Using SQLtools 64bit ODBC driver installed as default

[Douglas McDonald]

Using SQLtools 64bit ODBC driver installed as default I.E. Office x64. I have sent this to Perfect Sync so they can add an app note.

Entire Email copy:

I wrote you a month or so back concerning using SQLtools 3.x and Windows 8. The problem was windows 8 with 64 bit Office uses the 64bit ODBC drivers which don't play well with SQLTools. Just loading the 32 drivers will not work.

Work Around that you may want to post on your site or the PB site:

** from the SpiceWorks web site**

ODBC connections are an integral part of many applications, especially in the enterprise. Windows 7 x64 has a robust well developed ODBC connection client, but it can be slightly tricky when moving from 32 bit windows XP to 64 bit Windows 7
1.    
Find the 32 bit ODBC connector

What you will notice is that when you run Data Sources (ODBC) from the administrative tools on Windows 7 x64, it doesn't have many of the drivers, such as the "SQL Server" driver. This is very important, and it does still exist, just in a different place. To find it open Windows Explorer and navigate to: C:\Windows\SysWOW64 in this directory (which stands for windows on windows) you will find an exe named "odbcad32.exe". This is where all the old 32 bit odbc drivers are located.
   
2.    
Run this ODBC admin as usual

Now that you have found it, you can run this as an administrator either by loggin in as an administrator, or right clicking it and selecting "Run as administrator". Once you do, go to the "System DNS" tab, click "Add". Once you do this, pick the appropriate ODBC driver, and go through the following prompts as you would have in 32 bit Windows XP. Once finished make sure it is saved and exit the ODBC administration tool.
   
3.    
Run application again

Find the appropriate program that you were trying to use that requires a 32 bit ODBC driver, and attempt to run it again. It should now run just fine. Note: if the program has a native 64 bit client, and has a native 64 bit odbc driver, you should stick with this as this will be the future of computing.
   
Conclusion

Hope this helps give a bit better understanding of Windows 7 64 bit ODBC, as well as how the 32 bit emulator works in Windows 7 x64.


End **
When you run the ODBCcad32 as described above it runs the 32 version of ODBC Data Source Administrator 32 bit version. From there you can create a File DSN to a 32 bit driver and SQLtools works fine.

Thanks

--
Douglas McDonald
Principal Engineer
Unicorp Systems,Inc
2625 W. 40th Pl
Tulsa, Ok 74107
(918)445-8749

I hope this helps some one. It took me awhile to figure out why my SQLtools programs quit working after updating to Win 8 x64 and Office x64

Doug

[Nathan Durland]

My experience that the bit-ness of the program and the ODBC driver need to match.  PB makes 32 bit exectables, so..  One other thing to note is that you can't have a 32bit DSN and a 64bit DSN with the same name.

[Douglas McDonald]

Nathan, Yes 64 bit apps need the 64 bit drivers and 32 bit needs the 32 bit drivers. If you make a file DSN using the 32 bit ODBC Admin tool the driver does have the same name in the pick list but when you look at the .DSN file it is renamed. I don't have it here but I think it adds "To" then driver name. something like "MS to Access"

To explain a little more I'm using FF3.6 and SQLtools 3.x, Yes both 32 bit. My OS is Windows 8 x64 and I have Office Pro x64 installed. Using the Old Database connection string like

Code Select Expand

xlsconnectStr = "Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls, *.xlsx, *.xlsm, *.xlsb)};DBQ="  & xlsPath & ";UID=admin;PWD=;" 

This will not work because it is now the 64 bit driver. That's why you have do the procedure in my first post.

I hope this clears it up a little. I'm sure than when Eric at SQLtools adds an app note it will explain it much better than I did.

doug

[Haakon Birkeland]

Been down that road because of web development with IIS on XP Pro x64, and than Win7. Although it's the same thing that needs to be done for both systems (stopping the 64-bit service and starting the 32-bit), I had to figure it out again as it wasn't done the same way. Next will be getting Win8 up and running (just got a license for my home computer), and I expect extra ordinary issues will arise this time too.

[Douglas McDonald]

You may be surprised. I had very little problem getting win8 running well

[Haakon Birkeland]

Hope so. 8o)