Connecting to ORACLE from VB

[subhavs]

Hello everyone ...

Is there a way that I can establish connections to the ORACLE database from a VB application without using the TNSNAMES.ORA file (ie. without having to install Net8 on individual machines) ?

I read somewhere that I can directly use the ODBC connections. How can I do this ?

Also, what are the components that need to be installed / present on the machines ?

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

- Subha

 

[WP]

Try searching the forum.

I did this and found :

http://www.tek-tips.com/gviewthread.cfm/lev2/4/lev3/27/pid/186/qid/6483

Bill Paton
william.paton@ubsw.com

http://www.neptune400.co.uk/

Check out my website !

 

[scottgp]

Subha,
In my experience, and according to both the Oracle8 ODBC Driver and OraOLEDB documentation, the Net8 Client software is required.

Scott P.

 

[subhavs]

Scott,

I thought so too, until I found this article that said that there are some drivers that do not require SQL*Net, but instead they use the underlying TCP/IP protocol to talk to ORACLE.

Here's my actual problem - I have PeopleSoft applications on a machine that connect to ORACLE 8.0.4. I am working on a VB application that will connect to ORACLE 8.1.6 and has to be deployed on the same machine. The PeopleSoft apps are very critical to the company and there is no way that my VB app should mess with any of their drivers (I cannot do ORACLE upgrade also). So, I cannot use ODBC or SQL*Net that is native to the machine.

I hope I have explained my problem clearly.

This is the reason why I need to bypass the Net8 stuff. Do you have any suggestions ?

Thanks much for the feedback.

- Subha

 

[scottgp]

Subha,
Sorry, no other suggestions other than perhaps trying out both apps on a test machine to see if they actually interfere with each other.
The only driver I've heard of that doesn't require Net8 are JDBC drivers. I'd be interested in seeing that article you mentioned if you can find it.
Scott

 

[DBAwhosaysNIE]

why can't you just add a TNS entry for the 8.1.6 service? an 8.0.x client can talk to an 8.1.x instance (I have several users doing it) and it's a completely benign operation (provided of course that you don't delete/update existing service definitions).

you could install an 8.1.x client in a separate home but IMHO that's actually more of a risk than adding the 8.1.6 service to the 8.0.4 tnsnames.ora.

the only other option I know of (as scottgp said) is JDBC (specifically thin; thick uses OCI & therefore Net8).

 

[subhavs]

Scott - here's the article that I was referring to :

http://www.orafaq.org/faqodbc.htm.

Look for the answer under "Do I need SQL*Net to connect to Oracle via ODBC ?" I also took your advice and have requested for a test machine.

DBAwhosaysNIE - Thanks for the input. I will just include the service name (of 8.1.6) in the already existing TNSNAMES.ORA and see what happens. Please correct me if I am wrong - this option mentioned above still uses the Net8 that came in with 8.0.4. It does not need to be upgraded, right ?

Thanks guys for all the help,

- Subha