Opening SQL Server Databases

There are several ways to connect to SQL Server databases in Database Tour:

1. Opening through FD interface. Select FD interface, click SQL Server, then fill all needed database parameters.

   SQL Server database connection parameters:

   (required parameters are highlighted)

   Parameter	Description	Value example
   Vendor library	SQL Server client library
   Server	Name of the SQL Server instance	localhost\SQLEXPRESS
   Database	The name of the specific database to connect to	master
   OS authentication	Specify whether to use OS authentication instead of the db authentication	Yes
   Application name	Application name to show in database sessions	Database Tour Pro
   User name	Database user name
   Password	Database user password
   SQL command separator	Command separator in multi-command SQL scripts	<mssqlgo>

2. Opening through connection string. Select ADO interface, then select Connection string option and write a connection string. This way is very flexible and allows to specify many additional parameters in the connection string and override standard Database Tour connection behavior. It is recommended for advanced users. Here are basic connection strings (more examples and details can be found in the Internet):

   Provider=sqloledb;Data Source=myServerAddress;Initial Catalog=myDataBase;User Id=myUsername;Password=myPassword;   (Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server must be installed)

   Driver={SQL Server};Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;Uid=myUsername;Pwd=myPassword;   (Microsoft SQL Server ODBC Driver must be installed)

   Provider=SQLNCLI;Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;Uid=myUsername;Pwd=myPassword;   (SQL Native Client 9.0 OLE DB provider must be installed; use it for SQL Server 2005, see note below)

   Driver={SQL Native Client};Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;Uid=myUsername;Pwd=myPassword;   (SQL Native Client 9.0 ODBC Driver must be installed; use it for SQL Server 2005, see note below)

   Provider=SQLNCLI10;Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;Uid=myUsername;Pwd=myPassword;   (SQL Server Native Client 10.0 OLE DB Provider must be installed; use it for SQL Server 2008)

   Driver={SQL Server Native Client 10.0};Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;Uid=myUsername;Pwd=myPassword;   (SQL Server Native Client 10.0 ODBC Driver must be installed; use it for SQL Server 2008)

   Provider=SQLNCLI11;Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;Uid=myUsername;Pwd=myPassword;   (SQL Server Native Client 11.0 OLE DB Provider must be installed; use it for SQL Server 2012+)

   Driver={SQL Server Native Client 11.0};Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;Uid=myUsername;Pwd=myPassword;   (SQL Server Native Client 11.0 ODBC Driver must be installed; use it for SQL Server 2012+)

   Provider=SQLNCLI11.1;Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;User ID="";Initial Catalog="";Data Source=localhost\SQLEXPRESS;   (SQL Server Native Client 11.1 OLE DB Provider must be installed; use it for SQL Server 2012+)

3. Opening through ODBC DSN. Create (if it does not exist yet) an ODBC DSN of the corresponding type using Windows ODBC Data Source Administrator, and point it to the database. Then:

   - Select FD interface, click ODBC, then point the Data source parameter to the ODBC DSN by selecting it from the drop-down list.

   or

   - Select ADO or BDE interface, then choose ODBC data source option and then select the needed ODBC DSN from the drop-down list.

4. Opening through BDE alias. Select BDE interface, then select Alias option and then select the needed alias from the drop-down list. But first, you should create the alias of type MSSQL using BDE Administrator tool or Tools | BDE | Aliases menu of Database Tour, and point it to the database.

Notes

1. SQL Server client must be installed. The bit-version of it (32 or 64) must match the bit-version of the application.
2. It is recommended to use SQL Server Native Client only for SQL Server 2005+ databases and when you need to use SQL Server 2005+ features.
3. When choosing the ODBC option, please make sure the corresponding ODBC driver installed and the bit-version of it matches the bit-version of the application (32 or 64).

Hints

• Each Database Tour edition has both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. You can install both and use them depending on what type of database you need to work with.
• You can invoke the ODBC Data Source Administrator directly from Database Tour when it was launched in administrator mode. In Connect / Open Data Source window, switch to ADO, then click ODBC Sources... button.

See also

• Examples of ADO Connection Strings