User Guide

Accessing Data Sources 21
• 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.
Accessing Data Sources
There are two ways to access data sources:
• Add data sources in the ColdFusion Administrator.
You assign a data source name and set all the information required to establish
an ODBC connection. You then use the data source name in any CFML tags that
establish database connections. This technique puts all the information about a
ColdFusion Server’s database connections in a single, easy-to-manage location.
• Specify the database information directly in your CFML tag.
This way you accesses the data source dynamically. It eliminates the need for you
to add a data source for each database on your server. It also allows a ColdFusion
application to run on multiple servers without having to statically configure each
server independently.