StarQuest Technical Documents

How to Distribute StarSQL Data Source(s) to Your Users

Last Update: 26 June 2008
Product: StarSQL
Version: 5.x
Article ID: SQV00SQ003

Abstract

StarSQL ships with an administrative tool (dsimport) that allows you to distribute data sources to your users. It eliminates the painstaking chore of manually reproducing data sources on each desktop in an enterprise environment. This technical document explains how to use dsimport.

Solution

There are two main ways to distribute data sources using dsimport. Both methods require that you install StarSQL on a test system, create the desired data sources, and export the registry entries for the given data sources. Once you have the exported data source registry file, you have two options:

  1. Copy the resulting registry file to the client machines and import the data sources by running dsimport manually.
  2. Include the data source file in a silent installation image, which will result in the data sources being automatically imported during the installation. For information on creating an installable image, refer to the technical document Creating a Custom StarSQL Installable Image.

Step 1: Install StarSQL and create the data sources.

You need to create and test the StarSQL data source(s) on the same platform that is used by the target clients. In other words, if the target clients run Windows XP, you must use a create the data sources to be distributed on a Windows XP system.

  1. Install StarSQL on the test system.
  2. Using the ODBC Data Source Administrator (typically found in Control Panel, Administrative Tools), create one or more StarSQL User or System data sources that you wish to distribute to your client desktops.

Step 2: Export the data source registry entries.

  1. Click the Start button and select Run.

  2. In the command field, enter "regedit".

  3. In the Registry Editor, locate the ODBC.INI key that contains the data sources.

    For User data sources: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ODBC\ODBC.INI
    For System data sources: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBC.INI

  4. Highlight the appropriate ODBC.INI and, from the File menu, choose Export.

  5. Select 'Win9x/NT 4 Registration Files' as the Save as type.

  6. Save the file as DSIMPORT.TXT.

Step 3: Modify registry file to remove nonessential data sources (optional).

If you only want to import a particular data source and not all of the data sources in the file, you can edit the DSIMPORT.TXT at this time.

  1. Open the DSIMPORT.TXT file in a text editor, such as Notepad.
  2. The contents of the file may look something like this:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBC.INI]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBC.INI\DB2PROD]
"AutoTypDefNam"="QTDSQL400"
"AutoTypDefOvr"="37,0,0"
"UID"="DB2USER"
"Driver"="C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\swodbc32.dll"
"Server"="DB2PROD"
"CatQual"="QSYS2"
"PkgColId"="STARSQL"
"Netlib"="SWTCP32.DLL"
"ReadOnly"="No"
"UseStaticMatch"="N"
"AutoBind"="N"
"Capture"="N"
"CaptureDDL"="N"
"ParameterMarkersOnly"="N"
"CaptureQryOnly"="N"
"SpecialColumns"="Y"
"CmdBufSiz"="32767"
"QryBufSiz"="32767"
"HostSec"="NO"
"StrictParsing"="Y"
"EE"="N"
"TwoPC"="N"
"WaitSess"="No"
"HostName"="PRODSYS"
"Port"="446"
"LiteralConversion"="Y"
"AllowSynonyms"="Y"
"TimeStampAsChar"="?"
"IncludeSynonyms"="Y"
"FetchAhead"="Y"
"KeepDynamic"="Y"
"SupDynRul"="N"
"LongStrParams"="N"
"AccessibleTables"="N"
"AutoSqlSet"="N"
"AccessFix1"="N"
"CacheUID"="Y"
"FoldUIDPWD"="N"
"NMFix"="N"
"UseEncryption"="N"
"CharacterSubstitution"="W"
"UseJumboPackages"="N"
"CustomizePrdid"="N"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBC.INI\ODBC Data Sources]
"DB2PROD"="StarSQL 32"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBC.INI\ODBC File DSN]
"DefaultDSNDir"="C:\\Program Files\\Common Files\\ODBC\\Data Sources"

  • The items in bold are necessary for dsimport to work. The area in between the bolded items are unique to each data source.
  • You may remove any StarSQL data source configurations that you do not wish to deploy. Note that dsimport will ignore any non-StarSQL entries therefore you do not need to remove them from the file.
  • If any StarSQL data sources are removed, be sure to also remove the data source names from the list under the [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBC.INI\ODBC Data Sources] heading.

Step 4: Import the StarSQL data sources.

  1. If you already have StarSQL installed on the client computer, copy DSIMPORT.TXT into the \Program Files\StarQuest\StarSQL\Programs directory and run dsimport.exe.
  2. Otherwise, you can include DSIMPORT.TXT in the silent installation image as instructed in the technical document Creating a Custom StarSQL Installable Image. During installation, the data sources you defined in DSIMPORT.TXT will be created.

DISCLAIMER

The information in technical documents comes without any warranty. The author(s) or distributor(s) will not accept responsibility for any damage incurred directly or indirectly through use of the information contained in these documents. The information in technical documents may be gathered from various sources, including IBM, Microsoft, and other organizations.