Open Database Connectivity
Open Database Connectivity, commonly ODBC, is an open specification for providing application developers with a predictable API with which to access Data Sources. An ODBC engine needs drivers to be able to interact with databases.
Contents
ODBC engines
You have two options to chose from: unixODBC and iODBC. Apparently unixODBC is more widely supported. This document shows how to set up unixODBC. First to access your database on your localhost and then extends the steps to configure MySQL to allow remote access through ODBC.
Additionally you can choose from various Devart ODBC drivers for SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, SQLite, Firebird, PostgreSQL, Interbase.
Installation
# pacman -S unixodbc
Configuration
At /etc/odbcinst.ini is where drivers are declared, and /etc/odbc.ini where connections. More instruction at each driver section.
Drivers
FreeTDS
FreeTDS is a set of libraries for Unix and Linux that allows your programs to natively talk to Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase databases. Technically speaking, FreeTDS is an open source implementation of the TDS (Tabular Data Stream) protocol used by these databases for their own clients.
Installation
pacman -S freetds
Configuration
/etc/odbcinst.ini
[FreeTDS] Driver = /usr/lib/libtdsodbc.so UsageCount = 1
Myodbc
Myodbc is ODBC driver/connector for mariadb.
Installation
Install myodbcAUR from official repositories. (The package disappeared from oficial repositories and does not exist in AUR either. Google search appears to have seen it in March 2016 last time.)
Configuration
Starting with odbcinst.ini, which lists all installed drivers. Su to root and set up your /etc/odbcinst.ini file as follows
[MySQL] Description = ODBC Driver for MySQL Driver = /usr/lib/libmyodbc.so Setup = /usr/lib/libodbcmyS.so FileUsage = 1
Create a symbolic link
Next we need to create a symlink for libmyodbc.so. To do this we need to go to "/usr/lib/" and set up a symlink to libmyodbc.so
cd /usr/lib/ ln -s ./libmyodbc5w.so ./libmyodbc.so
Databases
Microsoft SQL Server 2000
/etc/odbc.ini
[server_name] Driver = FreeTDS #Trace = Yes #TraceFile = /tmp/odbc Servername = server_name Database = database_name
/etc/freetds/freetds.conf
[server_name] host = 192.168.0.2 # Host name or IP address. port = 1433 # Default port. tds version = 7.1 client charset = UTF-8
SQL Server ODBC driver connection strings and configuration guide
Mariadb
Set up your data sources in "/etc/odbc.ini" (system wide) or "~/.odbc" (current user). If a data source is defined in both of these files, the one in your home directory take precedence.
[MySQL-test] Description = MySQL database test Driver = MySQL Server = localhost Database = test Port = 3306 Socket = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock Option = Stmt =
MariaDB ODBC driver connection strings and configuration guide
Create a test database
Create a new database "test". You can use one of the MySQL front-ends such as mysql-workbench, or the command-line mysqladmin command:
mysqladmin -h localhost -u root -p create test
Testing the ODBC
To test the ODBC connection
isql MySQL-test
If the connection is established, you will see
+---------------------------------------+ | Connected! | | | | sql-statement | | help [tablename] | | quit | | | +---------------------------------------+ SQL>
If you have a problem connecting then check the error message by running
isql MySQL-test -v
A couple useful websites
http://www.unixodbc.org/doc/OOoMySQL.pdf
This website got me going on ODBC with MySQL but left out some things that were necessary for me to get isql up and running. However this might be a good reference for the OpenOffice part.
http://mail.easysoft.com/pipermail/unixodbc-support/2004-August/000111.html
To work around error messages this URL proved helpful so here it is as well.
Virtuoso / SPARQL
/etc/odbc.ini
[ODBC Data Sources] VOS = Virtuoso [VOS] Driver = virtuoso-odbc Description = Virtuoso Open-Source Edition Address = localhost:1111
/etc/odbcinst.ini
[virtuoso-odbc] Driver = /usr/lib/virtodbc.so
Opening a connection using the default credentials (username: "dba", password: "dba"):
isql VOS dba dba