Shared ODBC Connection

[JeffGeorge]

I have an Access database that is stored in a shared location. The database uses an ODBC connection to a MSSQL database. Does everyone with access to this Access database have to have the datasource set up on their computer in order to run the queries? If so, is there a way to create a domain-wide datasource so that I don't have to configure it on every machine?

[rpeare]

Yes, every machine has to have an ODBC connection to the SQL side. As a side note the NAME of the ODBC connection must be identical on every machine or it will not work.

For the second part there appears to be a way to do it, but it's not exactly 'safe' due to differences in service packs, drivers, etc as noted here:

http://www.dbforums.com/microsoft-sq...n-servers.html

[JeffGeorge]

Thanks for the input, rpeare! I was going to ask you directly but I figured I'd give you a break!

[JeffGeorge]

I like the idea from that article of exporting the registry settings and just importing them to the systems. The strange thing is that the ODBC portion of my registry doesn't show any of my ODBC connections. I only have ODBC.INI and an ODBCINST.INI settings. Maybe they are stored somewhere else; I'll keep looking.

[JeffGeorge]

I found the registry key in HKEY_CURRENT_USER instead of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and the export/import seems to work lovely! Thanks, rpeare!