INF: Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers 1.0 README.TXT

Last reviewed: September 9, 1996
Article ID: Q110129

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Open Database Connectivity, version 1.0

SUMMARY

The Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers 1.0 package contains drivers for dBASE files, Btrieve files, Microsoft FoxPro files, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel files, Paradox files, and text files. Documentation for each of the drivers is contained in a help file.

Below is the README.TXT file for the Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers version 1.0.

MORE INFORMATION

  Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers 1.0 README File
                        August 1993
  -------------------------------------------------------

        (C) Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 1993

This document provides complementary information and errata as a supplement to the standard Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers documentation.

How to Use This Document

To view README on screen in Windows Notepad, maximize the Notepad window.

To print README, open it in Windows Write, Microsoft Word, or another word processor. Then select the entire document and format the text in 10-point Courier before printing.

Drivers List Driver-Specific Documentation Requirements for Using the Microsoft ODBC Btrieve Driver Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers and Microsoft Access & VB 3.0 Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Driver Files Additional Information & Errata

Drivers List

The Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers version 1.0 includes drivers for the following data sources:

                                 Database Version
Driver                           or File Version
------                           ---------------
dBase files                      III, IV
Btrieve files                    5.1
FoxPro files                     2.0, 2.5
Microsoft Access                 1.0, 1.1
Microsoft Excel files            3.0, 4.0
Paradox files                    3.0, 3.5
Text files                       n/a

Driver-Specific Documentation

Documentation on the characteristics of each separate driver is contained in a set of Windows help files. These help files provide information on how to install a driver, how to create data sources for a driver, the data types supported by a driver, the SQL syntax supported by a driver, etc.

The help file for a specific driver is automatically installed when the corresponding driver is installed. Help files are installed into the \Windows\System directory. The following is a list of the drivers and the name of the corresponding help file after it has been installed.

Driver                                        Help File
------                                        ----------------
dBase                                         drvdbase.hlp
Btrieve                                       drvbtrv.hlp
Microsoft FoxPro                              drvfox.hlp
Microsoft Access                              drvaccss.hlp
Microsoft Excel                               drvexcel.hlp
Paradox                                       drvpardx.hlp
Text                                          drvtext.hlp

Requirements for Using the Microsoft ODBC Btrieve Driver

Note that to use the Btrieve driver to read and write data to a Novell Btrieve file, you must have a copy of the stand-alone Btrieve for Windows WBTRCALL.DLL file. This file must be in your \Windows\System directory.

You may already have a copy of this file on your hard drive. If you do, copy it to your \Windows\System directory.

Important: If you already have a copy of WBTRCALL.DLL in your \Windows\System directory, contact your system administrator before copying over it. This file may be used by other programs on your computer.

If you don't have a copy of this file, please call Novell Inc. at 800-453- 1267 in the U.S. or by contacting your local distributor outside of the U.S.

Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers and Microsoft Access & VB 3.0 The Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers share some components with Microsoft Access 1.1 and Visual Basic 3.0. Installing the Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers will make sure that the most recent version of each shared component is retained, thus ensuring compability of the components among these products.

Also, though it is possible to use the Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers with Microsoft Access 1.1 or Visual Basic 3.0, it is not recommended. Both Microsoft Access 1.1 and Visual Basic 3.0 are able to access Btrieve, dBase, Microsoft FoxPro and Paradox data via a built-in, native ISAM capability.

The Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers can be used with Visual Basic 3.0 to create applications that call the ODBC API directly and do not use Microsoft Access database engine.

Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers Files

NOTE: The files on the distribution disk are compressed and must be installed using the ODBC Installer.

