 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
VB Forum / Database Access / September 2007Common dialog for ODBC data sources?
When I used DAO, you could ask to open the database with "ODBC;" as the string, and a system dialog appeared to enable you to select an ODBC data source. Now that I am using ADO, this capability is missing. There must be some way to invoke this dialog directly. Something similar to the MS Common Dialogs that you can invoke to browse for files? -Richard M. Hartman hartman@onetouch.com > When I used DAO, you could ask to open the database with "ODBC;" as > the string, and a system dialog appeared to enable you to select an [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > similar to the MS Common Dialogs that you can invoke to browse for > files? I assume the dialog you are talking about is the "ODBC Data Source Administrator" which creates DSNs or "Data Source Names". There is one problem with this dialog and that it opens and creates ODBC connections using ODBC Drivers. ADOuses OLE DB Providers. If available for your database, always use an OLE DB Provider with ADO. It is possible to use an "OLE DB for ODBC" provider but this only adds another layer of indirection and occasionally limits available features. So the OLE DB conterpart is the "Data Link Properties" dialog, which serves as a front-end for building connection strings using OLE DB Providers. To launch the dialog just create a blank file with the .udl extension. ('udl' stands for universal data link). Then open it. Shell "junk.udl" [Note: just an example you will likely want to use shellexecute and wait or Find...Change Notification. If you need help on that post again.] Windows file association while take care of the rest and the dialog will open when closed the .udl file will contain the connection string. Open the file grab the string and a way you go! <g> -ralph > > When I used DAO, you could ask to open the database with "ODBC;" as > > the string, and a system dialog appeared to enable you to select an [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > open when closed the .udl file will contain the connection string. > Open the file grab the string and a way you go! <g> I will see what I can do with this, but I would really prefer a DLL entry point to invoke -- something similar to the common file dialog.  Signature-Richard M. Hartman hartman@onetouch.com 186,000 mi/sec: not just a good idea, it's the LAW! <snipped> > I will see what I can do with this, but I would really prefer a DLL entry > point to invoke -- something similar to the common file dialog. After you said that I got to thinking there was another way as well ... http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286189 -ralph easy what you want is this simple line : shell("%SystemRoot%\system32\odbcad32.exe") this will open the odbc config panel wich also can be found in : Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Data Sources (ODBC) you obviously need admin rights to pass by control panel but i think anyone can run it trough this command line but wont be able to modify or delete only create new if not admin. My question would be: "Why?" Are you writing a general purpose utility or can't you just build a DSN-less connection in code using the appropriate provider? Signature____________________________________ William (Bill) Vaughn Author, Mentor, Consultant Microsoft MVP INETA Speaker www.betav.com/blog/billva www.betav.com Please reply only to the newsgroup so that others can benefit. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. __________________________________ Visit www.hitchhikerguides.net to get more information on my latest book: Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Studio and SQL Server (7th Edition) and Hitchhiker's Guide to SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition (EBook) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > easy what you want is this simple line : > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > anyone can run it trough this command line but wont be able to modify > or delete only create new if not admin. > My question would be: "Why?" > Are you writing a general purpose utility or can't you just build a DSN-less > connection in code using the appropriate provider? <snipped> Yes one could write a Data Link Dialog replacement to duplicate look and feel, and function, but then the question again becomes Why? When you can just use the one provided by the O/S? -ralph My question was why interact with the user who (unless you're writing a programming tool) is the person least likely to know what to do? Why not use a DSN-less connection? Signature____________________________________ William (Bill) Vaughn Author, Mentor, Consultant, Dad, Grandpa Microsoft MVP INETA Speaker www.betav.com www.betav.com/blog/billva Please reply only to the newsgroup so that others can benefit. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. __________________________________ Visit www.hitchhikerguides.net to get more information on my latest book: Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Studio and SQL Server (7th Edition) and Hitchhiker's Guide to SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition (EBook) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> My question would be: "Why?" >> Are you writing a general purpose utility or can't you just build a [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > -ralph > My question was why interact with the user who (unless you're writing a > programming tool) is the person least likely to know what to do? Why not use > a DSN-less connection? <snipped> The OP requested a Dialog for ADO/Providers analogous to the Dialog provided for ODBC. Whether that was a good idea or not within the OP's domain was never a question. And since the OP is using OLE DB, DSN or DSN-less was never a question either. -ralph > easy what you want is this simple line : > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > anyone can run it trough this command line but wont be able to modify > or delete only create new if not admin. The OP is looking for a Data Link dialog, not the ODBC one. -ralph That would enable the user to configure a connection, but would not return a selected connection name to the app. Signature-Richard M. Hartman hartman@onetouch.com 186,000 mi/sec: not just a good idea, it's the LAW! > easy what you want is this simple line : > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > anyone can run it trough this command line but wont be able to modify > or delete only create new if not admin. I have been looking for a similar thing (I think) and stumbled across this article: http://www.codeproject.com/cs/database/DataLinks.asp It does exactly what I want, hope it helps here? I am starting out using ADO so I don't know if this will help you. FileN$ = "Your FileName and Path" ADO_DataWords.ConnectionString = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB. 4.0;Data Source=" & FileN$ & ";Persist Security Info=False" ADO_DataWords.RecordSource = "SELECT * FROM [YourTableNameHere]" ADO_DataWords.Refresh After you draw a ADO data control on your form, you can move to the object properties and select the connection property. A 3 period button will appear, that when opened will help you build a connection string to suit your purposes. It's the stuff you want to give to "DATASOURCE=" that I want to enable the user to select. The thing you have represented there by "FileN$". How do you allow the user to select which datasource to use? Signature-Richard M. Hartman hartman@onetouch.com 186,000 mi/sec: not just a good idea, it's the LAW! > I am starting out using ADO so I don't know if this will help you. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > button will appear, that when opened will help you build a connection > string to suit your purposes. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.