Why is the TCP/IP section disabled in the ODBC Network tab?

[Breck_Carter]

Why is the "TCP/IP Protocol Options:" section disabled in the 12.0.2601 ODBC Administrator - Network tab?

Here is the working DSN...

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\ODBC\\ODBC.INI\\ddd12_on_Envy_connect_to_ddd12b]
"Driver"="C:\\\\PROGRA~1\\\\SQLANY~3\\\\Bin32\\\\dbodbc12.dll"
"UID"="dba"
"PWD"="sql"
"DatabaseName"="ddd12b"
"ServerName"="ddd12_on_Envy"
"Integrated"="NO"
"Host"="192.168.1.101:2638"

Here is the Login tab, showing that the Action: is set to "Connect to a running database on another computer:"

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

You've specified a host and port on the Login page. The HOST parameter trumps all other network parameters and you can't specify both HOST and LINKS in the same connection string.

[Breck_Carter · Accepted solution]

Ohhhh, it is the HOST connection parameter, not the HOST protocol option. Well, that's confusing... and the GUI is rather unclear. I guess you get the green check mark, though 🙂

[VolkerBarth]

This is not an answer, but I agree with Breck that the V12 connection dialog is somewhat confusing for experienced SA users.

In older versions, I usually use primarily ENG and DBN to specify the database I'm about to connect to, and usually choose an existing DSN for common usage.

In V12, in case not all necessary information is given (say, you want to add the DBA password interactively), I have often experienced that the action type changes inappropriately between different attempts to add information. - E.g., you were about to start a local database and forget to specify the DBKEY parameter, and then the action combo box turns to a different action...

Guess I will have to put together a reproducable:)

---

That being said, I really appreciate the efforts to make the connection dialog "easier". It just seems not too easy to do so for all cases:)

[Breck_Carter]

@Volker: I agree about the "easier" part, in spite of my rants. If I didn't use it, I wouldn't mention it. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't yell so much about the [cough] features 🙂

[graeme_perrow]

If your DSN is set for "Connect to a running database on this computer" or "Start and connect to a database on this computer", we disable the TCP options because you will be using shared memory.

The TCP options are also disabled if you specify something in the Host field, since you cannot use the HOST and LINKS connection parameters together.

[Breck_Carter]

It was ""Connect to a running database on another computer". I have added an image to the question.

[Breck_Carter]

Besides... local connections CAN use TCP/IP, can't they? Shared Memory can be turned off? Boy, I'm confused now ( as if I haven't always been 🙂

[graeme_perrow]

Yes, you can use shmem for local connections, but shmem is almost always faster. The client doesn't distinguish between TCP connections to the local machine vs. TCP connections to a remote machine, so if you want to use TCP for local connections, you need to pretend it's a remote computer. For the host, specify the hostname, real IP address, "localhost", or 127.0.0.1.

[VolkerBarth]

@Graeme: So I would have to use "a remote computer" when to connect locally on a Windows 2008 server with SA running as a "local system" service? (As that setup prevents shmem with such services, AFAIK).

[graeme_perrow]

@Volker: Yes, that's right.

[johnsmirnios]

If SA is running as a local system service, shared memory should work. If you have experienced otherwise with software less that a couple years old, please let me know.

[Breck_Carter]

@John: How about the SQL Anywhere Monitor that ships in the box? 🙂