odbc.ini Files

Here are the operative portions of OpenLink's odbc.ini file:

[ODBC Data Sources]
dsn_oracle			  = OpenLink Generic ODBC Driver

[ODBC]
;DebugFile= /tmp/odbc.out

[Communications]
ReceiveTimeout = 120
BrokerTimeout  = 30;
RetryTimeout	= 5
SendSize= 4096
ReceiveSize	 = 16000
ShowErrors= Y
DataEncryption = N

[dsn_oracle]
Driver			 = /usr/openlink/lib/oplodbc.so
Description	  = Sample Oracle DSN
Host				= openlinux.openlinksw.com
ServerType		= Oracle 8.1.x
FetchBufferSize = 60
Database		  = ORCL
DeferLongFetch	=
Options				=
UserName		  = scott
Password		  = tiger
ReadOnly		  = yes
Trace					= 1
TraceFile			= /tmp/trace.out

Here is a description of important sections that appear within odbc.ini:

ODBC Data Sources

The [ODBC Data Sources] section contains a listing of Data Source Names paired with drivers. The Data Source Name is the value that appears on the left. (The actual Data Source should appear later in the file. When it does appear, the name will be enclosed in square brackets. Individual connection parameters and values will appear under the bracketed heading.) The driver name is the value on the right. It should match an entry in the odbcinst.ini file.

Note: Data Source Names do not need to appear in the list. However, programs like odbctest will not return an complete list of Data Source Names, if they are not registered under [ODBC Data Sources]

ODBC

The ODBC section contains the DebugFile parameter. The DebugFile parameter controls ODBC driver tracing. Users must remove the semicolon from DebugFile to instantiate tracing. They must also pass the full path to a file to which output may be written.

Users must place a semicolon in front of DebugFile to stop debug output. In fact, users should normally comment DebugFile. This prevents generation of enormous files that impact performance and consume disk space.

Communications

The Communications section contains timeout and other sections that affect OpenLink ODBC connections, but should not affect other ODBC drivers. Refer to the Communications FAQ for additional information.

DSN

The individual [dsn] sections pass the connection attributes that enable the driver to connect to a target database. Here is a description of each of the attributes:

• [dsn] - Encloses the name of the Data Source.
  
• Driver - Passes the full path to the OpenLink client driver.
  
• Description - Passes a description of the use or nature of the Data Source.
  
• Host - Passes the IP address or hostname of the machine, which contains the OpenLink Request Broker.
  
• ServerType - Passes a valid domain alias from the [Domain Aliases] section of the OpenLink server components' oplrqb.ini file.
  
• FetchBufferSize - Passes an integer, which represents the number of rows to return during one fetch operation.
  
• Database - Passes a database name or Oracle SID.
  
• DeferLongFetch - Pushes binary objects to the end of the resultset. Smaller data types are retrieved first. This enhances performance.
  
• Options - Passes specialized database connection parameters. Primarily used with Progress socket options and 3-Tier DSN's.
  
• UserName - Passes a valid database username.
  
• Password - Passes a valid database password.
  
• ReadOnly - Enables or disables read-only access to the database.
  
• Trace - Enables Driver Manager tracing. Used as an alternative to ODBC driver tracing.
  
• TraceFile - Passes the full path to the Driver Manager trace file.

Note: Insure that no spaces precede the DSN name or its individual parameters. Spaces preceding DSN names or parameters are associated with connectivity problems.