Incompatibilities of ODBC driver and DataDirect driver manager methods with respect to configuration files

There are incompatibilities between the ODBC driver and the DataDirect driver manager with respect to configuration files.

Incompatibilities are as follows:
  • The DataDirect driver manager first searches the home directory of the current user for non-hidden configuration files instead of hidden ones.
  • The DataDirect driver manager next searches the /etc directory instead of the /usr/local/etc directory.
  • The DataDirect driver manager also uses the value of the ODBCINI environment variable to determine the location of the odbc.ini file to use.
To work around the search incompatibilities, use one of the following methods:
  • Separate configuration files in each home directory. Use this method if you want each user of the Linux® or UNIX client system to use a separate set of ODBC configuration files. The Netezza Performance Server ODBC driver searches for hidden configuration files, and the DataDirect driver manager searches for non-hidden files. To overcome this incompatibility, create two soft links in the home directory of each user so that the DataDirect driver manager finds non-hidden files in the home directory and the Netezza Performance Server ODBC driver finds hidden files:
    • A soft link so that the odbcinst.ini file points to the .odbcinst.ini file
    • A soft link so that the odbc.ini file points to the .odbc.ini file
  • Shared configuration files. Use this method if you want all users of the Linux or UNIX client system to use the same set of ODBC configuration files. Configure the NZ_ODBC_INI_PATH environment variable so it specifies the /etc directory, and place the odbcinst.ini and odbc.ini non-hidden configuration files in the /etc directory. The DataDirect driver manager and the Netezza Performance Server ODBC driver can then both find the configuration files in the /etc directory.
  • Two environment variables. Use this method if you want both the Netezza Performance Server ODBC driver and DataDirect driver manager to find the configuration files no matter where they are in the file system. Use the NZ_ODBC_INI_PATH and ODBCINI environment variables together to point to the odbc.ini and odbcinst.ini files anywhere on the file system.