$Id: README 14636 2011-01-04 20:34:45Z mjevans $ DBD::ODBC -- DBD module interfacing the ODBC databases. $Id: README 14636 2011-01-04 20:34:45Z mjevans $ DBD::ODBC is Copyright (C) 1994,1995,1996,1997,1998 Tim Bunce portions Copyright (C) 1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002 Jeff Urlwin portions Copyright (C) 1997 Thomas K. Wenrich portions Copyright (C) 2007,2008,2009,2010,2011 Martin J. Evans LICENSE INFORMATION: This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl 5.10.0. For more details, see the full text of the licenses at , and . Files with different licenses or copyright holders: ConvertUTF.c: Copyright (C) 2001-2004, Unicode, Inc. see ConvertUTF8.c for the license. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but it is provided “as is” and without any express or implied warranties. PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE README FILE CAREFULLY *BEFORE* BUILDING, TESTING AND INSTALLING this you will need to: Build, test and install Perl 5 (as per DBI specifications/compatibility) It is very important to TEST it and INSTALL it. Build, test and install the DBI module (at least DBI 1.609). It is very important to TEST it and INSTALL it. Remember to *read* the DBD::ODBC.pm POD documentation and the DBD::ODBC::Changes.pm POD documentation. BUILDING: set-up these environment variables: DBI_DSN The dbi data source, e.g. 'dbi:ODBC:YOUR_DSN_HERE' DBI_USER The username to use to connect to the database DBI_PASS The username to use to connect to the database ODBCHOME (Unix only) The dir your driver manager is installed in or specify this via -o argument to Makefile.PL If you want UNICODE support on non-Windows platforms specify -u switch to Makefile.PL. If you don't want UNICODE support on Windows specify the -nou switch to Makefile.PL. If the Makefile.PL finds iODBC and you would prefer to build with unixODBC you can use the -x switch to favor unixODBC. This only happens in rare case where you have binary packages of both installed but you can only have development packages on one installed and DBD::ODBC locates iODBC first. perl Makefile.PL make (or nmake/dmake, if VC++ on Win32) make test (or nmake/dmake, if VC++ on Win32) TESTING make test make test TEST_VERBOSE=1 (if any of the t/* tests fail) make install (if the tests look okay) Note that the tests currently all pass when using the Microsoft SQL server driver up to SQL Server 2008 and many other ODBC drivers on Windows and UNIX (too numerous to mention here). If the tests from t/09bind.t fail, that is an indication of lack of ODBC Level 2 functionality. This does not (necessarily) mean that your installation is broken. It does indicate that your ODBC driver does not support certain level 2 calls (see below). All other tests should pass, however, since I've tested with a limited number of ODBC drivers, I could have something wrong in the test. Please notify me if you have an incompatibility in the other tests. (For example, some Paradox ODBC drivers *could* fail, if they don't support long file names, since in Paradox file names are tableName.db.). Please let me know about any incompatibilities you encounter. I will say, though, that I may not be able to reproduce or fix problems without some help, since I can't possibly install all the known ODBC drivers. Please try to "solve" the problem, in addition to discovering it. If any of the tests fail and you are using SQL Server and Windows drivers, ensure you updated to MDAC 2.7 or later. NOTES on ODBC Drivers and Compatibility with DBD-ODBC This version utilizes at least one "Level 2" ODBC call (SQLDescribeParam). This *will* affect compatibility with specific ODBC drivers. If the driver is not level 2 (or does not support the level 2 function(s) required), then full compatibility will not be available. The best thing to do is build DBD::ODBC against an ODBC driver manager like unixODBC (http://www.unixodbc.org) as it will resolve many incompatibilities between ODBC versions for you. IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS: Do not hand edit the generated Makefile unless you are completely sure you understand the implications! Always try to make changes via the Makefile.PL command line and/or editing the Makefile.PL. You should not need to make any changes. If you do *please* let me know so that I can try to make it automatic in a later release. This software is supported via the dbi-users mailing list. For more information and to keep informed about progress you can join the mailing list via http://dbi.perl.org (if you are unable to use the web you can subscribe by sending a message to dbi-users-subscribe@perl.org. Please post details of any problems (or changes you needed to make) to dbi-users@perl.org. But note... ** IT IS IMPORTANT TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION: 1. A complete log of a all steps of the build, e.g.: perl Makefile.PL (do a make realclean first) make make test make test TEST_VERBOSE=1 (if any tests fail) 2. Full details of which software you are using, including: Perl version (the output of perl -V) It is important to check that you are using the latest version before posting. If you're not then I'm *very* likely to simply say "upgrade to the latest". You would do yourself a favour by upgrading beforehand. Please remember that I'm _very_ busy. Try to help yourself first, then try to help me help you by following these guidelines carefully. Regards, Tim, Jeff and Martin. =============================================================================== Other info: DBI 'home page': http://dbi.perl.org perldoc DBI perldoc DBD::ODBC (which will include the DBD::ODBC FAQ list) perldoc DBD::ODBC::Changes perldoc DBD::ODBC::FAQ Win32 ODBC drivers: http://www.microsoft.com/support/products/backoffice/odbc/ Follow "Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers 3.5 For 32-Bit Programs" and "ODBC Drivers for Win95 Applications". For Access use version "Access ODBC driver 3.40.2111 27/03/96" or later. Also, see the examples in the tests and the mytest directory. They *do* show some of the things you can do with the special DBD::ODBC functions. End.