The IDL DataMiner is an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) interface that allows IDL users to access and manipulate information from a variety of database management systems. With IDL DataMiner, IDL users can have all the connectivity advantages of ODBC without having to understand the intricacies of ODBC or SQL (Structured Query Language).

Data Miner

IDL DataMiner is a database-independent API for accessing and manipulating data stored in a database from within IDL. The IDL DataMiner allows you to do the following:

  • Connect to a database management system (DBMS)
  • Query a DBMS
  • Get information about the available database tables in a DBMS
  • Access a table in a DBMS
  • Create a table in a DBMS
  • Delete a table in a DBMS
  • Perform standard SQL operations in the DBMS
  • Get information about the columns in a selected table
  • Add/Change/Delete records in a table

ODBC

Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is an interface that allows applications to access data in database management systems (DBMSs) using Structured Query Language (SQL) as a standard for accessing data.

SQL is ODBC’s standard for accessing data and is a widely accepted industry standard for data definition, data manipulation, data management, access protection, and transaction control. The IDL DataMiner was designed so that users would not be required to have a knowledge of SQL to access data sources. However, DataMiner does provide an execution routine which allows users to perform any valid SQL statement (including creating, retrieving, and deleting tables in a database).

The ODBC specification defines a vendor-independent API for accessing data stored in relational and non-relational databases. The Core functions and SQL grammar are based on work done by the X/Open SQL Access Group. The ODBC architecture is made up of four components:

  • Database Application: The database application calls functions defined in the ODBC API to access a data source.
  • Driver Manager: The Driver Manager implements the ODBC API and provides information to an application—such as a list of available data sources and drivers— loads drivers dynamically as they are needed, and provides argument and state transition checking.
  • Drivers: Each driver processes ODBC function calls and manages exchanges between an application and a data source.
  • Data Source: A data source contains the data that an application needs to access. The data source includes the data, the database management system (DBMS) in which the data is stored, the platform on which the DBMS resides, and the network (if any) used to access the DBMS.

An ODBC-compliant driver allows you to communicate between an ODBC-compliant application and a DBMS. For example, the SYBASE SQL Server 10 driver allows you to connect your ODBC-compliant application to a Sybase SQL Server 10 database.

An ODBC driver is available on most major platforms. The information in the initialization file that the drivers use, the functions and SQL grammar that the drivers support, and the error message formats are the same across all platforms.

The ODBC DriverSet is made up of two ODBC components: the Driver Manager and a set of database drivers. With the ODBC DriverSet, you can access, query, and update data in a number of different databases.

DataMiner ODBC Drivers

The IDL DataMiner includes a set of ODBC drivers known as Connect ODBC, that is produced by DataDirect Technologies. Information about these drivers is available at:

DataDirect Wire Protocol drivers do not require database client software be installed. All other drivers require that the appropriate client software be installed. For more information on DataDirect drivers, specific platform requirements, issues, and how to configure the ODBC driver for use with your database, see the appropriate version of the DataDirect Connect ODBC Reference manual.

Note: On Windows, you must install version 2.6 or higher of the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) to use Connect ODBC drivers.

Driver

Database

Library Name

DB2 Wire Protocol

7.1, 7.2, 8.1, 9.1, 9.5

DB2 Universal Database (UDB) 7.x, 8.1, 8.2, 9.1

 dmdb227

Informix Wire Protocol

Dynamic Server 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 10

 dmifcl27

MySQL Wire Protocol

MySQL 5.0.x server

dmmysql27
Oracle (client)

7.3.4+ (w/Net8 Client)

8.0.5+

8i R1, R2, R3 9i R1, R2 10g R1, 11g

dmor827

Oracle Wire Protocol

8i R2, R3

9i R1, R2

10g R1, R2

11g

dmora27

PostgreSQL Wire Protocol

Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL 11,12,13,14,15,16
Yellowbrick Data Warehouse

dmpsql27
Progress OpenEdge Wire Protocol   dmoe27
SQL Server Legacy Wire Protocol  

dmmsss27
SQL Server Wire Protocol

7.0

2000 (with Service Packs 1, 2, 3, 3a, 4)

2000 Desktop Engine

2000 Enterprise Edition (64-bit)

2005

dmsqls27
Sybase Wire Protocol

Adaptive Server 11.5+

Adaptive Server

Enterprise 12.0, 12.5x, 15

dmase27

Network Access Requirements

To access an external database, you must be able to connect to the network, have access to the external database, and have access to the server on which the external database is located. Database permissions are established using the security features of the external database. If you do not have the proper access permissions, consult your local database administrator.

Some database systems require that a database-specific network package be installed. Consult your database and database driver documentation for details.

Installation on UNIX Systems

IDL DataMiner system components, including ODBC drivers, are installed with IDL when you select to install the DataMiner components. On UNIX systems, you may need to make some of the following additional modifications. At a minimum, you must copy the default ODBC initialization file created by the installer to your $HOME directory.

ODBC Initialization File

The IDL installer creates a template ODBC initialization file. This file describes the installed ODBC drivers and allows you to configure the drivers to suit your needs.

The template file contains information about the ODBC drivers installed on your system by IDL, but it does not contain anything about your specific data sources. At a minimum, you will need to add the data source names to the ODBC initialization file. Depending on your specific installation, you may need to add details such as the database host name and database instance name. You also might want to make database access more convenient by specifying login or password information. You will need to either copy the template ODBC initialization file to your $HOME directory or create an environment variable pointing to its location. See ODB Configuration for details.

Oracle ODBC Drivers

On some UNIX systems, the Oracle ODBC drivers must be linked against portions of the Oracle installation. For more information on how this is performed consult the files located in the Dataminer directory:

$IDL_DIR/bin/bin.platform/dm/src/oracle

where platform is the name of your operating system.

Note: If the directory does not exist, this operation is not required.