Understanding Data Sources

A database is a file or server that contains a collection of data. A data source defines the properties which ColdFusion uses to connect to a specific database. You add data sources to your ColdFusion Server so that you can connect to the databases from your ColdFusion applications.

About Open Database Connectivity

Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a standard interface for connecting to a database from an application. Applications that use ODBC must have an ODBC driver installed and configured for each data source.

On Windows, you can check your system's installed drivers by opening the ODBC Data Source Manager in the Windows Control Panel.

On Windows, the installed set of ColdFusion ODBC drivers includes:

Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft Access and FoxPro databases
Borland dBase-compliant databases
Microsoft Excel worksheet data ranges
Borland Paradox Databases
Informix databases
Progress databases
Oracle 8 databases
Centura SQLBase databases
Sybase ASE databases
Delimited text files

You can also use any additional ODBC drivers that are installed on your system.

On UNIX, look in the ODBC page of the ColdFusion Administrator for a list of available ODBC drivers.

A good source of information on ODBC is the ODBC Programmer's Reference at http://www.microsoft.com/data/odbc.

Developing ColdFusion Applications
Querying a Database