Before you define the interface and connect to a data provider through OLE DB:
Install and configure the database server, network, and client software.
Install the OLE DB interface and the OLE DB data provider that accesses your data source.
Install Microsoft’s Data Access Components software on your machine.
If required, define the OLE DB data source.
You must install and configure the database server and install the network software and client software.
To install and configure the database server,
network, and client software:
Make sure the appropriate database software is installed and running on its server.
You must obtain the database server software from your database vendor. For installation instructions, see your database vendor’s documentation.
Make sure the required network software (such as TCP/IP) is installed and running on your computer and is properly configured so that you can connect to the data server at your site. You must install the network communication driver that supports the network protocol and operating system platform you are using.
For installation and configuration instructions, see your network or data source administrator.
If required, install the appropriate client software on each client computer on which DataWindow Designer is installed.
In the DataWindow Designer Setup program, select the Custom install and select the OLE DB provider that accesses your database. You can install one or more of the OLE DB data providers shipped with DataWindow Designer, or you can install data providers from another vendor later.
The DataWindow Designer OLE DB interface requires the functionality of the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) version 2.8 or higher software. Version 2.8 is distributed with Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2003.
To check the version of MDAC on your computer, you can download and run the MDAC Component Checker utility from the MDAC Downloads page.
On the Windows Vista operating system, Windows Data Access Components (DAC) 6.0 includes some changes to work with Vista but is otherwise functionally equivalent to MDAC 2.8.
OLE DB data providers installed with MDAC
Several Microsoft OLE DB data providers are automatically
installed with MDAC, including the providers for SQL Server (SQLOLEDB) and ODBC (MSDASQL).
Once the OLE DB data provider is installed, you might have to define the OLE DB data source the data provider will access. How you define the data source depends on the OLE DB data provider you are using and the vendor who provided it.
If you are connecting to an ODBC data provider (such as Microsoft’s OLE DB Provider for ODBC), you must define the ODBC data source as you would if you were using a direct ODBC connection. To define an ODBC data source, use Microsoft’s ODBC Data Source Administrator. You can access this utility from the Control Panel in Windows or from the Database painter in DataWindow Designer.
