The JDBC Data Source is a connection definition, using a JDBC Driver, and providing all information to an application to connect to the given database.

The URL formed (automatically) by the given parameters allow the applications to connect and execute commands. The information you will have to provide is only the name of the JDBC Data Source which you enter here.

Go to the JDBC Data Sources tab. This is what you might see :

You notice the list of JDBC Data Sources. You can add a new one, or remove, configure or test a selected Data Source.

Select a Data Source and hit the Configuration button. This will open the following dialog:

ODBC Example :

MySQL Example :

To make a connection work, be sure to supply at least the following parameters :

• Name
  The user name of the JDBC Data Source. This is what you will use in Orbit GIS, and it must be unique.
• Driver
  The JDBC Driver to be used.
• User
  The name of the user to access the database with.
• Password
  The password for that user.
• URL
  The connection string that will allow the application to connect to the database. The format of this URL is driver dependant, and you probably need to consult the driver documentation to get the right syntax.

Optionally, you can enter the following parameter :

• Description
  An optional description of the Data Source.

Depending on the selected driver, you can enter information in for following parameters.

• DBMS
  The type of database server system (RDBMS).
• Database
  The name of the database.
• Host
  The computer where the database server resides.
• Port
  The port to which tuhe JDBC driver connects to the database server host.

The URL can be compiled automatically from the input fields. To do so, press the downwards pointing arrow button to the right of the URL-field. Use the upwards pointing arrow button to extract a URL into parameter values.

After entering all information, hit Test. The result should be :

If not, check your parameter values and be sure you've assembled the URL properly. IF you do not succeed in performing a satisfactory test, consult your IT-manager about proper values for the parameters.

From the JDSA main window, you can perform the same test.

ODBC Data Sources have fewer parameters than available in this setup. When choosing 'ODBC' as driver, the DBMS, Host and Port fields will be dimmed, and need not be used. Enter the ODBC name in the Database field as it is defined in your Windows system.

You can use the ODBC Data Sources for many desktop sources, such as an MSAccess file, a DBF file etc.