ODBC Connection to Paradox DB problem

Question

Hi

Environment: Microsoft Visual C# 2008 Express Edition

Windows Edition: Vista

I'm trying to connect to a Paradox DB using ODBC. The connection string I am using is:-

string sConn= "Driver={Microsoft Paradox Driver(*.db )};DriverID=538;Fil=Paradox 5.X;DefaultDir=" +sPath+ ";Data Source=" +sPath+ ";CollatingSequence=ASCII;";

However, when trying to execute the above connection string I receive the following error:-

"ERROR [IM002] [Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Data source name not found and no default driver specified"

I have done a lot of trawling through the net and haven't been able to find a solution to the problem. Can anyone please provide any info on how to solve this?

Thanks

Sam Hobbs · Answer

For the benefit of everyone in the future the Platform Target can be changed in the properties pages of the project. The important thing here is that Windows now does not have 64-bit ODBC drivers provided with the setup although I think they are available separately.

Adam · Answer

Finally managed to solve this problem quite simply after hours of messing around with Registry keys and multiple instances of ODBC Administrator. In the project folder I opened 'projectname'.csproj file in notepad. I then inserted the line: x86 just before the line - This forced my application to use the right ODBC drivers etc as I am using a 64-bit machine and solved my problem.

Adam · Answer

Although this has not solved my problem YET I believe I am close. Below is a link that may solve this problem for you. Its all to do with the multiple instances of ODBC administrator for 32-bit and 64-bit. http://communities.bentley.com/blogs/allen_brown_bentleys_blog/archive/2009/03/04/32-bit-database-connectivity-on-a-64-bit-os.aspx [ ^ ]

Adam · Answer

Hi Roei Thanks for your reply. I have tried using the connection strings from the link you provided previously but was still unable to solve the problem. Even when attempting to use the Microsoft Jet OLE DB string I got the error: The 'Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0' provider is not registered on the local machine.. Even though I have Access etc installed. Regarding the Vista Paradox driver are you able to supply a link as I have looked without success. I'm under the impression that the driver hasn't actually changed since v7 which dates back to 1997. Thanks

Roei Bar · Answer

use this http://www.connectionstrings.com/paradox you may need to download the paradox driver for Windows vista