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Query windows MS Access Database from a Linux platform
Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:11 pm
by pbower
I am able to query a Windows Access database from revolution on a Windows machine using the ODBC protocol listed in the archives (thanks), But now I have need to run Revolution on a Linux machine and would like to perform the same query on the same windows access database. The ODBC protocol isn't helpful anymore, and except for examples of query to mySQL I can find no examples of how to connect to a windows access database from the Linux platform. Does anyone have any thoughts about this? I do have Revolution Studio running on the Linux machine and I have the standalone processing cgi scripts (which is how I want to call the database query) . Thanks and a "tip o' the hat" to all who have been so helpful in the past.
Peter Bower
Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 6:41 pm
by mwieder
Not quite sure *why* you're trying to do this, but if it's for your own setup and you've already got the queries working from the Windows box, how about setting up socket communications from the linux box to the Windows box? i.e., have the linux box send a query to the Windows box, have it query the database and send the result back.
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 12:38 am
by Bernard
Hi Peter
I confess it's years since I used ODBC on Linux, but it does work.
Having said that, I've never used ODBC with Rev, so I don't know if the problem you're facing is that the ODBC driver is Windows only. Do you have an ODBC driver installed within the Rev directories on Linux?
Another issue is that I didn't think that Access was actually a client-server database i.e. I thought it only worked for local connections, not across a network. Maybe Access is more powerful than I give it credit.
OK, I did a little searching and it certainly seems like you can buy ODBC drivers for Access for Linux (
http://www.easysoft.com/products/data_a ... index.html), so technically connecting Linux to Access via ODBC should be feasible.
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 5:04 am
by mwieder
Bernard- Yes, you can... er... access Access across a network, but not at all in a client-server arrangement. MSAccess is actually notoriously bad at this: if you run a query against a database of 50,000 records and expect to return 10 of those, Access will return all 50,000 records across the network and only then filter them down to the 10 it will display to you. I'm not sure whether the linux ODBC drivers for Access would exhibit the same symptoms, but without changing the core Access application I don't see how they could be different.
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:30 pm
by pbower
Mwieder:
I really like your idea in that it all runs fine on the windows system. Could you flesh this out a little for me. I am not quite sure what you mean by the socket communication. Do you mean have the script on the linux box open a stack on the windows platform computer and run a second script from that windows resident stack? Or is there some way of having the revolution script on the LINUX box invoke the WINDOWS based copy of revolution to run and carry out the query then report back to the LINUX? I am obviously confused and over my head, not being a real programmer. I appreciate your time greatly.
Peter