Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 21-6. The ODBC Data Source Administrator in Windows lets you configure the SQL data-
bases your computer has access to. The acronym DSN stands for Data Source Name, since you
name each data source you define here and then refer to it by name in FileMaker.
NOTE
You may get a little confused by the list of available drivers in Windows. First, you may see many
drivers whose names are apparently in a foreign language. Just scroll right past them. Also, you may
be tempted to select the driver called SQL Server. After all, every database FileMaker works with
could legitimately be called a SQL database server. But this driver is specifically for
Microsoft
SQL
Server. If you use one of the other database systems, keep looking.
From this point forward, configuration works a lot like Mac OS X. Skip ahead to “Finishing
ODBC data source configuration” on the next page.
Configuring Data Sources on Mac OS X
On Mac OS X, you configure ODBC data sources by using a program called ODBC Admin-
istrator. If it's not already present in your Applications→Utilities folder, download your free
copy from Apple's website at
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL895
. When you launch the pro-
gram, you see the window in
Figure 21-7
.
When you open ODBC Administrator, first click the padlock icon in the bottom-left corner
to unlock it. Then click the System DSN tab. (FileMaker works only with system-wide data
