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This document describes the installation and configuration of the MultiBase/ODBC driver for MultiBase client-server systems. The ODBC driver must be installed in a Microsoft Windows computer. Also TCP/IP must be installed in Windows and a compatible WINSOCK.DLL has to be used to allow access to a UNIX system which hosts the MultiBase server database. We have proven WINSOCK.DLL by Microsoft, FTP, etc.
This ODBC driver is compatible with Microsoft ODBC specifications 2.10. It supports all of the features of CTSQL as far as they can be supported under ODBC. Also there are two versions available: one for MultiBase 2.x and one for MultiBase 3.x. During the installation process you may decide wich one to install or you may also decide to install both.
Insert the TransTOOLs supplied diskette with the ODBC driver. Then execute the command setup from the floppy disk.
Press the [continue] button to continue installation or the [exit] button to abort installation. In case you have pressed the [exit] button you will be reasked to exit or to go back to the previous screen. In case you have chosen the exit option, the installation will be aborted.
Choose the driver(s) which you would like to install. Also you may choose the [advanced…] button to set several options and to check the version numbers of the driver(s). The screens and options available are shown on the following figures.
Here you may also check the version numbers of the MultiBase/ODBC drivers and of ODBC.DLL by pressing the [versions] button in the right corner.
The normal installation process continues by copying the MultiBase/ODBC driver(s) and all of the corresponding files to the hard disk where Microsoft Windows was installed («\Windows» and «\Windows\System» directories of Windows).
After the copying process finished you may configure or add data sources (in the case of MultiBase a data source is a database located in a UNIX machine). If you are not intending to configure or add data sources in the moment of installation, you may do this at a later time by selecting the ODBC configuration program coming standard with Windows, which is the same program as the one explained further on.
If you are installing MultiBase/ODBC for the first time, no data source using the MultiBase database will be catalogued. Therefore, the next step to execute is to add a data source with the corresponding [add] button. A list of available ODBC will be offered.
Choose the relevant MultiBase/ODBC driver and fill in the fields in the following dialogue:
Furthermore you may discover the check box «OEM to ANSI» which should be normally activated with MultiBase. In this case translation from OEM character set (MultiBase/UNIX) to ANSI (Microsoft Windows) is performed.
Next, you will find the buttons [environment] and [info] in the right corner. The [environment] button is used to define the MultiBase environment variables for the data source, while the [info] button shows the current version of the selected MultiBase/ODBC driver and a copyright notice.
The variables defined are highlighted with the current value. Those non-defined are shown in protected display (dim). Choose a variable and enter a value in the «Value» field. Next press the button [set] to set the value to the variable. If you intend to unset a variable, choose the variable in the scroll region and press the [unset] button.
The following variables must be set and their existence is checked: DBHOST and DBPATH.
Once the variables are defined you may press the [ok] button to accept the new settings or [cancel] to annulate your modifications.
Please, check the MultiBase documentation to get more information about the purpose and effect of each environment variables. This dialogue contains only those variables relevant to CTSQL, therefore you may not find all of the MultiBase variables in the scrool area.
Once the environment is configured and the fields in the «Setup» dialogue are completed, you can choose [ok]. Then you will find the new data source listed in the previously described dialogue.
In that moment you could add a new data source (different MultiBase database) or modify any of the data sources already defined or quit the dialogue by pressing the [close] button. This finishes the sucessful installation or the ODBC driver.
Whenever you use an ODBC compliant (or compatible) program on your Windows PC all of the installed data sources can be used. In the case of MultiBase, you will be connected to a user account defined in your UNIX machine. Also, a password is used to ensure security regulations.
Depending on your environmet settings, MultiBase/ODBC will ask for the user plus the password, only for the password, or will connect inmediately. This depends on how you have defined DBUSER and DBPASSWD in your environment settings. If both are not defined, the connection dialogue will ask for both values; if only DBUSER was defined, the password must be entered every time a connection shall be established. The last possibility, which defines both variables in the environment settings, should only be used in small departments, when and where security can be controlled more easily.