Yeah, go ahead and steal the connection strings, that's why I posted them :) Also check out: http://www.connectionstrings.com/ http://www.afn.org/~afn45181/Ben/SPSS/Merant/merant/client/win32/program %20files/SPSSOEM/ODBC42/help/wwhelp/wwhimpl/common/html/wwhelp.htm?conte xt=ODBC&file=Rdbasfox6.html The first one has sample connection strings for lots of databases and the second seems to have info on dbase5 specifically. If not, searching the web should work. The connection string should be the same or very similar to what ASP and other such things use. As for not being able to access MDB files from PHP.. I really think there's got to be a way. I could be wrong, but when I was reading around it seems like PHP doesn't like to do DSNless connections which is why I started using ADOdb because it let me do DSNless connection strings and all. Maybe it's just the fact that most people use ODBC sources to connect and aren't used to dealing with DSNless connections that they're telling you that it won't work without ODBC or some other intermediary. Worth trying ADOdb though I think. realpath is a good idea and it's something I used when I used to do ASP in order to do the DSNless connections. You kind of have to anyway because you need the actual path of the MDB file that you're using. I actually had a hosting company try to charge me $35 apiece for "database setup fees" something like 6 months after I set up some ASP with MDB using DSNless connections. I argued with them that they didn't set anything up, I did. They wanted $35 to set up an ODBC source (and to cover part of the server load that database connections were likely to cause I guess). But since I circumvented that, they couldn't legally justify themselves in charging me the money and ended up refunding the auto-charge to my credit card. Something to think about for anyone settnig up PHP or ASP stuff with a DSNless connection on a web hosting site. -TG -----Original Message----- From: Alex Gemmell [mailto:alex.gemmell@xxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 10:27 AM To: 'PHP List' Cc: Gryffyn, Trevor Subject: RE: Linux/PHP/Access Database - oh boy :( Thank you Trevor! Funny you should mention ADOdb. I just d/l it and uploaded it to my web site! I am working through the docs now. I was losing hope because I couldn't find what I was looking for but if you don't mind I will help myself to your connection string: case "OtherDB": # Sample connect string to Access MDB file $myDSN="PROVIDER=MSDASQL;DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};Dbq='C:\Database.mdb';UID=;PWD=;"; I have been using the realpath function of PHP in other connection strings to map the path from the server root to the database location. I assume will work fine here: $myDSN="PROVIDER=MSDASQL;DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)}; Dbq=". realpath("prices/mydb.mdb") .";UID=;PWD=;"; I'm still not sure this will work. I'm getting a lot of information from people saying a .mdb file (the MS Access database) just can't be accessed this way and I should use an intermediate database format, like .dbf which can be made by exporting the database out of MS Access into "dbase 5". Does anyone know what the connection string for a .dbf (dbase 5) format database is? Alex |:| Reply-to: alex.gemmell@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:alex.gemmell@xxxxxxxxxx> |:| _____ From: Gryffyn, Trevor [mailto:TGryffyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: 12 May 2004 15:09 To: PHP List Cc: Alex Gemmell Subject: RE: Linux/PHP/Access Database - oh boy :( First, I don't think you are likely to use COM calls on a linux box since COM and DCOM are MS things aren't they? Even if not, it might require some configuration on the server end which you can't do. I use the ADOdb database library for PHP in all the things I do: http://php.weblogs.com/adodb I have a dbconnect.inc file that has all my connect strings in a switch/case statement that dynamically changes the connect string. I think you can connect DSNLess to an Access database this way. I'll paste a stripped down version of the dbconnect.inc to my message since I don't know if this list accepts attachments. Let me know if you have any questions.. good luck! -TG <?php include("adodb/adodb.inc.php"); ADOLoadCode("ado_mssql"); $db = &ADONewConnection("ado_mssql"); switch ($database) { ################################################################ # Cargo System databases ################################################################ case "PhotoGallery": # Where the photos are stored $myDSN="PROVIDER=MSDASQL;DRIVER={SQL Server};SERVER=PhotoServe;DATABASE=Photos;UID=username;PWD=password;"; break; case "UserLogin": # Where the user login information is $myDSN="PROVIDER=MSDASQL;DRIVER={Microsoft ODBC for ORACLE};SERVER=TMPROD;UID=ops;PWD=ops;"; break; case "OtherDB": # Sample connect string to Access MDB file $myDSN="PROVIDER=MSDASQL;DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};Dbq='C:\Database.mdb';UID=;PWD=;"; break; } $db->Connect($myDSN); #$db->debug=true; if ($sqlquery <> "") { $rs = $db->Execute($sqlquery); if ($rs === false) { print "<h2>Error: (" . $db->ErrorNo() . ") " . $db->ErrorMsg() . "</h2><br>\n"; } else { $arr = $rs->GetArray(); print "Status: (" . $db->ErrorNo() . ") " . $db->ErrorMsg() . "<br>\n"; } } else { $rs = $db->Execute($sql); if ($rs === false) { print "<h2>Error: (" . $db->ErrorNo() . ") " . $db->ErrorMsg()."<br>$sql<br>\n"; } } $sqlquery = ""; $sql = ""; $db->Close(); ?> -----Original Message----- From: Alex Gemmell [mailto:alex.gemmell@xxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 8:12 AM To: PHP List Subject: Linux/PHP/Access Database - oh boy :( Hello all, I am fairly new to Linux/PHP so please bear with me. I have an awfully awkward problem to solve - a stop gap solution for the next 6 months until we have out in-house servers set up and running. I also have a very short timeframe to sort this out. I am using PHP on a remotely hosted Linux web server to build my website, however I have been given a MS Access database to use! Despite my best efforts (and two days Google trawling) I haven't found a suitable solution so I am turning to your collective knowledge... First things first - I do not run the server and cannot install any new tools on to it (I cannot access the folders above my web root). There are lots of suggestions on the net about installing MDBTools and UnixODBC RPM (http://bryanmills.net:8086/archives/000099.html) - but that involves the admin who won't do it! I can, of course, put scripts that may help in the actual web folder and reference them if anyone has any ideas... I know I must use a DSN-less connection. I first tried connecting directly to the mdb file using: $conn = new COM("ADODB.Connection") or die ("Cannot create ADODB Connection object."); //$connstr = "PROVIDER=MSDASQL;DBQ=/prices/mydb.mdb;"."DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};" //$connstr = "Provider=Microsoft,.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; Data Source=". realpath("prices/mydb.mdb") ." ;"; // I've never got the above two connection strings to work but I include them for completeness and in case any realises they might help me! $connstr = "DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)}; DBQ=". realpath("prices/mydb.mdb") ." ;"; $conn->open($connstr); This worked on my localhost running IIS 5 (unsurprisingly) but fell over immediately on the Linux box. I am told this is because COM support in PHP before version 4.3.x is buggy (he PHP version installed on the server is 4.1.2). Is this true? Will upgrading to version 4.3.x solve all my problems? Also, I heard that converting the .mdb file to a .dbf file might help - but how do I connect to that with PHP? The PHP manual says this about dbase functions: "These functions allow you to access records stored in dBase-format (dbf) databases. There is no support for indexes or memo fields." That's no good because I have long text fields in the Access database that are of type "memo"! The Manual also says "we recommend that you do not use dBase files as your production database" - eek! It's only a small database (one table with about 50 records, each with no more than 20 fields) so hopefully it will suffice. Am I right in thinking I have very few options? I don't want to move over to ASP (would that even help?) because it means learning VBScript and I don't have a lot of time. Also, I can't use another database (e.g. MySQL) cos the server admin is NOT helping me and won't install anything new. I know 99% of you will want to tell me to just back out of this horrible tangle and take a different route, but is there one person out there who can help me get through this nightmare? Thank you! Alex Gemmell |:| Reply-to: alex.gemmell@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:alex.gemmell@xxxxxxxxxx> |:| Or call me for free using Skype: <callto://alex.gemmell/>
