ODBC Driver – What it is – What you need – How to activate

The PxPLUS ODBC driver allows access to PxPLUS data files from any Windows product that supports an ODBC interface. The PxPLUS ODBC driver is a Windows only product, which means that the driver can only be installed in a Windows environment. Depending on where the data is located, you will either need a PxPLUS Local ODBC driver or a PxPLUS Client ODBC driver.

If the Windows PC on which you will install the ODBC driver has direct access to the PxPLUS data files through either a local drive or a mapped network drive, you can install the ‘Local’ ODBC driver. Note that this product must be activated on each PC it is installed on. If the PxPLUS data is located on a server that doesn’t allow you to map its drive (say for example a Unix server), you will need to install a PxPLUS ODBC Server on the server and a PxPLUS Client ODBC driver on each PC that needs to access that server. In this scenario, only the PxPLUS ODBC Server needs to be activated – the PxPLUS Client ODBC drivers don’t require activation at all (just like a WindX Plugin doesn’t need to be activated and gets its activation from the server).

Note that if a Local ODBC driver is accessing data on a networked drive, the performance can be less than optimal (due to the amount of data that will be transferred across the network). You can decrease the network traffic by installing a PxPLUS ODBC Server on the machine that hosts the data (provided that machine is running an operating system that is supported by the PxPLUS ODBC Server – please visit our ODBC download page for a list of supported operating systems).

Activation of the PxPLUS ODBC Local driver and/or PxPLUS Windows ODBC Server is quite easy: during installation of these products, the installer will ask for a serial number, user count and activation key. If you are installing at a site that is running a PxPLUS Professional or E-Commerce license, the serial number, user count and TEMPORARY activation key of that product must be entered in the activation dialogue (don’t worry – although you are entering a temporary key, the product will activate permanently). In case the site is using a PxPLUS Base license or no PxPLUS license at all, you need to contact EDIAS Sales and either order an ODBC Local Driver or ODBC Server serial number and activation key.

ODBC v5.xx needs a PxPLUS v10 key or higher. 

ODBC v4.xx needs a PVX v9, v8 or v7 key.

The PxPLUS Windows ODBC Server can also be activated from the Windows Control Panel by starting the ‘PxPLUS File Server Settings’ wizard and selecting the ‘Activation’ tab.

A Linux/Unix ODBC Server must be activated by manually changing the ‘pvxiosvr.conf’ file in the directory where the ODBC Server was installed. You should start by copying the ‘pvxiosvr.conf.sample’ file to ‘pvxiosvr.conf’. In the ‘.conf’ file, one must create a new line that uses this syntax: serial=serno-usercount-actkey (for example: serial=12345-5-ABC0123456789DEF). The serial number, user count and activation key are (just like with the Windows ODBC Driver/Server) the serial number, user count and TEMPORARY activation key of the PxPLUS Professional or E-Commerce license that is running at that site. In case the site is using a PxPLUS Base license or no PxPLUS license at all, you need to contact EDIAS Sales and order an ODBC Server serial number and activation key.

Note:  On a Windows 64bit OS, the 32bit ODBC administrator is needed, and can be found as C:\windows\syswow64\odbcad32.exe

     

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