Interactive COBOLEnvyr Corporation

ODBC Driver FAQ


What does ICOBOL ODBC do?
The ICOBOL ODBC driver allows you to use standard personal productivity tools, such as Crystal Reports, to access and optionally modify data from ICISAM files.

See the ICOBOL ODBC product description for more information.

Where can I find documentation on ICOBOL ODBC?
The ODBC Driver is documented in the Developer's Guide section of the Language Reference Manual (referic.pdf).

What are the steps to Implement ICOBOL ODBC
In order for the ICOBOL ODBC driver to provide for the INDEXED to SQL data translation, the application builder must supply information regarding the database, the tables comprising the database, and the rows and columns comprising each table. Simply speaking, an INDEXED file can be viewed as a table comprised of a set of rows (records), each one specifying a value for each column (field). The ICOBOL ODBC driver uses two ASCII text files, which are formatted according to Microsoft Windows initialization (.ini) file conventions, to describe the appropriate view of a database and the tables that it contains. The two files are the .xdb (Database definition) file, which describes a database; and the .xdt (Table definition) file, which describes a table.

For a given database, the .xdb file explicitly specifies the number of tables comprising the database, defining the name, the INDEXED file, and the Table definition file for each one. Although there is an obvious relationship between an INDEXED file and a Table definition file, there is no forced association required by the driver. This makes it possible to describe different databases using the same Table definitions paired with different instances of INDEXED files.

For a table, the .xdt file explicitly specifies the number of columns comprising the table, defining the name, the position, size, and type of the data field corresponding to each. Although there may be obvious relationships between the data fields of a record and the columns of a table, the driver does not enforce a particular correspondence. This makes it possible to describe different columns of a table using the same data field, or to describe the columns of a table using only some of the data fields available.

Can I limit the number of rows returned by a query using the ICOBOL ODBC driver?
No, the number of rows returned is determined by the program (i.e, Crystal Reports, Microsoft Access, etc.) that specifies and initiates the query.

How can I specify a secondary key in my .xdt file when using the ODBC driver?
Secondary keys do not have to be specified as such. You need only define them as columns in your .xdt file.

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