Monday, September 5, 2011

ODBC 32 vs. 64 bit

Scenario: I needed to connect 32 bit software running on a 64 bit Windows 7 OS to an SQL server via ODBC. Using a User DSN, everything was fine - setting up a System DSN instead, the application could no longer find it or and connect to the database. I preferred setting up a System DSN, so that any user logged on to the computer would be able to run the software without further hassle in setting up the needed ODBC connection.
Cause: An ODBC System DSN in 32 and 64 bit versions are two separate matters, hence a 32-bit application will not see a 64 bit ODBC System DSN and vice versa. User DSNs are however visible on both sides. Confusing.
Gotcha: Both the 64 and 32 bit version of the ODBC tool's is named odbcad32.exe. Hence, the Win7 standard method of writing this in the search field at the bottom of the start menu would always give you the 64 bit version. You have to run %windir%\syswow64\odbcad32.exe (for instance via the run dialog, keyboard shortcut winkey-r) to start the 32 bit ODBC application.
Reference: Microsoft's Knowledge Base article 942976

3 comments:

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