System DSN Not Appearing in Data Source Options

[DannyDK]

I have gotten shadow tables to work successfully on several machines by setting up external data sources with system DSNs for MySQL databases using Actual Open Source Databases driver. For some reason, there are two machines which, when set up exactly the same way as the others, no DSNs show up in the "Select ODBC Data Source" list in FileMaker.

I have dug deep into the configuration of these machines and can find no differences that would cause this. I have tried several different drivers and set things up in different orders and it is always the case that on certain machines, it just works, on others it does not.

One of the problem machines is running Mac OS 10.4 and the other is Windows Vista. I expect this sort of thing with Windows Vista, but I have set up several other Mac OS 10.4 machines with no problems.

Has anyone else seen this? Any ideas what might be causing this problem?

[Jonathan Monroe]

Is the FM database local on the Mac with the problem, or is the FM database hosted on FM Server (or another machine sharing the database via FM Pro)?

Jonathan Monroe

Actual Technologies - ODBC for Mac OS X

http://www.actualtechnologies.com

[DannyDK]

I did some additional research based on your question, Jonathan, and found that the pattern is different than I thought.

Regardless of the machine in use, I an unable to create or use ODBC connections for shadow tables on a database that is hosted on an FM Server, but when I open the DB locally, everything works great.

Is this by design? I sure hope not.

[Jonathan Monroe]

FM uses the DSN on the machine where the FM database is hosted. If the FM database is hosted in FM Server, then the System DSN's configured on the server will be used. If the FM database is opened locally, then the System DSN's configured on the local machine will be used.

This is a nice feature of ESS. It means you can use ESS on FM Server, and only configure your DSN (and install the ODBC driver) on the server. The DSN does not have to be configured on each client machine.

Jonathan Monroe

Actual Technologies - ODBC for Mac OS X

http://www.actualtechnologies.com

[DannyDK]

That explains the problem. The hosting server is 8.5 which does not have this feature. I incorrectly assumed this was exclusively a client side feature.

So, in order to utilize shadow tables in a hosted file, the hosting server must be running FileMaker Pro Server 9.

Thanks for the help Jonathan!