Chapter 10 Generating a Database from a PDM

Using the ODBC Interface

The Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) interface allows PowerDesigner to access information in different database management systems (DBMS) using Structured Query Language (SQL) as a standard for accessing data.

An ODBC driver processes function calls and SQL requests coming from PowerDesigner and sends them to a data source. It also returns request results to PowerDesigner.

The data source provides all the required target database information: its client operating system, DBMS, and network platform. While you can only use one data source at a time, you can set more than one data source for the driver.

There are three types of 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.