Filename      Destination        Description
---------     -----------        -----------
_mssetup.exe  N/A                Setup command executor.
btrv110.dll   <Windows\System>   Btrieve ISAM DLL.
commdlg.dll   <Windows\System>   Common dialog boxes. This is a
                                 file shipped with Windows
                                 version 3.1.
ctl3d.dll     <Windows>          3D-look DLL.
drvaccss.hlp  <Windows\System>   Microsoft Access driver help file.
drvbtrv.hlp   <Windows\System>   Btrieve driver help file.
drvdbase.hlp  <Windows\System>   dBase driver help file.
drvexcel.hlp  <Windows\System>   Microsoft Excel driver help file.
drvfox.hlp    <Windows\System>   Microsoft FoxPro driver help file.
drvpardx.hlp  <Windows\System>   Paradox driver help file.
drvtext.hlp   <Windows\System>   Text driver help file.
msjetdsp.dll  <Windows\System>   ISAM DLL dispatcher DLL.
odbc.dll      <Windows\System>   ODBC Driver Manager DLL.
odbc.inf      N/A                Setup disks information file.
odbcadm.exe   <Windows\System>   ODBC Administrator shell for Win3.0a.
odbcinst.dll  <Windows\System>   ODBC Installer & Control Panel device DLL.
odbcinst.hlp  <Windows\System>   ODBC Installer & Control Panel help file.
odbcstp.exe   N/A                Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers
                                 second-level Setup executable.
pdx110.dll    <Windows\System>   Paradox version 3.5 ISAM DLL.
readme.txt    N/A                Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database
                                 Drivers readme file (this file.)
                                 Contains issues you should be
                                 aware of.
red110.dll    <Windows\System>   Microsoft Access ISAM DLL.
redistr.txt   N/A                List of files that must be redistributed
                                 with any of the Microsoft ODBC Desktop
                                 Database Drivers. This file is referenced
                                 by your license agreement.
setup.exe     N/A                Setup executable.
setup.lst     N/A                Setup initialization file.
simadmin.dll  <Windows\System>   Driver-specific setup DLL for all

Microsoft

                                 ODBC Desktop Database Drivers.
simba.dll     <Windows\System>   Common query processor for all Microsoft
                                 ODBC Desktop Database Drivers.
txtisam.dll   <Windows\System>   Text ISAM DLL.
ver.dll       <Windows\System>   Windows 3.1 version checking DLL.
winhelp.exe   <Windows>          Windows version 3.1 Help
                                 executable.
winhelp.hlp   <Windows>          Windows version 3.1 Help
                                 program Help file.
xbs110.dll    <Windows\System>   Microsoft FoxPro and dBASE ISAM DLL.
xlsisam.dll   <Windows\System>   Microsoft Excel ISAM DLL.

NOTE: In the Destination column, the name in brackets indicates the most common name for this directory; however, the directory name on your computer may be different. For example, your Windows directory may be called WIN31 or just WIN.

Additional Information & Errata

Using Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers with Microsoft Access or VB 3.0 If you use Microsoft Access or VB 3.0 to import, export or access an attached Btrieve, dBase, Microsoft FoxPro or Paradox file and attempt to access a similar file through Microsoft Access or VB at the same time using the corresponding Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Driver, you may get the following error message: "ODBC- call failed." It is not recommended that you use the Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers with the Microsoft Access or VB 3.0 products.

Updates to Paradox Files

If an SQL searched UPDATE statement (UPDATE t1 SET c1=...) is used to update values in the rows of a Paradox file and the update fails because a duplicate key value was generated by the update, the driver will return SQL_SUCCESS_WITH_INFO. This is because the rows updated prior to encountering the duplicate value are updated successfully. However, the row at which the duplicate was encountered and all subsequent rows are NOT updated.

SQL_LOCK_TABLES Statement Option

The help files state that, if a CREATE INDEX statement is executed while the SQL_LOCK_TABLES statement option is set to XLOCK, the base table will be locked. This is incorrect; the CREATE INDEX statement does not cause tables to be locked.

Also note that, because each table requires a file handle, locking a large number of tables can use up the file handles available to an application. By default, 16 file handles are available for application use.

Packing dBase & Microsoft FoxPro Files

The drivers for dBase and Microsoft FoxPro do not provide the capability to pack data files. To remove deleted records you must use the dBase or Microsoft FoxPro products or other commercially available methods.

Paradox Currency Data Type The Paradox currency data type is not directly supported by the driver. However, Paradox currency data is stored exactly like Paradox number data. The driver returns currency data as number data. The values returned are accurate.

Paradox Write-Protected Files

The Paradox driver will not permit INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE to update Paradox write-protected files. However, DROP TABLE will delete files that have been set as write-protected.

SQLStatistics and Paradox Primary Key Indexes

The index name returned by SQLStatistics for Paradox primary key indexes is comprised of the name and the characters "#PX". For example, an index named I1 as in, CREATE UNIQUE INDEX I1 ON T1(C1), will be returned as "I1#PX".

Btrieve Table Names Using Non-Alphanumeric Characters

Creating a table with a delimited identifier will not work for some non-alphanumeric characters.

KBCategory: kbref
KBSubcategory:
Additional reference words: 1.0 odbc desktop database drivers

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Last reviewed: September 9, 1996
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