marc_rabil
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How to Remotely Connect to Microsoft Access via JDBC on a Mac
I am developing a Java web app on a Mac and need to connect to a remote Windows machine that has an MS Access DB file on it. This file is configured as an ODBC data source on that windows machine. Can someone suggest the best way to do this?
Marc
Marc
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Access databases don't support remote connections. Unless you can browse to the Windows machine using standard "browser" techniques (i.e. like Windows Explorer on a Windows machine) then you can't do this. You'd have to move the Access file to the local machine, or move your program to the machine hosting the Access file (or move the data in the Access db to a server-type database, which could be configured to connect remotely).
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I am familiar with OpenLink and EasySoft solutions, but I am looking for a non-commercial approach, if possible.
I'm not sure how those would work, but I do know that you cannot connect to a remote Access database using standard ODBC-type connections. For example, if I have a website that is backed by an Access database, I can't use my local Access installation to open that remote database. I'd have to make a copy of the web db and move it to a location where I could get to it.
The reverse is true also - my website cannot get to the local Access database I have on my workstation (unless, of course, my workstation is on the same network segment as the webserver).
Note that very early on, MSFT provided the Remote Data Objects (RDO) library, which allowed web-hosted Access databases to be accessed by other web sites/programs. I don't know if RDO is even available anymore, but MSFT quickly began to recommend that you NOT try to connect to an Access db in that fashion (corruption was rampant, and it just wasn't worth the effort).
The reverse is true also - my website cannot get to the local Access database I have on my workstation (unless, of course, my workstation is on the same network segment as the webserver).
Note that very early on, MSFT provided the Remote Data Objects (RDO) library, which allowed web-hosted Access databases to be accessed by other web sites/programs. I don't know if RDO is even available anymore, but MSFT quickly began to recommend that you NOT try to connect to an Access db in that fashion (corruption was rampant, and it just wasn't worth the effort).
Certainly i think Access should be avoided wherever possible, local or remote. The only thing it's got going for it probably is its ui.
I would imagine OpenLink have put together some kind of shim to provide a network layer to Access. I would guess others have done the same - Access is rather 'sticky' unfortunately
I would imagine OpenLink have put together some kind of shim to provide a network layer to Access. I would guess others have done the same - Access is rather 'sticky' unfortunately
Still, there'd have to be something running on the machine hosting the Access db in order to provide that product (OpenLink, Easy Soft, etc) with access to the data. If that were the case then I'm sure you could get to the data through those products. If they're running on the users workstation, however, I don't see how they'd be able to manage that. Outside of RDO, as I mentioned earlier, I've never known a product that could remotely connect to an Access db unless the two machines were networked in some way (LAN, VPN, etc).
If these products can connect remotely I'd be very, very interested (and so would a host of other Access developers).
If these products can connect remotely I'd be very, very interested (and so would a host of other Access developers).
Still, there'd have to be something running on the machine hosting the Access db in order to provide that product (OpenLink, Easy Soft, etc) with access to the data.
Definitely. I expect that's exactly what they do
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OpenLink does work in this case
:)
Cool ... did you have to install anything on the remote system, or was everything installed on the machine hosting your Java application? Just curious really ...
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The OpenLink solution has 2 parts - one on the machine with the Java app to provide a JDBC driver and the other on the server with the MS Access file to provide a remote API to it.
Also , on what framework and web server is the Web app running ? Are you using WebObjects ?