FW: postgresql & iodbc HOWTO document thoughts

Does anyone have some time to look at a documentation update based on
the comments from Tim Haynes below?

Regards, Dave.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pavel Cenek [mailto:xcenek@fi.muni.cz]
> Sent: 09 February 2005 15:50
> To: thaynes@openlinksw.co.uk
> Cc: Dave Page; iodbc@openlinksw.com
> Subject: Re: postgresql & iodbc HOWTO document thoughts
>
> Hello Tim (and others involved). I no longer work with
> postgresql (and
> databases in general) and I cannot maintain the document
> anymore. I will
> be pleased if anybody else could update and maintain it.
>
> Regards
>
>     Pavel
>
>
>
> Tim Haynes wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I just saw your document at
> >
> <http://gborg.postgresql.org/project/psqlodbc/genpage.php?howt
> o-redhat>,
> > and have a couple of thoughts you might like incorporate.
> >
> > First, compiling odbctest.c: you could explain that iODBC
> incorporates
> > an `iodbc-config' script which gives the required compiler
> options for
> > cflags and libs, hence a guaranteed way to be able to
> compile an iODBC
> > application regardless of where iODBC is installed, is:
> >
> >     gcc -c odbctest.c `iodbc-config --cflags`
> >     gcc -o odbctest odbctest.o `iodbc-config --libs`
> >
> > (as long as iodbc-config is in your PATH).
> >
> > Second, the odbctest utility is now known as iodbctest, and
> is actually
> > included in the RPM, with source in /usr/share/libiodbc/samples/.
> >
> > You might want to combine these points from the angle that, when
> > presented with a newly installed RPM package, it can be
> handy to see
> > what binaries it presents:
> >     rpm -ql libiodbc-devel | grep bin/
> >     rpm -ql libiodbc | grep bin/
> >
> >
> > Third, the location of the odbc.ini depends on how the package was
> > compiled. The configure script in the source archive has several
> > parameters to govern the location of this file:
> >
> > `--with-layout=' and one of `gentoo', `redhat', `gnu',
> `debian' or `opt';
> >
> > `--sysconfdir=DIR' which defaults to $PREFIX/etc/ (hence
> > /usr/local/etc/odbc.ini in some of our documentation);
> >
> > `--with-iodbc-inidir=DIR' for the directory to contain
> odbc.ini - by
> > default, /etc.
> >
> > These are all possible default locations designed to work
> around the
> > multitude of different OSs on which iODBC runs, and to
> avoid conflict
> > with any other driver manager installed thereon. As with
> compiling, you
> > can use `iodbc-config --odbcini' to state the authoritative
> default on
> > the platform in question.
> >
> > In all cases, the environment variable ODBCINI, when set to
> a full path
> > to a file, will be searched first.
> >
> >
> > Fourth, the DSN parameter `ServerType=postgres' looks a bit
> unlikely. A
> > quick grep of the sources does not show the word
> `servertype' present at
> > all; it's the sort of thing that may originate in OpenLink
> Multi-Tier
> > drivers, so has some confusion of odbc.ini files happened here?
> >
> >
> > As an idea, have you encountered any further points of
> confusion (such
> > as the `DSN=' on the start of the ODBC connection string),
> that we could
> > maybe highlight in the iODBC FAQ
> > (<http://www.iodbc.org/index.php?page=docs/faq>)?
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > ~Tim
>