Whats an ODBC data source?
Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC) is a standard that allows for (relatively) easy access to data stored in databases. The ODBC standard allows users and user programs to access data stored in proprietary database formats, such as Oracle or Microsoft Access, through a common interface. This access happens through a set of utilities called ‘ODBC drivers’. These drivers are generally written and supplied by the authors of the proprietary database programs, and are usually installed on a client PC when the database software is installed on the machine. Microsoft Windows comes with several of these drivers pre-installed, specifically those for Microsoft proprietary databases Access and FoxPro, along with two less-obvious drivers, one for Excel and one for ‘Text Files’. Personally, I’ve never tried to use the ‘Text Files’ ODBC drivers, as I’ve never seen a good reason to do so. The instructions for using the Excel ODBC drivers are in the Excel Help Files. I’ve tried to use these once, with l
