iAnywhere.com - The system information file (.odbc.ini)

The system information file (.odbc.ini)

In the UNIX environment, there is no ODBC administrator. To configure a data source, you must edit the system information file, a plain text file that is normally located in your $HOME directory and is usually called .odbc.ini. This file is maintained using any text editor, and defines data source entries as described in the following sections:

Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise Connecting to a data source using a connection string.
Oracle Connecting to a data source using a connection string.
IBM DB2 Connecting to a data source using a connection string.

You must use the long name of connection string attributes when defining data source entries. A sample file (odbc.ini.sample) is located in the driver installation directory.

Caution You should not add simple encryption to the .odbc.ini system information file with the File Hiding utility (dbfhide) on UNIX unless you will only be using Adaptive Server Anywhere data sources. If you plan to use other data sources (for example, for MobiLink synchronization), then obfuscating the contents of the .odbc.ini file may prevent other drivers from functioning properly.

For more information, see Hiding the contents of .ini files.

System information file contents

There must be an [ODBC] section in the system information file that includes the InstallDir keyword. The value of this keyword must be the path to the directory under which the /lib and /messages directories are contained. For example, if you choose the default install directory, then the following line must be in the [ODBC] section:

InstallDir=/opt/sybase/SYBSsa9/drivers

Sample system information file

The following is a sample system information file for Solaris:

; This is only a sample .odbc.ini file
; IT WILL NOT WORK AS IS.
; You need to make a copy of this file
; into the user's home directory and modify
; the DSNs (Data Source Names) to your needs:
;
; cp odbc.ini.sample ~/.odbc.ini
; vi ~/.odbc.ini
;
; You also need to modify the default
; value of your ODBCINI environment variable.
; It should be set to point to your local
; copy of the .odbc.ini file:
; export ODBCINI=~/.odbc.ini
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

[ODBC Data Sources]
SybaseASA=Adaptive Server Anywhere 9 Driver
Oracle Wire Protocol=iAnywhere Solutions 9 - Oracle Wire Protocol Driver
Sybase ASE Wire Protocol=iAnywhere Solutions 9 - Sybase ASE Driver
DB2 Wire Protocol=iAnywhere Solutions 9 - DB2 Wire Protocol Driver

[SybaseASA]
Driver=/opt/sybase/SYBSsa9/lib/libdbodbc9_r.so
UID=dba
PWD=sql
ServerName=asademo
CommLinks=tcpip

[Oracle Wire Protocol]
Driver=/opt/sybase/SYBSsa9/drivers/lib/wqora19.so
Description=iAnywhere Solutions 9 - Oracle Wire Protocol
ApplicationUsingThreads=1
ArraySize=60000
CachedCursorLimit=32
CachedDescLimit=0
CatalogIncludesSynonyms=1
CatalogOptions=0
DefaultLongDataBuffLen=1024
DescribeAtPrepare=0
EnableDescribeParam=0
EnableNcharSupport=0
EnableScrollableCursors=1
EnableStaticCursorsForLongData=0
EnableTimestampWithTimeZone=0
HostName=oracleserver
LocalTimeZoneOffset=
LockTimeOut=-1
LogonID=uid
Password=pwd
PortNumber=1521
ProcedureRetResults=1
SID=oraclesid
UseCurrentSchema=1

[Sybase ASE Wire Protocol]
Driver=/opt/sybase/SYBSsa9/drivers/lib/wqase19.so
Description=iAnywhere Solutions 9 - Sybase ASE  Wire Protocol
ApplicationName=
ApplicationUsingThreads=1
ArraySize=50
Charset=
CursorCacheSize=1
Database=db
DefaultLongDataBuffLen=1024
EnableDescribeParam=1
EnableQuotedIdentifiers=0
InitializationString=
Language=
LogonID=uid
NetworkAddress=serverhost,4100
OptimizePrepare=2
PacketSize=0
Password=pwd
RaiseErrorPositionBehavior=0
SelectMethod=0
WorkStationID=

[DB2 Wire Protocol]
Driver=/opt/sybase/SYBSsa9/drivers/lib/wqdb219.so
Description=iAnywhere Solutions 9 - DB2 Wire Protocol
AddStringToCreateTable=
AlternateID=
Collection=
Database=db
DynamicSections=100
GrantAuthid=PUBLIC
GrantExecute=1
IpAddress=db2host
IsolationLevel=CURSOR_STABILITY
Location=
LogonID=uid
Password=pwd
Package=pkg
PackageOwner=uid
TcpPort=50000
WithHold=1

[ODBC]
IANAAppCodePage=4
InstallDir=/opt/sybase/SYBSsa9/drivers
Trace=0
TraceDll=/opt/sybase/SYBSsa9/drivers/lib/odbctrac.so
TraceFile=odbctrace.out
UseCursorLib=0

Using a centralized file

UNIX support of the database drivers also permits the use of a centralized system information file that a system administrator can control. This is accomplished by setting the environment variable ODBCINI to point to the fully qualified path name of the centralized file. For example, in the C shell you could set this variable as follows:

setenv ODBCINI /opt/odbc/system_odbc.ini

In the Bourne or Korn shell, you would set it as:

ODBCINI=/opt/odbc/system_odbc.ini;export ODBCINI

The search order for the location of the system information file is as follows:

Check ODBCINI
Check $HOME for .odbc.ini