On 09-Jan-2003 Mark Berryman wrote:
> WARNING: Perl novice on board...
>
> I suddenly find myself in the need of being able to access a Microsoft
> Access database from my VMS system. I figure Perl might be a good way
> to do this. However, I seem to be lost in the morass of verbage that
> talks about accessing a database via Perl so I'm turning here in the
> hopes of obtaining some hints or pointers (or, at least some water
> wings).
>
> What module(s) do I need to load into Perl?
DBI DBD::ODBC
> Do I need any additional software?
Perl on Windows machine and Proxy module or an ODBC bridge
> Has anyone done this?
Yes with ODBC bridge.
> Can it be done?
Yes
> I had thought that the most likely way to accomplish this would be for
> Perl to talk to the Access database via ODBC but, I can't tell if there
> is a module that makes Perl speak ODBC natively; if I need an ODBC
> driver or other 3rd-party package; etc.
>
> Any help, tips, pointers, etc. greatly appreciated,
>
> Mark Berryman
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I've done this (although some time ago).
There is no way to access a MDB locally (i.e. with mdb file on VMS machine)
You need the modules DBI, and DBD::ODBC initially and then a way to get to the
MS Access db (.e.g. an ODBC driver). There are no ODBC drivers for VMS that
access remote MDB files directly but you can do one of the following:
[1] use DBI Proxy and the MS Access driver on Windows.
advantage: free
disadvantage: have to install Perl on the Windows machine where the MDB is
located.
[2] use (shameful plug) the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge
advantage: no perl needed on windows machine
disadvantage: not free (although free trial available)
You can get all the perl modules you need from search.cpan.org.
For Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge go to http://www.easysoft.com and download the
OpenVMS client and the Windows ODBC-ODBC Bridge. Install the OOB server on the
windows machine and the OOB client on the OpenVMS machine.
There are instructions with OOB for OpenVMS and Perl - see the
PERL_DBI_DBD_ODBC file.
Martin
--
Martin J. Evans
Easysoft Ltd, UK
Development
