ODBC Driver for Microsoft Access

Connection String Parameters - ODBC Driver for Microsoft Access

Microsoft Access ODBC Connection String Parameters

The following table lists the connection string parameters for Microsoft Access.

Parameter	Description
`Database`	The full path to the database to connect to.
Advanced Settings
`Allow NULL strings`	To retrieve metadata, not all parameters according to MSDN can accept a null value. If `NULL`, the driver should return an error. But some 3rd-party tools pass `NULL` to the parameters. These options should be enabled for compatibility with such tools.
`Empty strings as NULL`
`Character Set`	Specifies the encoding for storing textual data in the database. Used for handling databases in older Access formats (e.g. Access 97) that lack Unicode support.
`Exclusive Lock`	If set to `True`, this parameter enforces a single-user access mode for the database. Even with `ReadOnly` set to `True`, only one user is able to access the database at a time. The default value is `False`. The `Exclusive Lock` parameter is mutually exclusive with the `Shared Mode` parameter. These parameters cannot be set to `True` simultaneously.
`Read Only`	By default, Microsoft Access is a single-user database system. The connector implements a read-only multi-user mode to enable several users to read data from the database simultaneously. The possible values are `True` and `False`. The default value is `False`. By setting `ReadOnly` to `True`, two or more users are able to access the database simultaneously, however only in the `ReadOnly` mode.
`ODBC Behavior`	Used to set the behavior corresponding to the ODBC specification version that a third-party tool expects. The behavior of ODBC driver can be changed by setting a value for the `SQL_ATTR_ODBC_VERSION` attribute by calling the `SQLSetEnvAttr` function. But some third-party tools expect the driver to exhibit ODBC 2.x behavior, but forget to call SQLSetEnvAttr with the specified version or pass an incorrect value there. In this case, the required behavior can be explicitly specified in the `Connection String` by setting the ODBC Behavior parameter. The possible values are: `Default` - Default ODBC behavior determined by a third-party tool. `Ver 2.x` - ODBC 2.x behavior is explicitly set. `Ver 3.x` - ODBC 3.x behavior is explicitly set.
`RegionalNumberSettings`	Enables the use of local regional settings when converting numbers to strings.
`RegionalDateTimeSettings`	Enables the use of local regional settings when converting dates and times to strings.
`Shared Mode`	If set to `True`, multiple connections can use the same database simultaneously. In this case, all database read and write operations are coordinated using appropriate database file locks at the operating system level. This prevents simultaneous conflicting database operations that could compromise data integrity. If simultaneous database operations conflict, the system returns an error that the application can handle. The `Shared Timeout` parameter determines how long the system waits before returning the error. The `Shared Mode` parameter is mutually exclusive with the `Exclusive Lock` parameter. These parameters cannot be set to `True` simultaneously. The `Shared Mode` parameter is now available only on Windows. The default value is `False`.
`Shared Timeout`	Specifies the timeout (in milliseconds) before an error is returned if concurrent operations conflict in `Shared Mode`. The default value is `5000`.
`String Types`	Sets the string value types returned by the driver as `Default`, `Ansi` or `Unicode`. `Default` - the driver defines the string types. `Ansi` - all string types will be returned as `SQL_CHAR`, `SQL_VARCHAR` and `SQL_LONGVARCHAR`. `Unicode` - all string types will be returned as `SQL_WCHAR`, `SQL_WVARCHAR` and `SQL_WLONGVARCHAR`. The parameter value should be changed if any third-party tool supports only `Ansi` string types or `Unicode` ones.

Microsoft Access ODBC Connection String sample

DRIVER=Devart ODBC Driver for Microsoft Access;Database=fullpathtoyourdatabase

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