FAQ: Can I use OpenLink Drivers to connect to a FileMaker database?

We do not curently offer a driver for direct connections to FileMaker databases. Such a driver may be produced if and when FileMaker supplies the client API and/or networking components that we would need for its development.

Currently, most users find that their best method of ODBC connections to FileMaker is use of the our ODBC Driver for JDBC Data Sources (also known as the "ODBC-JDBC Bridge") in conjunction with the JDBC Driver supplied by FileMaker, which is an OEMed multi-tier client for the DataDirect SequeLink product.

This is a suboptimal solution. The DataDirect forums include discussion of some of the issues with this driver: Problem: DECIMALS are returned as java.lang. Double and BLOBS are returned as VARCHAR java.lang.String.

To proceed with the connection described above, take the following action:

Obtain the JDBC Client Driver for FileMaker Pro (sljc.jar). This driver is included in the xDBC Plug-In installer.
Move the JDBC Client Driver into the /Library/Java/Extensions/ directory, or create an appropriate soft-link from there. This has the same effect as setting the $CLASSPATH environment variable (which is challenging to work with directly, on Mac OS X).
Install the xDBC Plug-In on your target FileMaker instance, and ensure that sharing via JDBC is enabled. Consult FileMaker documentation and support for explicit instructions.
Open a Terminal.app instance.

Use the java -version command to obtain your JRE version. For example:


% java -version
java version "1.4.1_01" Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.1_01-69.1) Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.1_01-24, mixed mode)

Use the java <classname> command to obtain your SequeLink driver version. For example:


java com.ddtek.jdbc.sequelink.SequeLinkDriver 
[DataDirect][SequeLink JDBC Driver]Driver Version: 5.4.0034

Install our Single-Tier ODBC Driver for JDBC Data Sources on the client machine.
You will receive a 14-day evaluation license for the ODBC-JDBC Bridge (jdbc_lt.lic) when you download the product. Follow the appropriate instructions to apply this license file.
Launch the OpenLink ODBC Administrator.app (/Applications/Utilities/).
Ensure that you have the classname for the FMPro JDBC Client Driver. This may be found in the `FileMaker ODBC and JDBC Developer's Guide`. At the time of writing, this classname is:
```
com.ddtek.jdbc.sequelink.SequeLinkDriver
```
Ensure that you have a functioning JDBC URL that connects to FileMaker via SequeLink. The full syntax for this URL is also discussed in the `FileMaker ODBC and JDBC Developer's Guide,` but the basic form is provided here for your convenience:
```
jdbc:sequelink://<hostname>:<port>[;serverdatasource=databasename][;serverdataname=databasename][;DBUser=databaseusername[;DBPassword=databasepassword]]
```
Pass the Java Classname and JDBC URL in the appropriate fields of your ODBC DSN.
Test your DSN.

Notes

The serverdatasource and serverdataname keywords are not optional. Pass the same value to both keywords.
The DBUser and DBPassword keywords are optional in the JDBC URL, but if left out of the URL, these values must be passed through the ODBC Dialog. If no DBUser or DBPassword values are passed, the connection will fail.
Even if you have configured FMPro to require no password, you must still provide a value for this when prompted. You can generally pass an empty set of quotation marks, which FileMaker interprets as a NULL password and so permits the connection.

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