<docbook><section><title>CanIUseOpenLinkToQueryAFileMakerDatabase</title><para> </para><title> FAQ: Can I use OpenLink Drivers to connect to a FileMaker database? </title> FAQ: Can I use OpenLink Drivers to connect to a FileMaker database? 
<para>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.</para><para>Currently, most users find that their best method of ODBC connections to FileMaker is use of the our <ulink url="https://uda.openlinksw.com/db-JDBC">ODBC Driver for JDBC Data Sources</ulink> (also known as the &quot;ODBC-JDBC Bridge&quot;) in conjunction with the JDBC Driver supplied by FileMaker, which is an OEMed multi-tier client for the DataDirect SequeLink product.</para><para><emphasis>This is a suboptimal solution.</emphasis> The DataDirect forums include discussion of some of the issues with this driver:  <ulink url="http://forums.datadirect.com/ddforums/thread.jspa?threadID=511&amp;tstart=0">Problem: DECIMALS are returned as java.lang. Double and BLOBS are returned as VARCHAR java.lang.String</ulink>.</para><para>To proceed with the connection described above, take the following action: </para><orderedlist spacing="compact"><listitem> Obtain the JDBC Client Driver for FileMaker Pro (<computeroutput>sljc.jar</computeroutput>).
 This driver is included in the xDBC Plug-In installer.
</listitem>
<listitem> 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).
</listitem>
<listitem> 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.
</listitem>
<listitem> Open a Terminal.app instance.
</listitem>
<listitem> Use the <computeroutput>java -version</computeroutput> command to obtain your JRE version.
 For example: <programlisting>% java -version
java version &quot;1.4.1_01&quot; 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)
</programlisting></listitem>
<listitem> Use the java &lt;classname&gt; command to obtain your SequeLink driver version.
 For example: <programlisting>java com.ddtek.jdbc.sequelink.SequeLinkDriver 
[DataDirect][SequeLink JDBC Driver]Driver Version: 5.4.0034
</programlisting></listitem>
<listitem> Install our <ulink url="https://shop.openlinksw.com/license_generator/uda/?clientSelection=odbc&amp;releaseVersionSelection=8.x&amp;licenseFamilySelection=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.openlinksw.com%2Fontology%2Fsoftware%23JDBCBridge&amp;licenseEngineSelection=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.openlinksw.com%2Fontology%2Fsoftware%23jdbc&amp;driverEditionSelection=http%3A%2F%2Fdata.openlinksw.com%2Foplweb%2Fproduct_format%2Fst%23this&amp;productSelection=http%3A%2F%2Fdata.openlinksw.com%2Foplweb%2Fproduct%2Fodbc-jdbc-bridge-st%23this&amp;opsysFamilySelection=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.openlinksw.com%2Fontology%2Fsoftware%23MacOSX&amp;opSystemSelection=http%3A%2F%2Fdata.openlinksw.com%2Foplweb%2Fopsys%2Fx86_64-apple-macosx10.7-64%23this&amp;clientOSFamilySelection=selectMessage&amp;clientOSSelection=selectMessage">Single-Tier ODBC Driver for JDBC Data Sources</ulink> on the client machine.
</listitem>
<listitem> You will receive a 14-day evaluation license for the ODBC-JDBC Bridge (<computeroutput>jdbc_lt.lic</computeroutput>) when you download the product.
 <ulink url="http://support.openlinksw.com/supportweb/ApplyingLicenseFiles">Follow the appropriate instructions</ulink> to apply this license file.
</listitem>
<listitem> Launch the <emphasis>OpenLink ODBC Administrator.app</emphasis> (<computeroutput>/Applications/Utilities/</computeroutput>).
</listitem>
<listitem> Ensure that you have the classname for the FMPro JDBC Client Driver.
 This may be found in the `FileMaker ODBC and JDBC Developer&#39;s Guide`.
 At the time of writing, this classname is: <programlisting>com.ddtek.jdbc.sequelink.SequeLinkDriver
</programlisting></listitem>
<listitem> 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&#39;s Guide,` but the basic form is provided here for your convenience: <programlisting>jdbc:sequelink://&lt;hostname&gt;:&lt;port&gt;[;serverdatasource=databasename][;serverdataname=databasename][;DBUser=databaseusername[;DBPassword=databasepassword]]
</programlisting></listitem>
<listitem> Pass the Java Classname and JDBC URL in the appropriate fields of your ODBC DSN.
</listitem>
<listitem> Test your DSN.</listitem>
</orderedlist><bridgehead class="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml:h2"> Notes </bridgehead>
<para> </para><itemizedlist mark="bullet" spacing="compact"><listitem> The <computeroutput>serverdatasource</computeroutput> and <computeroutput>serverdataname</computeroutput> keywords are not optional.
 Pass the same value to both keywords.
</listitem>
<listitem> The <computeroutput>DBUser</computeroutput> and <computeroutput>DBPassword</computeroutput> keywords are optional in the JDBC URL, but if left out of the URL, these values <emphasis>must</emphasis> be passed through the ODBC Dialog.
 If no <computeroutput>DBUser</computeroutput> or <computeroutput>DBPassword</computeroutput> values are passed, the connection will fail.
</listitem>
<listitem> 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.
</listitem>
</itemizedlist></section></docbook>