Step 1: Gathering up the materials.
You will need the following items.
- One machine running any 32 bit version of Windows. Although ODBC socketserver runs on all the
flavors of Windows, you should probably stick to NT. I have successfully tested
this on NT4sp6 and Windows 2000 pro. Since the socket server uses ADO, it tends to be bit of a memory hog.
(As with all Windows applications, the more memory you throw at it, the
better and faster it will run). - The latest MDAC drivers from Microsoft. This will contain all the ODBC and ADO
drivers you need. - Microsoft Access.
- ODBCSocketServer server from http://odbc.linuxave.net/
- One machine running any OS of your choice and PHP.
Step 2: Setting up the server:
- Download and install the socketserver. The web site contains very clear, easy to follow and
clear. Basically, all you do is. - Unzip the archive in a directory of your choosing.
- If you have NT run c:path-to-socket-serverODBCSocketServer.exe /Service
- If you don’t have NT create a shortcut to ODBCSocketServer.exe in your start menu.
- Double click on the Registry.reg file to set registry entries.
- If you are using NT open up the services panel and set startup options for the odbcsocketserver service.
You might have to run the service as a privledged user if your MDB file contains linked tables on network drives. - VERY IMPORTANT: It is very important to note that the php object I have attached is able to
successfully parse only the Microsoft ADO XML format. You must set the “UseMSDTD” registry
entry to 1 in order to be able to use it properly. See the ODBCSocketserver documentation for more information. - Download and install the latest MDAC (ODBC drivers) from Microsoft and install them. This will require a reboot.
- Create a ODBC DSN for the database you wish to use.
