Adding an Access data source

Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a standard database access method that allows you to access and modify data from any application, regardless of which database management system is handling the data.

To add a Microsoft Access data source:

1. On the left navigation panel, go to the section Services > ODBC Data Source, then click Add Access Data Source. The ODBC Data Source Add page is displayed.

2. Specify the information on this page as explained in the table below.

3. Click Add. The Access data source is added and is displayed on the List OBDC Data Source page.

Access data source options
Option | Description
Database Configurations
Data Source Name (DSN) | The name used by your script to connect to the source database.
ODBC Driver Name | Microsoft Access Driver is the default driver.
DSN Description | The description of the data source.
Local Database File Name | The full name for the database file.
ODBC Driver Configurations
Page Timeout For Data Caching (1 - 65535) | The period of time (in tenth of a second) that an unused page remains in the buffer. The default value for the Microsoft Access driver is 0.5 seconds. This option applies to all data sources that use the Microsoft Access driver.
Maximum Data Transfer Buffer Size | The size of the internal buffer (in kilobytes) that is used by Microsoft Access to transfer data to and from the disk. The value entered is rounded off to the nearest multiple of 256. The default buffer size is 2048 KB.
Allow Exclusive Access | Select this check box if you do not want to allow shared updates. Note: The database opens in exclusive mode. This limits access to one user at a time and thus improves performance. If this option is not selected, the database opens in Shared mode and can be accessed simultaneously by multiple users.
Allow Read Only Access (Prohibits Database Updates) | Select this check box to designate the database as read-only. This safeguards the database from any updates.
Authorization Section
Connection string Login Name | The login name required to access the database.
Password | The password required to access the database. Note: This option is displayed only while adding a new Access data source or changing the configuration of an existing one.
Advanced Configurations
Maximum Number of Background Threads | The number of background threads that the engine will use. The default value is 3, but you can increase this value if the database has a large amount of activity.
Maximum Number of Rows to Scanned (1-16) | The number of rows to be scanned when setting a column’s data type based on existing data. The default value is 8, but you can choose a number from 1 to 16. If this value is set to 0, all rows are scanned.
Allow Implicit Transaction Commit | Select this check box to allow changes made outside of a transaction to be written to the database.
Allow User Transaction Commit | Select this check box to specify whether the Microsoft Access driver should perform explicit user-defined transactions asynchronously. By default, the check box is selected, meaning that the Microsoft Access driver will wait for commits in a user-defined transaction to be completed.