Data Source Specification Section - ODBC Driver for Teradata

ODBC Driver for Teradata® User Guide

Product
ODBC Driver for Teradata
Release Number
17.10
Published
October 2021
Language
English (United States)
Last Update
2021-11-02
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B035-2526
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previous
Product Category
Teradata Tools and Utilities

Each data source listed in the ODBC Data Sources section [<data-source-name>] of the odbc.ini file includes its own Data Source Specification section. These sections have the following format:

[<data-source-name>]
Driver=<driver-path>
Keyword=<attribute>

The lines following the data source name define the required and optional attributes.

Depending on how a connection to the driver is established, a keyword-value pair can be specified in a DSN and in a connection string at the same time. In a case like this, the value in the connection string will override the value in the DSN.

Some keywords have synonyms which can be used as an alternative (e.g. USERNAME and UID). If both forms are used (either in a DSN or connection string) then the value assigned to the first form listed below will be used (e.g. if both USERNAME and UID are assigned values then the value assigned to USERNAME will be used and the value assigned to UID will be ignored.

The following table contains the available options that can be entered into the Data Source Specification section.

Keyword/Synonym Description
Driver=<driver-path> [Required] The full path to ODBC Driver for Teradata shared objects.
  • Solaris, Linux, IBM AIX - <Install_Dir>/teradata/client/ODBC/lib/tdataodbc_sb64.so
  • Apple macOS - /Library/Application Support/teradata/client/ODBC/lib/tdataodbc_sb64.dylib
Description=<data-source-desc> [Optional] Descriptive text about the data source.
DBCName=<IP-addr-or-alias> [Required] The IP address or FQDN (fully qualified domain name) of the database server.

When a name is specified, ODBC Driver for Teradata automatically detects associated COP entries. For example, if the name contains a COPx suffix. For more information, see Cop Discovery.

Username=<name>

Or

UID=<name>

[Optional] The default username for logging onto a database server system.
Password=<password>

Or

PWD=<password>

[Optional] The password required for the default Username.
The odbc.ini file has no password security. The password is retained in unencrypted plain text and can be viewed by any user with read-access to the file. Using this feature is not recommended, because it is deprecated.

You can use a Teradata Wallet reference string instead of a plain text password by specifying the $tdwallet() token. For example:

Password=$tdwallet(WalletRefString)

For more information, see Teradata Wallet.

DefaultDatabase=<database-name>

Or

Database=<database-name>

[Optional] The default database associated with the specified data source.

When no value is specified for this field, it is assigned the value of the user name as entered into the Username field.

This field entry can be overridden when a new connection is specified.

All catalog functions are associated with the default database if a table owner is not specified.

UPTMode

Default = NOTSET

Enables Unicode Pass Through Mode for the ODBC Application.

The default value is NOTSET, which means that the UPT Mode set by the database is used. ODBC Driver for Teradata does not send anything to the database when this option is set.

  • UPTON: ODBC Driver for Teradata sends “SET SESSION CHARACTER SET UNICODE PASS THROUGH ON” to the database while connecting, thereby enabling UPT MODE for that session.
  • UPTOFF: ODBC Driver for Teradata sends “SET SESSION CHARACTER SET UNICODE PASS THROUGH OFF” to the database while connecting, thereby disabling UPT MODE for that session.