User Guide

Adding data sources 39
Adding data sources
In the ColdFusion MX Administrator, you configure your data sources to communicate with
ColdFusion. Once you add a data source to the Administrator, you access it by name in any
CFML tag that establishes database connections; for example,
cfquery. During a query, the data
source tells ColdFusion which database to connect to and what parameters to use for the
connection.
The ColdFusion MX Administrator organizes all the information about a ColdFusion MX
server’s database connections in a single, easy-to-manage location. In addition to adding new data
sources, you can use the Administrator to specify changes to your database configuration, such as
relocation, renaming, or changes in security permissions.
Adding data sources in the Administrator
You use the ColdFusion MX Administrator to quickly add a data source for use in your
ColdFusion applications. When you add a data source, you assign it a data source name (DSN)
and set all information required to establish a connection.
Note: ColdFusion MX includes several data sources that are configured by default, including
cfsnippets, CompanyInfo, and exampleapps. This procedure should not be necessary to work with
these data sources.
To add a data source:
1 In the ColdFusion MX Administrator, select Data & Services > Data Sources.
2 Under Add New Data Source, enter a Data Source Name; for example, MyTestDSN. The
following names are reserved. You cannot use them for data source names:
■ service
■ jms_provider
■ comp
■ jms
3 Select a Driver from the drop-down list box; for example, Microsoft SQL Server.
Microsoft Access with Unicode
support
2 “Connecting to Microsoft Access with Unicode”
on page 46
Microsoft SQL Server 7.x, 2000 4 “Connecting to Microsoft SQL Server 7.x, 2000”
on page 47
MySQL 4 “Connecting to MySQL” on page 48
ODBC Socket 3 “Connecting to ODBC Socket” on page 50
Oracle R3 (8.1.7), Oracle 9i 4 “Connecting to Oracle R3 (8.1.7), Oracle 9i”
on page 51
Other “Connecting to other data sources” on page 52
Sybase 11.5, 11.9, 12.0, 12.5 4 “Connecting to Sybase 11.5, 11.9, 12.0, and 12.5”
on page 54
Driver Type Reference