To connect to SYBASE, you need to use the SQL Bridge product or buy the Net-Libraries from Sybase for each client computer. (The only Sybase Net-Library that has gone through interoperability testing is the Microsoft TCP/IP Net-Library.)

Both Microsoft Access and Visual Basic 2.0 use the network in a way that is atypical of Windows-based applications; they use multiple simultaneous connections and use asynchronous calls. For this reason, Sybase Net-Libraries may fail with these products in some network configurations. Microsoft and Sybase are discussing how best to perform interoperability testing with the various network configurations supported by Sybase (FTP, Wollongong, Novell and other TCP/IP, DECnet, and so forth).

The following is a list of Net-Libraries that Microsoft has confirmed to work with Microsoft Access/ODBC and SYBASE SQL Server:

NOTE: An EBF is an Emergency Bug Fix, available from Sybase.

   Net-Library                                          EBF #
   -------------------------------------------------------------------

   Named Pipe Net-Libraries 1.0
   Novell LAN WorkPlace TCP 4.0 with 1.0 Net-Library
   Netware (SPX) 1.0 Net-Library
   FTP 2.05 with Net-Libraries 1.0 and 1.0.1
   Microsoft TCP/IP 1.0 with Net-Library 1.0.1
   FTP 2.1 with Net-Library 1.0.1                       1285
   FTP 2.2 with Net-Library 1.02                        2300
   NetMangae TCP/IP 3.06 Net-Library 1.0                1326
   PC-NFS Net-Library 1.0                               1334
   Wollongong Pathway Net-Library 1.0                   1327*
   DECNET (WDBDECDE.DLL)                                1561, May 1993

Contact Wollongong for more information.

The two additional files are for the latest version of Wollongong's Pathway Access, version 2.1.1. (The version number for the run-time software is 1.2.) The run-time software is shipped with Pathway Access, but can also be ordered separately from Wollongong. The run-time software is all that is needed to run Net-Library.

The products discussed here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.