Configuring ODBC Machine and File Data Sources

There are three types of Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) data sources:

Data source	Description
Machine	Data source is created on the client machine, and is available to the user currently logged onto the system. Machine data sources are stored in the part of the registry containing settings for the current user.
System	Data source is created on the client machine, and is available to all users regardless of whether a user is logged onto the system or not. System data sources are stored in the part of the registry containing settings for the current machine.
File	Data source is stored as a file. A file data source has the extension .dsn. It can be used by different users if it is placed in the default location for file data sources. File data sources are usually managed by database administrators.

You define data sources using the Windows ODBC Administrator, which you can access directly from PowerDesigner:

Select Database > Configure Connections to open the Configure Data Connections window, and click the ODBC Machine Data Source or ODBC File Data Sources tab.
Click the Add Data Source tool (see Data connection tools) to open the Create New Data Source window, and select a File, User, or Machine data source as appropriate and click Next.
Select the appropriate driver for your DBMS and click Next and then Finish to access a driver-specific configuration dialog:
Enter the appropriate parameters and then click OK to return to the Configure Data Connections window.
Click OK to return to your model.