The most common problems experienced occur immediately
after installation as a result of an incorrectly installed database or Data
Source Name (DSN). A Data Source Name is used by ODBC (Open Database
Connectivity) drivers, which connect a program to a database. This works much
like a printer driver, which connects a program to a printer. If ODBC errors
are reported by the program, then the following steps should be taken to verify
that the DSN for your program is correctly configured.
- Determine the DSN for
your program. See Configuration
Settings for this information.
- Click on “Start” and
then “Run”. A dialog box should open up which will allow you to enter a
command to execute. In the space provided, type “odbcad32” (without the
quote marks) and press Enter.
- The ODBC Data Source
Administrator should appear. The screen should look similar to this:
Figure
1: ODBC Data Source
Administrator
- If the DSN you found in
Step 1 shows up in this list, then click on it and then click on
“Configure…” If you do not see it in this list, click on the “System DSN”
tab. If the DSN you found in Stop 1 shows up in this list, then click on
it and then click on “Configure…” If you still have not found the DSN you
found in Step 1, then click on this link: Adding a New Data
Source Name. Otherwise, a configuration screen should show up, looking
similar to this:
Figure
2: ODBC Microsoft
Access Setup
- The path and name of
the database that your program expects to open and use appears in this
screen immediately above the button, “Select”. If the path specified in
this field is incorrect, click on “Select”, which will open up a “Select
Database” dialog. This will look similar to this:
Figure
3: Select Database
- Using the provided
controls, navigate to the location (on your computer or on your network)
where the database was installed. Refer to Configuration Settings for the
name of the database file used by your product. You should find the file
at this location. If you do, click on the file and then “OK”.
- The previous screen,
“ODBC Microsoft Access Setup” will appear. Click OK.
- The previous screen,
“ODBC Data Source Administrator” will appear. Click OK.
Try running your program again. If you were experiencing a
problem caused by an incorrectly configured Data Source, then the program
should work normally. If you experience more ODBC errors, then do the
following:
- Referring to
Configuration Settings, locate the name and location of the INI file for
your program.
- Using Windows Explorer,
navigate to the location on your computer where INI files and edit the INI
file for your program. You can use notepad.exe for this task.
- Referring to
Configuration Settings, locate the main section header for your program.
This section will appear in the INI file, which should now be open in an
editor.
- You may find a setting
value that appears this way: audit= If the setting doesn’t appear in the
INI file, add it, making sure that you add it to the main section.
Example where the main section header is “Learning and
Working Styles”:
[Learning
and Working Styles]
DatabaseName=VLSI
Database
DatabaseUser=
DatabasePassword=
Proprietary=C:\VLSI
VideoVersion=No
Audit=
- Now, add c:\audit.txt
after Audit=
[Learning
and Working Styles]
DatabaseName=VLSI
Database
DatabaseUser=
DatabasePassword=
Proprietary=C:\VLSI
VideoVersion=No
Audit=c:\audit.txt
- Save the updated file
(select “Save” from the “File” menu) and close the notepad editor window.
- Run your program and
perform the tasks that you did before when the ODBC error occurred. When
the errors happen, detailed information will be saved in the file,
“c:\audit.txt”. Send this file, either by disk or by email, to Piney
Mountain Press, Inc. where it can be analyzed to determine the exact
nature and cause of the problem. If further information or action is
needed, Piney Mountain Press will contact you.
- When the problem has
been solved and a fix determined, you will be contacted by Piney Mountain
Press with either instructions or an update (as appropriate) to fix your
problem.