CF 9 + Access + Vista

Report · Feb 04, 2010

I noticed the following footnotes on the ColdFusion 9 Systems Support Matrix PDF, and I’m not 100% clear on what they mean:

“Microsoft Access 2007 will be supported only via the ODBC Socket driver. ODBC Socket data sources do not work on Windows Vista.”

If I have CF 9 installed on a dedicated server running some version of Windows Server + an Access 2007 database that the CF scripts pull from for data (also on that server) + my own machine running Windows Vista. Will that all work together okay?

I guess my question is: does “OBDC Socket data sources do not work on Windows Vista” only apply if the CF software is running on a Vista machine?

(And no disparaging comments necessary about my still using Access. This is a development-only CF set-up where Access still seems to do its job just fine.)

Thanks!

Report · Feb 04, 2010

(And no disparaging comments necessary about my still using Access. This is a development-only CF set-up where Access still seems to do its job just fine.)
Thanks!

Other than - like - from what you say it might not work on your set up, you mean.

😉

Even in a dev CF environment, one will be learning new skills with the DB platform of choice all the time. And learning new skills on Access is a waste of time, because Access is a waste of time.

See: there is never an occasion when disparaging comments about Access aren't necessary!

--

Adam

Report · Feb 04, 2010

OR... it may give me a solid reason not to have to "upgrade" to Vista. It's more likely that I'd be kept on Windows XP than that we'd convert from Access to another DB platform.

I'm actually running CF MX7 on a Windows Server with Access 2007 and Windows XP right now. I'm just trying to prepare for future possibilities.

Report · Feb 04, 2010

OR... it may give me a solid reason not to have to "upgrade" to Vista. It's more likely that I'd be kept on Windows XP than that we'd convert from Access to another DB platform.

Quite. What do they say about Windows7? That would be the more realistic upgrade path now wouldn't it?

That said, I actually prefer Vista to 7, but I am in a minority there 😉

And I note you say "we". So that suggests it's not just your dev environment like you suggested... you've actually got some CF application being backed by Access? Oh dear.

--

Adam

Report · Feb 04, 2010

No... just the dev environment. That was more of a royal "we" - I was thinking that my manager wouldn't agree to pay for a new DB platform if I already have Access for "free."

Report · Feb 04, 2010

SQL Server Express is free. So is MySQL. So is PostgresSQL (or whatever it is). So is ORACLE, for developers. CF ships with Derby, so it's "free" for all intents and purposes (it's free anyhow).

Whereas one actually does have to pay for Access.

Go figure.

--

Adam

Report · Feb 08, 2010

Back when I was using Access for "quick and dirty" testing and experimentation I thought I was getting by OK. The lesson I learned is that when I try to use a real database I get tripped up by all the crappy habbits I learned when using Access.

I must admit that I did not fully understand how bad Access is until I became proficient in a real database. Now I cringe at the thought of using or maintaining an Access database.

The sooner you move to a better platform the better off you will be.

Report · May 12, 2010

Try the first comment in this blog post.

Works on my 64-bit Windows 7:

http://blog.crankybit.com/msaccess2007-and-cf8/

You can use JDBC to connect Access 2007.

- Select “other” for DSN in CF admin,
- JDBC URL: jdbc:odbc:Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)};DBQ=c:/od/test.accdb;”;
- Driver Class: sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver

But this config does not support Unicode as expected.

Ken Ford