Microsoft KB Archive/106370

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Description of the ODBC.INI File

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Q106370

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Word for Windows, version 6.0

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SUMMARY
This article describes the contents of the open database connectivity (ODBC) initialization file, ODBC.INI. The ODBC.INI file is installed with a complete installation of Word 6.0 for Windows.

NOTE: Microsoft does not recommend direct modification of the ODBC.INI file with a text editor. The preferred method for editing the ODBC.INI file is to use either the ODBC Setup program or the ODBC administration tool.

You can access the ODBC Setup program during Word for Windows installation. You can access the administration tool by choosing the ODBC icon in Windows Control Panel.

The ODBC Data Sources Section
This section lists the data sources installed during Word 6.0 for Windows setup, or as specified by the user. Each entry lists a data source and the description of the driver it uses. The driver description is usually the name of the associated DBMS (Database Management System). The format of the section is:

  data-source-name=driver-description For instance, the following example includes the data sources installed by Word and a user-defined source named "My Address List." "My Address List" uses a Microsoft Access DBMS.

  [ODBC Data Sources] MS Access Databases=Access Data (*.mdb) FoxPro Files=FoxPro Files (*.dbf) dBase Files=dBase Files (*.dbf) Paradox Files=Paradox Files (*.db ) My Address List=Access Data (*.mdb)

The Data Source Specification Sections
Each data source listed in the [ODBC Data Sources] section has a section of its own in the ODBC.INI file. The section name is the data source name from the [ODBC Data Sources] section above. It will list the driver DLL and a description of the data source. This section will also list other information such as translation DLLs if the driver supports them, and other information specific to the driver. The general format appears as:

  [data-source-name] driver=driver-DLL-path description=data-source-description optional-entries=optional-strings For instance, the following example contains the data source specifications for two of the data sources listed in the [ODBC Data Sources] section above:

  [FoxPro Files] Driver=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SIMBA.DLL FileType=FoxPro 2.5 SingleUser=False   [My Address List] Driver=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SIMBA.DLL Description=A List of Friends, Relatives and Business Contacts FileType=RedISAM DataDirectory=c:\access\list.mdb SingleUser=False UseSystemDB=False

Default Data Source Specification Section
Optionally the ODBC.INI file may contain a default data source specification section. The data source must be named "Default" and is not listed in the [ODBC Data Sources] section. The format of the default data source specification section is the same as any other data source specification section:

  [Default] driver=driver-DLL-path description=data-source-description optional-entries=optional-strings