ODBC

Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a standard application programming interface (API) for accessing database management systems (DBMS). MapD Core Database supports ODBC connections.

For assistance with downloading MapD ODBC software and utilities, contact your MapD Sales Representative.

Connecting from Microsoft Windows Using ODBC

While there are many ways to connect to ODBC, perhaps the most common is to connect from a Windows 10 client using Tableau or Excel. MapD provides an ODBC connection utility to help you get started.

To configure your ODBC datasource:

  1. Run the MapD Installer Tool provided by your MapD Sales Representative.
  2. Enter the path to the ODBC driver (default is C:\MapD\ODBC\bin\).
  3. Click OK.
  4. Wait for the “SUCCESS!” message. Click OK.
  5. Open your Windows control panel.
  6. Locate and open ODBC Data Source Administrator.
  7. Click Add....
  8. Enter the user Name (for example, mapd), Platform (64-bit), and Driver (MapDDriver).
  9. ODBC Driver DSN Setup. a. Enter an optional Description for your data source. b. Enter the User (for example, MapD). c. Enter the Password for your data source. d. Enter the Host:Port values (for example, myhost.mapd.com:9091). e. Enter the Database name (for example, mapd). f. Enter the Max rows fetched (for example, 50).
  10. Click Test.
  11. Wait for the “Success!” message. Click OK.

Supported ODBC Functions

MapD Core Database supports the following Tier 1 (Core) ODBC functions:

Function Description
SQLAllocHandle Obtains an environment, connection, statement, or descriptor handle.
SQLBindCol SQLBindCol binds application data buffers to columns in the result set.
SQLCloseCursor SQLCloseCursor closes a cursor that has been opened on a statement and discards pending results.
SQLColAttribute SQLColAttribute returns descriptor information for a column in a result set. Descriptor information is returned as a character string, descriptor-dependent value, or an integer value.
SQLColumns SQLColumns returns the list of column names in specified tables. The driver returns this information as a result set on the specified StatementHandle.
SQLConnect SQLConnect establishes a connection between a driver and a data source. The connection handle references storage of all information about the connection to the data source, including status, transaction state, and error information.
SQLCopyDesc SQLCopyDesc copies descriptor information from one descriptor handle to another.
SQLDescribeCol SQLDescribeCol returns the result descriptor for one column in the result set.
SQLDescribeParam SQLDescribeParam returns the description of a parameter marker associated with a prepared SQL statement. This information is also available in the fields of the IPD.
SQLDisconnect SQLDisconnect closes the connection associated with a specific connection handle.
SQLDriverConnect SQLDriverConnect is an alternative to SQLConnect.It supports data sources that require more connection information than the three arguments in SQLConnect, dialog boxes to prompt the user for all connection information, and data sources that are not defined in the system information.
SQLExecDirect SQLExecDirect executes a preparable statement using the current values of the parameter marker variables, if any parameters exist in the statement. SQLExecDirect is the fastest way to submit an SQL statement for one-time execution.
SQLExecute SQLExecute executes a prepared statement using the current values of the parameter marker variables, if any parameter markers exist in the statement.
SQLFetch SQLFetch fetches the next rowset of data from the result set and returns data for all bound columns.
SQLFreeHandle SQLFreeHandle frees resources associated with a specific environment, connection, statement, or descriptor handle.
SQLFreeStmt SQLFreeStmt stops processing associated with a specific statement, closes any open cursors associated with the statement, discards pending results, or, optionally, frees all resources associated with the statement handle.
SQLGetConnectAttr SQLGetConnectAttr returns the current setting of a connection attribute.
SQLGetData SQLGetData retrieves data for a single column in the result set, or for a single parameter after SQLParamData returns SQL_PARAM_DATA_AVAILABLE. You can call it multiple times to retrieve variable-length data in parts.
SQLGetDescField SQLGetDescField returns the current setting or value of a single field of a descriptor record.
SQLGetDescRec SQLGetDescRec returns the current settings or values of multiple fields of a descriptor record. The fields returned describe the name, data type, and storage of column or parameter data.
SQLGetDiagField SQLGetDiagField returns the current value of a field of a record of the diagnostic data structure that contains error, warning, and status information.
SQLGetDiagRec SQLGetDiagRec returns the current values of multiple fields of a diagnostic record that contain error, warning, and status information.
SQLGetEnvAttr SQLGetEnvAttr returns the current setting of an environment attribute.
SQLGetFunctions SQLGetFunctions returns information about whether a driver supports a specific ODBC function. This function is implemented in the Driver Manager and potentially in drivers.
SQLGetInfo SQLGetInfo returns general information about the driver and data source associated with a connection.
SQLGetStmtAttr SQLGetStmtAttr returns the current setting of a statement attribute.
SQLGetTypeInfo SQLGetTypeInfo returns information about data types supported by the data source.
SQLMoreResults SQLMoreResults determines whether more results are available on a statement containing SELECT, UPDATE, INSERT, or DELETE statements and, if so, initializes processing for those results.
SQLNativeSql SQLNativeSql returns the SQL string as modified by the driver. SQLNativeSql does not execute the SQL statement.
SQLNumParams SQLNumParams returns the number of parameters in an SQL statement.
SQLNumResultCols SQLNumResultCols returns the number of columns in a result set.
SQLRowCount SQLRowCount returns the number of rows affected by an UPDATE, INSERT, or DELETE statement.
SQLSetConnectAttr SQLSetConnectAttr sets attributes that govern aspects of connections.
SQLSetDescField SQLSetDescField sets the value of a single field of a descriptor record.
SQLSetDescRec The SQLSetDescRec function sets multiple descriptor fields that affect the data type and buffer bound to a column or parameter data.
SQLSetEnvAttr SQLSetEnvAttr sets attributes that govern aspects of environments.
SQLSetStmtAttr SQLSetStmtAttr sets attributes related to a statement.
SQLStatistics SQLStatistics retrieves a list of statistics about a single table and the indices associated with the table. The driver returns the information as a result set.
SQLTables SQLTables returns the list of table, catalog, or schema names, and table types, stored in a specific data source. The driver returns the information as a result set.

