Ole Db Drivers; Adding Data Sources For Coldfusion - MACROMEDIA COLDFUSION 4.5-ADMINISTRING COLDFUSION SERVER Manual

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OLE DB Drivers

ColdFusion developers can now access a range of new data stores through Microsoft
OLE DB, including:
MAPI-based data stores such as Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Mail
Non-relational data stores, such as Lotus Notes
LDAP 2.0 data
Data from OLE applications like word processors and spreadsheets
Mainframe data
HTML and text files, flat-file data
Developers running ColdFusion Server on Windows NT who want to access Microsoft
Access or SQL should especially consider using OLE DB instead of ODBC.
Before ColdFusion can use OLE DB to access data stores, you must install an OLE DB
provider, available from third-party vendors. The provider software handles data
processing in response to requests from the OLE DB consumer, in this case
ColdFusion.
Performance gains can be made by running an OLE DB provider, instead of an ODBC
driver, to process SQL. This depends on how the provider implements the data call.
Some providers route OLE DB calls through the ODBC Driver Manager, while others go
directly to the database. Providers that go directly to the database are akin to native
drivers in providing an alternative to ODBC. Providers are available for all the major
relational DBMS products as well as the data stores listed above.
ColdFusion server comes with a provider, Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC)
2.1. MDAC 2.1 contains the ODBC/OLE DB subsystem as well as drivers for all
Microsoft data types, including Access and SQL Server. After you install ColdFusion
Server, you can install MDAC 2.1 from the ColdFusion Server Start menu by choosing
Start > Programs > ColdFusion Server 4.5 > Install Microsoft Data Access Components.
Note
You can confirm that OLE DB drivers are installed by searching for
"Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB" in the registry using REGEDIT.EXE – if you find it, you likely
have the proper driver installed.
OLE DB is a Microsoft specification. For more information, including a list of provider
vendors, visit the Microsoft OLE DB site at http://www.microsoft.com/data/oledb/.

Adding Data Sources for ColdFusion

The process for adding a data source in the ColdFusion Administrator is the same, no
matter what type of driver you're using (ODBC, Native, or OLE DB).
Before you install MDAC, stop all unnecessary services, such as web
servers, virus scanning programs, or mail servers.
Administering ColdFusion Server