f$SQLDriverConnect

Make an ODBC connection to a database. The channel number returned must be given for all following access attempts.

Note: since it takes time to make the connection, a new connection should not be established for every SQL function.

Hint:

The f$SQLDriverConnect function can also use file data sources. Compared to user or system data sources, these offer the advantage of not having to be installed on every ePOS user PC and can instead be created (and transported) on a central network drive.

A connection to a database can be made with f$SQLDriverConnect without needing data sources. All required connection information must be entered in the connection string to do that.

Unlike f$SQLConnect, additional connection information can also be entered here (see the respective database documentation).

Syntax:	Channel = f$SQLDriverConnect( ConnectStr )
	Argument	Type	Meaning
	ConnectStr	String	Text with connection information for the database. General connection: a list in the form "<key>=<value>", separated by ";". The list cannot contain any spaces as separators (though spaces are allowed as part of the value). One key from the following list must be given for identifying the database: DSN: name of the user or system data source FILEDSN: name of the file data source (including extension) DRIVER: name of the ODBC driver For making a connection also the following: UID: user name (value can remain empty) PWD: password (value can remain empty) as well as other keys according to the database accessed (see documentation for the corresponding driver)
Result:	Integer	Channel number or –1 if the connection cannot be established.
Examples:	Using a file data source: Channel = f$SQLDriverConnect( 'FILEDSN=Article.dsn;UID=Smith;PWD=abc' ) Using a user data source without log-in information: Channel = f$SQLDriverConnect( 'DSN=Standard article;UID=;PWD=' ) Connect directly to a database: CN = 'DRIVER=SQL Server;SERVER=DBSQLSERVER;DATABASE=SMP_NG;UID=SMP;PWD=smp' Channel = f$SQLDriverConnect( CN ) Connect directly to an Excel work folder Excelfile = 'C:\\Temp\\example.xls'; CN = 'DRIVER=Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls);DBQ=' + Excelfile; Channel = f$SQLDriverConnect( CN )