HOWTO: Creating ODBC Data Sources Using SqlConfigDataSource

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0 and 3.0b

SUMMARY

It is possible programmatically to create an ODBC datasource rather than requiring it to be created manually through the ODBC Administrator (or through the modification of the Odbc.ini file). The SqlConfigDataSource function, found in the Odbccp32.dll, can be used for this purpose.

MORE INFORMATION

The following two examples show how to use this API function to create a datasources to a Microsoft Excel 5.0 file using the Microsoft Excel tier 1 driver or to a VFP table. You can find information on the properties that are used for any particular driver by creating an test entry manually through the ODBC administrator and then checking the registry entries that are present. For example, in Windows 95, you can run Regedit.exe and look at the registry for the following entry:

   Hkey_Current_User/Software/ODBC/ODBC.INI

   * Code to create a new datasource for an Excel file.
   *
   * First you need to use the Declare DLL function to prototype the
   * SQLConfigDataSource function
   ***
   DECLARE Integer SQLConfigDataSource in odbccp32.dll Integer, Integer,;
           String, String
   ***
   * Now you need to create a string containing the settings appropriate
   * to the driver you are using.. the following is an example for a tier 1
   * Microsoft Excel ODBC driver accessing the Schedule.xls file.
   ***
   settings="DSN=NewExcelDataSource"+chr(0)+;
             "Description=NewExcel Description"+chr(0)+;
             "FileType=Excel 5.0"+chr(0)+;
             "DBQ=C:\schedule.xls"+chr(0)+;
             "MaxScanRows=16"
   * Note: If you have spaces on either side of the equal sign (=), this
   * code will not work.
   ? SQLConfigDataSource(0,1,"Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls)",settings)
   ***

   * Code to create a new datasource to a VFP table.
   *
   * First you need to use the Declare DLL function to prototype the
   * SQLConfigDataSource function
   ***
   DECLARE Integer SQLConfigDataSource in odbccp32.dll Integer, ;
      Integer, String, String
   ***
   * Now you need to create a string containing the settings appropriate
   * to the driver you are using. The following is an example for the
   * Microsoft VFP ODBC driver accessing the customer.dbf file.
   ***
   settings="DSN=VFP Tables"+chr(0)+;
             "Description=VFP ODBC Driver"+chr(0)+;
             "SourceDB=c:\vfp\samples\data\customer.dbf"+chr(0)+;
             "SourceType=DBF"

   * Note: If you have spaces on either side of the equal sign (=), this
   * code will not work.
   ? SQLConfigDataSource(0,1,"Microsoft Visual FoxPro Driver",settings)

   ***
   * Now you can create a view to these datasources either through the view
   * designer or in code.
   ***