Binaryworld - Read and write File ODBC data sources ... [ VB -> Database ]

A file DSN is nothing but a text file that contains all the parameters for an ODBC connection. To prove this, just go to the default directory that holds all File DSNs (this is the \Program Files\Common Files\ODBC\Data Sources directory on Windows's boot drive) and load any .dsn file into a text editor such as Notepad. For example, this is the typical contents of such a file:

Click here to copy the following block

[ODBC]
DRIVER=SQL Server
UID=sa
DATABASE=pubs
WSID=P2
APP=Visual Basic
SERVER=(local)
Description=Pubs in local SQL Server

That said, it's pretty easy to manually write a Visual Basic procedure that creates a File DSN. For example, the following routine creates a connection to any database on the local SQL Server, using the provided username and password:

Click here to copy the following block

' create a File DSN that points to a SQL Server database
'
' if ServerName is omitted, it connects to the local SQL Server

Sub CreateSQLServerDSN(ByVal DSNFile As String, ByVal DatabaseName As String, _
  ByVal UserName As String, ByVal Password As String, _
  Optional ByVal ServerName As String, Optional ByVal Description As String)
  Dim fnum As Integer
  Dim isOpen As Boolean

  On Error GoTo ErrorHandler

  fnum = FreeFile
  Open DSNFile For Output As #fnum
  isOpen = True

  Print #fnum, "[ODBC]"
  Print #fnum, "DRIVER=SQL Server"
  Print #fnum, "UID=" & UserName
  Print #fnum, "DATABASE=" & DatabaseName
  Print #fnum, "SERVER=" & IIf(ServerName = "", "(local)", ServerName)
  If Not IsMissing(Description) Then
    Print #fnum, "DESCRIPTION=" & Description
  End If

  Close #fnum
  Exit Sub

ErrorHandler:
  If isOpen Then Close #fnum
  Err.Raise Err.Number, , Err.Description

End Sub