Unsupported ODBC Functions

MapD Core Database does not support the following ODBC functions at this time.

SQLBindParameter
SQLBrowseConnect
SQLCancel
SQLCancelHandle
SQLColumnPrivileges
SQLEndTran
SQLExtendedFetch
SQLFetchScroll
SQLForeignKeys
SQLGetCursorName
SQLSetCursorName
SQLSetPos
SQLSpecialColumns
SQLParamData
SQLPrepare
SQLPrimaryKeys
SQLProcedureColumns
SQLProcedures
SQLPutData
SQLTablePrivileges

Unsupported ODBC Features

MapD Core Database does not support the following ODBC features at this time.

  • Batch statements
  • Multiple result sets
  • Domains
  • Rules
  • Database procedures
  • Indexes
  • Keys
  • Transactions
  • Schemas (any client can see tables and views created by any user without restriction)
  • Rollbacks, checkpoints, or any other type of database recovery

Installing ODBC on Linux

Follow these steps to configure MapD Core Database ODBC connections.

  1. Verify that your Linux installation supports unixODBC.

    Locate the file libodbc.so. It is typically stored in one of the following directories: /lib, /usr/lib, or /usr/local/lib. If you cannot locate the file, download unixODBC for free at unixODBC.org.

  2. Download the MapDODBC.tar file into a scratch directory. The archive contains a set of files and directories similar to the following:

    config/
config/.simba.ultralight.ini
config/odbc.ini
libs/
libs/libODBC.so
ErrorMessages/
ErrorMessages/CBMessages.xml
ErrorMessages/CLIDSIMessages.xml
ErrorMessages/ClientMessages.xml
ErrorMessages/CSCommonMessages.xml
ErrorMessages/JNIDSIMessages.xml
ErrorMessages/MDMessages.xml
ErrorMessages/NetworkMessages.xml
ErrorMessages/ODBCMessages.xml
ErrorMessages/OLEDBMessages.xml
ErrorMessages/ServerMessages.xml
ErrorMessages/SQLEngineMessages.xml

  3. The odbc.ini file configures the location and name of your ODBC DSN (Data Source Name) definition. You can copy odbc.ini to your home director and rename it .odbc.ini (note the leading dot) , or export the ODBCINI environment variable to the path and location of odbc.ini.

  4. Copy the libs/libODBC.so file to the /opt/mapd/ODBC directory.

  5. Copy the files in the ErrorMessages directory to the /opt/mapd/ODBC directory.

  6. The odbc.ini file contains a sample DSN named mapd.

    1. Edit the file so that the Driver attribute contains the path and location of the libODBC.so file from MapD.

    2. Enter the PWD, UID, HOST, DATABASE and MAX_ROWSX attributes according to the specifications of your MapD data source. The following is a working sample odbc.ini file:

      [ODBC Data Sources]
MapD=MapDDriver
[MapD]
Description=Sample 64-bit MapD Driver
Driver=/opt/Mapd/ODBC/libODBC.so
PWD=MyPassword # Enter your real password here
UID=mapd
HOST=localhost:9091
DATABASE=mapd
MAX_ROWS=-1
  7. Copy the .simba.ultralight.ini file to your home directory:
    1. Change the ErrorMessages attribute to the location of the ErrorMessages files copied from the ErrorMessages directory you expanded from the archive.
    2. Add the location of libodbcinst.soto LD_LIBARARY_PATH, or add the directory location to .simba.ultralight.ini.

    The following is a sample simba.ultralight.ini file:

    ## Note that this default DriverManagerEncoding of UTF-32 is for iODBC.
## unixODBC uses UTF-16 by default.
## If unixODBC was compiled with -DSQL_WCHART_CONVERT, then UTF-32 is the correct value.
## Execute 'odbc_config --cflags' to determine if you need UTF-32 or UTF-16 on unixODBC
DriverManagerEncoding=UTF-16
DriverLocale=en-US
ErrorMessagesPath=/opt/mapd/ODBC/ErrorMessages
LogLevel=0
LogNamespace=
LogPath=
ODBCInstLib=/usr/local/lib/libodbcinst.so

  8. Test your connection. UnixODBC has an isql utility that lets you query the MapD Core Database. When you connect to the mapd DSN, you receive the following prompt:

    isql -v mapd
+---------------------------------------+
| Connected!                            |
|                                       |
| sql-statement                         |
| help [tablename]                      |
| quit                                  |
|                                       |
+---------------------------------------+
SQL>

    Installation is complete. You can begin using your ODBC connection.