Re: [Iodbc-macosx] iODBC Admin 3.5.4 and FileMaker 9 on Mac

[Ted T. Jr <tth...@op...>]

Hi, Jonathan --

* Jonathan Monroe [2007/07/19 12:51 PM -0500] wrote:
> FMP 9 now links to the ODBC libraries included with Mac OS X,
> instead of relying on the iODBC frameworks. This means that FMP
> will now follow the same rules for placement of the User and
> System DSN files as used by the Apple supplied ODBC
> Administrator:
>
> User DSN's: ~/Library/ODBC/odbc.ini
> System DSN's: /Library/ODBC/odbc.ini

That change in linking is rather unfortunate, as it means that
FMPro users will now be dependent on Apple to supply updates for
the iODBC libraries -- which they have been slow, at best, to do
since first shipping iODBC in Mac OS X 10.2.

The iODBC libraries have been updated several times in the years
between 10.2 and 10.4 -- but Apple didn't update the libraries
they shipped until 10.4, and even then, the update was not to
the then-current level.

In fact, the first iODBC libraries Apple shipped were out-of-date
at the time of 10.2's release!

Also, please note that FMPro doesn't follow any rules as to the
location of the ODBC configuration files -- it is the iODBC Driver
Manager which manages these files, according to the ODBC API calls
issued by client applications such as FMPro, MS Excel/Query, etc.

(Or perhaps I should say that FMPro *shouldn't* follow any such
rules -- it would not be the first ODBC client application to
break the rules, and directly edit these text files, rather than
making ODBC API calls as the ODBC specification requires.)


> The OpenLink iODBC Administrator will sometimes create a
> ~/.odbc.ini file for User DSN's, overriding an existing User
> DSN file in ~/Library/ODBC/odbc.ini. The end result is that
> previously created User DSN's will suddenly disappear, which
> can be confusing and a hassle for ODBC users.

The ~/.odbc.ini file is not created by the OpenLink ODBC
Administrator, but by the iODBC Driver Manager (of which the
Administrator is just another client application) in the
iODBC*.Frameworks.

This was a bug, in a *briefly* available version of the iODBC
Frameworks, which has persisted in third-party distributions,
and which sometimes over-writes later, patched, versions from
OpenLink and other distributions -- because not all third-party
installers "Do The Right Thing" with existing libraries.


> I wish both Administrators worked equally well and interchangeably,
> but, unfortunately it's not the case. This is why we advise users
> to use the Apple ODBC Administrator on Mac OS X 10.4.  The Apple
> supplied ODBC Administrator remains the most reliable way to
> create a DSN on Mac OS X 10.4 or later.

I have not tested your contention, that Apple's Admin is more
reliable than OpenLink's today -- but I will dispute rather strongly
that it has been to date, and take some issue with your suggestion
that it "remains" the most reliable.

We are pleased to note that Apple's ODBC Adminstrator does now
present the proper graphical configuration dialogs for properly
built drivers -- something it failed to do for longer even than
the two-plus years they took to update the iODBC libraries.


> This is not intended to be a slam on OpenLink, who created all
> these ODBC libraries in the first place, and made them available
> to all of us under a flexible and common sense (BSD) license.
> It is just a statement of fact that there is less tech support
> heartache in 2007 when one Administrator is used over the other.

Indeed.  We at OpenLink continue to wonder why Apple chose to build
their own Administrator in the first place, when we had provided one
along with the iODBC Frameworks, which were all built in conformance
with Apple's own "best practice" guidelines for Mac OS X developers,
several years ago.  (The use of dylibs in the /usr/lib/... trees was
strongly discouraged, in favor of the /Library/Frameworks/ motif.)

Be seeing you,

Ted



-- 
A: Yes.                      http://www.guckes.net/faq/attribution.html
| Q: Are you sure?
| | A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
| | | Q: Why is top posting frowned upon?

Ted Thibodeau, Jr.           //               voice +1-781-273-0900 x32
Evangelism & Support         //        mailto:tth...@op...
OpenLink Software, Inc.      //              http://www.openlinksw.com/
                                 http://www.openlinksw.com/weblogs/uda/
OpenLink Blogs              http://www.openlinksw.com/weblogs/virtuoso/
                               http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen/
    Universal Data Access and Virtual Database Technology Providers