ReadMe – Mac OS X ODBC Driver 1.20.00.92 for FrontBase 3.6.x/4.x and later

Installation

1. Download FrontBaseODBC.dmg
2. Open FrontBaseODBC.dmg by double-clicking on it
3. If using Mac OS X 10.4 (PowerPC/Intel) or later then drag libFBODBCUB.dylib (Universal Binary) to any location where you would like it installed. /Library/FrontBase/lib seems like an appropriate place, but you should remember that this requires Administrator privileges. If you are running Mac OS X 10.3.9 (PowerPC) or earlier then use libFBODBC.dylib (PowerPC).

Setup

1. Open the ODBC Administrator application in /Applications/Utilities/ODBC Administrator.app
2. Go to the "Drivers" tab and click "Add"
3. Provide a "Description" (this can be anything that you like) and browse to the "Driver file" which is the file which you just installed in the steps above.
4. Click "OK"
5. Now you must configure an ODBC data source. Go to either the "User DSN" or the "System DSN" tab and click "Add". As you might have guessed, a "User DSN" is a user specific data source which is only available to that user while a "System DSN" data source is available to all users on the system.
6. Choose the driver that you want your data source to use. This will probably be the driver that you just added. Click "OK"
7. The latest version of the administrator tool will then present the FrontBase ODBC DSN Configuration dialog. Earlier versions present a default dialog using Keyword/Value pairs. In either case provide a "Data Source Name" (DSN) and "Description". These can be anything that you like; however, you will use the data source name when connecting to a database so it should probably be meaningful and something that you can remember.

Now the information to connect to the database must be provided. If using the FrontBase Configuration dialog fill in the appropriate fields necessary to connect to your database.

• Host -- the name or IP address for the machine which hosts the database server.
• Database -- the name of the database to which you want to connect. This can also be the port number on which the database is running.
• Database Password-- the password for the database.
• User -- database user as which you want to connect.
• Password -- the password for the database user.
• Isolation level – the transaction isolation level for the connection.
• Locking Discipline -- the transaction locking discipline for the connection.
• Updatability – the transaction updatability for the connection.

With the old dialog setup is done through the table with columns named "Keyword" and "Value". The keyword should be one from the list below and the value should be the corresponding piece of connection information. For example, the value for the "UID" keyword will be the name of the database user as which you want to connect. Click "Add" to create a new keyword/value pair. You should add as many keyword/value pairs as it takes to provide all of the necessary information to connect to your database.

• SERVER -- the name or IP address for the machine which hosts the database server.
• DATABASE -- the name of the database to which you want to connect. This can also be the port number on which the database is running.
• DBPASSWD -- the password for the database.
• UID -- database user as which you wiant to connect.
• PWD -- the password for the database user.
• ISO – the transaction isolation level for the connection.
• LCK -- the transaction locking discipline for the connection.
• UPD – the transaction updatability for the connection.

8. After you are finished configuring the connection information click "OK".

9. After the data source configuration sheet retracts click "Apply".

You should now have an ODBC data source which you can use to connect to a FrontBase database. If you have any problems with the FrontBase ODBC Driver or this document please email FrontBase Support.

Note that the ODBC Administrator application and ODBC support in Mac OS X are really just OpenLink Software's iODBC package. You may find additional documentation on setting up ODBC drivers and data sources at the following URLs:

OpenLink Software
Platform Independent ODBC