Using ODBC-compliant applications

Review this section for information on using ODBC-compliant applications.

Before attempting to use an application, such as MS Access or PowerBuilder, to access data on a D3 database, be sure these steps have been completed:

Procedure

Install the D3 ODBC Driver from the ODBC Client Disk or CD. See ODBC client software installation for instructions.
Start the D3 ODBC Server. See ODBC server administration for instructions.
Create a D3 SQL table descriptor for the D3 file to be accessed using ODBC. See Working with SQL tables from existing D3 files for instructions. Or for demonstration purposes, use the SQL tables available in the SQLDEMO account, namely, CUSTOMERS, ORDERS and PRODUCTS.
Verify that the SQL table descriptor exists for the table created in step 3.
- From the TCL prompt, enter:
```
sql-display-table filename
```
- Or, if using the tables in the SQLDEMO account, enter:
```
sql-display-table sqldemo,customers,
```
Set up an ODBC data source. The account specified in this data source should be either the account where the file used in step 3 resides or SQLDEMO. Users may have multiple data source configurations pointing to different D3 ODBC servers (or the same server). See ODBC client software installation for instructions.
Each ODBC-compliant application has a unique way of accessing ODBC data sources and retrieving data. Refer to the application’s documentation for details on connecting to and retrieving data from an ODBC data source.