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How to create an ODBC DSN for FileMaker 7

Note #1: This technical note is written for Windows, there is a separate technical note for MacOS X.

Note #2: When installing a 32bit FileMaker ODBC driver for a 32bit version of FileMaker on a 64-bit version of Windows, you need to open the 32bit ODBC administrator in order to create or update the ODBC DSN. The FileMaker ODBC driver will not appear in the list of drivers within the default 64bit ODBC administrator app, because it is not a 64bit ODBC driver. If you run an application as a 32-bit application on a 64-bit operating system, you must create the ODBC data source by using the ODBC Administrator tool in %windir%\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe. To indicate the type of DSN, you can add "_32" to the 32-bit user DSNs and "_64" to the 64-bit user DSNs.

FileMaker Pro 7 for Windows includes the DataDirect SequeLink ODBC driver which only allows a connection to the database from the localhost IP address - from the computer running the database. Unlike previous versions of FileMaker, the FileMaker ODBC driver is no longer automatically installed along with the database software. A separate ODBC installer is launched from the xDBC folder on the FileMaker 7 CD in order to install the ODBC driver. Launch the DataDirect setup.exe installer from the on the FileMaker 7 installation CD. The default installation options may be used during the install process.

[Figure 1 - FileMaker 7 ODBC Installer]

Due to a problem with the ODBC installer, the DataDirect SequeLink software needs to be installed twice in order to work correctly on Windows.
Double-click the setup.exe installer again to remove the DataDirect SequeLink software. Use the default options to de-install the software.
Double-click the setup.exe installer again to install the DataDirect SequeLink software for the 2nd time. DataDirect 32Bit SequeLink will now show up under the list of drivers within the the Microsoft ODBC Administrator control panel. If the DataDirect 32Bit SequeLink driver is not listed in the list of ODBC drivers, then it may be necessary to use the instructions in FileMaker Technical Article 357 to resolve the issue.

In order to access a FileMaker 7 database via ODBC, the ODBC/JDBC Sharing Feature needs to be enabled for the FileMaker 7 database.

[Figure 2 - Enabling FileMaker 7 ODBC/JDBC Sharing]

Open the Windows Data Sources (ODBC) Control Panel to create a new FileMaker 7 System DSN. Click the System DSN tab, then click the Add button.

[Figure 3 - Create New FileMaker 7 DataSource]

Select DataDirect 32Bit SequeLink 5.4 as the driver for the new FileMaker 7 data source, then click the Finish button.
Note: Do not select FileMaker Pro as the driver, because the FileMaker Pro driver is only used for the older versions of the FileMaker database.

[Figure 4 - Select DataDirect 32Bit SequeLink 5.4 Driver]

Enter the name of the ODBC DSN in the first field. Fill in the SequeLink Server Host (127.0.0.1), and SequeLink Server Port (2399) fields as shown in the image below.
Note: The operational features of the FileMaker 7 ODBC Driver are very different from previously shipped FileMaker ODBC drivers. The DataDirect SequeLink FileMaker driver included with FileMaker Pro 7 only permits ODBC connections to be made to a local FileMaker 7 database running on the same computer. This is why the SequeLink Server Host field must be filled in with the TCP/IP address of 127.0.0.1 or the hostname "localhost". The feature of allowing external computers to make an ODBC connection to a FileMaker 7 database is reserved for the FileMaker Server 7 Advanced product.

Click the “...” button to the right of the Server Data Source field, then select the name of the new FileMaker 7 database (fmp7_newdb). Click the Ok button.

[Figure 5 - Enter SequeLink Driver Parameters for FileMaker 7]

In order to verify that a connection can be made to the FileMaker 7 database, it is a good idea to test the ODBC connection before attempting to use the new ODBC DSN. DataDirect has provided a helpful Test Connect button within their driver setup window which will enable testing of ODBC database connectivity.

Click the Test Connect button shown in Figure 15 to verify that a connection can be made to the new FileMaker 7 database.
Enter Admin as the username, with no password, then click the Ok button.
Click the Ok button to close the test results dialog box.
Note: If the connection test fails, verify that ODBC/JDBC sharing is turned on and that an older version of FileMaker is not running with the Local or Remote Data Access Companion plug-ins enabled.

[Figure 6 - Test FileMaker 7 ODBC DSN]

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