Form tabs
Use this form to add and configure a connection to a database for your application. You must already have an ODBC data source configured for the database.
General tab
Use this tab to specify general connection information.
Datasource
The ODBC data source for the database.
Establish Connections
When you want the application to connect to the database. You can do this in one of four ways:
• Shared Startup
Connects when the server is started. All users link to one database connection.
• Application Startup
Connects when the application is launched. A new connection is made for every instance of the application.
This choice works best with ISAMs data sources (Microsoft Access, FoxPro, and so on) and other fast drivers. They require a negligible amount of time to connect. You use only the connections you need, and the number of sessions you can allocate is only limited by the resources of your machine.
This is not as good a choice for slower drivers and DBMSs, which may take a substantial amount of time to connect. If connection time is substantial, you may notice performance degradation and, in extreme cases, failed client sessions.
• Server Startup
Connects when the server is started.
With this choice, a fixed number of connections (specified at "Number of Connections") are set up when the server starts. If all connections are in use when the application needs one, the user is told that all ODBC connections are in use.
• Manual Startup
Creates a connection but does not open it when the application is launched. A new connection is created for every instance of the application.
This choice is similar to Application Startup, except that connections must be opened explicitly in code with the OpenConnection method. This allows you to require users to enter login and password information to connect to the database. Because connections are not automatically opened or set up, your code can determine whether a connection has been established.
Login
(only applies if the database is password protected) The ID used to log into the database. This information is sent to the database server when a connection is established.
Password
(only applies if the database is password protected) The password used to log into the database. This information is sent to the database server when a connection is established.
Number of Connections
(only applies if you chose Server Startup at "Establish Connections") The number of connections to be set up when the server starts.
Advanced tab
Use this tab to specify additional connection information. The defaults on this tab are normally appropriate for bound columns database applications. For information on the values you need, see your database and database driver documentation.
Login timeout
The time, in seconds, that the database driver will wait before cancelling an attempt to log into the database server.
Autocommit
Ensures that database operations are committed as soon as they are finished.
Cursors
The default type of cursor for this connection.
Transaction isolation
The level of transaction isolation statements that the connection will use.
Tracing
Generates an ODBC log file that records connection activity. We recommend that you only select this for advanced debugging, because it affects performance.
Trace file
(only applies if you selected "Tracing") The full path to the location for ODBC log files. If this field is left blank, log files are written to the default location specified in the ODBC driver manager.
Display warnings
Shows messages generated by ODBC transactions. These warnings are displayed when transactions are successful and the database driver returns potentially useful information about the transactions. Because you can normally ignore ODBC warnings, we recommend that you only select this for advanced debugging.
Display errors
Shows error messages generated by ODBC transactions per application. These errors are displayed when transactions are not successful.
Functions button
Queries the database driver to find out what ODBC features it supports. This is useful for determining if a driver can perform bound columns operations, and for getting a definitive list of the features that can be used with FirstClass RAD's object ODBC syntax.
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