ODBC worksheet

The ODBC interface runs in a network environment and uses the standard Windows ODBC configuration. The ODBC task is capable of data interchange between IWS and any database supporting this interface.

Note: In addition to configuring the ODBC worksheet, you must configure the Windows ODBC standard driver. IWS refers to the User DSN (Data Source Name), which you configure through the Control Panel. For more information, refer to your Windows documentation.

Also, the ODBC interface is not available for projects running on Windows Embedded target systems.

To create a new ODBC worksheet, do one of the following:

On the Insert tab of the ribbon, in the Task Worksheets group, click ODBC;
Right-click the ODBC folder in the Project Explorer, and then click Insert on the shortcut menu; or
Click New on the Application menu, click the File tab, and then select ODBC Worksheet.

To edit an existing ODBC worksheet, double-click it in the Project Explorer.

A new worksheet displays, as follows.

Figure 1. ODBC worksheet

ODBC worksheets are executed under the ODBC Runtime task. However, creating a new worksheet does not automatically enable the task; you must use the Execution Tasks dialog (Tasks on the Home tab of the ribbon) to configure the task to start at runtime. For more information, please see Execution Tasks.

The ODBC worksheet is divided into two areas:

Header area (top section), which contains information for the whole group, defines tags to start read and write events, sets return values, handles database access parameters, and so forth; and
Body area (bottom section), where you define each tag in the group and relate tags to fields in the current register from the database table.

Use the Header parameters on this worksheet as follows:

Description field: Type a description of the worksheet for documentation purposes.
Data Source Name field: Type the same Data Source Name (DNS) specified in the Windows Control Panel containing information about specific database access.
User field: Type a user name to access to the database.
Password field: Type the user's password.
Table field: Type a table name in the database.
Condition field: Type a search condition or filter.
Status field: Type a return value (fill in with a tag name). The tag should report 0 for success and use another value for an error code.
Transaction Completed field: Type a tag that changes value when the transaction is executed.
Select, Next, Insert, Delete, or Update Trigger fields: Type a tag to work as a trigger, where each value change causes the system to execute the corresponding command. At least one trigger field is required.

Use the Body parameters on this worksheet as follows:

Tag Name field: Type the names of tags to update with file contents or tags whose values should be written to a file.
Column: Type the location in which to find data in the file (for example, R3CH corresponds to Row 3, Column H of an Excel sheet)

You must use the Windows Control Panel to set up the ODBC interface for Excel files. The procedure is as follows:

Click the Start > Settings > Control Panel.
When the Control Panel window displays, double-click on the ODBC icon to open the ODBC Data Source Administrator dialog.
In the ODBC Data Source Administrator dialog, click Excel Files in the User Data Sources list, and then click the Configure button.
When the ODBC Microsoft Excel Setup dialog displays, type the Windows configuration name to be used in the DSN field on ODBC worksheet into the Data Source Name field.
Click the Select Workbook button to configure the Excel file you want to use.
Return to the ODBC Data Source Administrator dialog and verify that your User DSN displays in the list. Click OK to close the dialog.
After configuring the ODBC Windows interface, you must configure the project's ODBC worksheets.
From the Tasks tab, insert a new ODBC worksheet.
Be sure you set the ODBC Runtime to start automatically using the Execution Tasks dialog (Tasks on the Home tab of the ribbon).

To start this configuration, you simply need to run the project. Your project will handle the Select, Next, Insert, Delete, and Update triggers to allow data to exchange throughout rows in Excel and tags configured in the worksheet.

Consult your Windows documentation for the meaning of specific error codes.

The following is a list of IWS error codes:

Select command
- 1 - Error in the ODBCPREPARE function.
- 2 - Error in the ODBCBINDCOL function.
- 3 - Error in the ODBCEXECUTE function.
- 4 - Error in the ODBCSETCH function.
Next command
- 5 - Error in the ODBCSETCH function.
Insert command
- 6 - Error in the ODBCPREPARE function.
- 7 - Error in the ODBCEXECUTE function.
- 8 - Error in the ODBCCOMMITE function.
Update command
- 9 - Error in the ODBCPREPARE function.
- 10 - Error in the ODBCEXECUTE function.
- 11 - Error in the ODBCCOMMITE function.
Delete command
- 12 - Error in the ODBCPREPARE function.
- 13 - Error in the ODBCEXECUTE function.
- 14 - Error in the ODBCCOMMITE function.