Easysoft Data Access is a series of programs that allow you to have heterogeneous access to any database on any platform.
With Easysoft software you can connect applications on more platforms to more database systems than ever before.
This section explains what the Easysoft SQI-Zortec System Z Driver is and how it works.
System Z is a 4GL programming language which allows easy and rapid development of applications that run on multiple platforms, and the conversion of programs written in BASIC, COBOL and MAPPER to System Z applications.
System Z applications can be run on a variety of Windows and Unix platforms, and from Web browsers. You need only have one set of source code for both the GUI and character-based versions of your software.
System Z can read a wide variety of database formats, from ISAM-based databases to relational databases.
This platform and database independence results in a programming language which allows the development of applications that are portable to almost any environment.
The Easysoft SQI-Zortec System Z Driver is an ODBC 3.5 driver which enables direct access to System Z data using ODBC-compliant applications such as Microsoft Access, enabling you to view, add, modify and delete data via your favorite ODBC-compliant application, rather than via a System Z application interface.
For example, if you want to load your data into Microsoft Excel for reporting or updating purposes, the Easysoft SQI-Zortec System Z Driver makes this possible.
The Easysoft SQI-Zortec System Z Driver provides:
Easysoft reads the data dictionary (DD.dat) on-the-fly, so you do not need to specify the data structure manually.
This also means that any user-defined tables are automatically detected, and when you upgrade your System Z installation Easysoft automatically picks up any changes in the System Z files.
On its own, the Easysoft SQI-Zortec System Z Driver enables you to access your System Z data from an ODBC-compliant application on the same machine.
However, you can use the Easysoft SQI-Zortec System Z Driver in conjunction with other Easysoft Data Access products to enable cross-platform data access:
For example, if your System Z data is stored on a Unix machine, and you want to access the data from Microsoft Access on a networked PC, then the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge makes this possible.
For example, the Easysoft JDBC-ODBC Bridge allows access to remote System Z data on a networked Windows NT machine from a Java Applet running on a separate machine.
Each System Z application has a data dictionary which defines the structure of that application's data. When you select a function in your ODBC-compliant application which involves accessing the System Z data, the function passes from the application into the driver manager which loads the Easysoft SQI-Zortec System Z Driver and passes the SQL query to it. The driver directly accesses the data dictionary to determine the structure of the data, then converts the SQL statement into commands that can query the data, returning the results back to the ODBC-compliant application:
With a cross-platform solution, the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge or Easysoft JDBC-ODBC Bridge transfers the SQL query from one platform to another and passes it to the Easysoft SQI-Zortec System Z Driver, which accesses the data dictionary and returns the results (via the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge or Easysoft JDBC-ODBC Bridge) to the ODBC or JDBC application:
In both the local and cross-platform solutions, a driver manager sits between the ODBC or JDBC application and the Easysoft SQI-Zortec System Z Driver.
The driver manager enables you to have multiple drivers set up simultaneously and is responsible for loading the appropriate driver at runtime.
On Windows machines, the Microsoft ODBC driver manager is provided by default.
Easysoft recommend using the unixODBC driver manager on Unix machines. This is provided with the Easysoft SQI-Zortec System Z Driver distribution and can be set up and configured during the installation routine described in "Installing on Unix" on page 45.
For more information about the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge or the Easysoft JDBC-ODBC Bridge, please visit the Easysoft web site at http://www.easysoft.com.
You can find out more information about unixODBC from the unixODBC Project web site at http://www.unixodbc.org.
To install and configure the Easysoft SQI-Zortec System Z Driver:
1. Install the Easysoft SQI-Zortec System Z Driver on the server (and optionally the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge server or Easysoft JDBC-ODBC Bridge server), which also optionally creates a data source on the server to point to your System Z data (see "What to install" on page 25).
2. License the Easysoft SQI-Zortec System Z Driver, which also automatically licenses the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge (see "Licensing on Windows" on page 37 or "Licensing on Unix" on page 49).
3. Enable users and grant them access to your System Z data (see "Administration" on page 75).
4. Optionally, install the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge client on the machine of each Zortec System Z user (see "Installing the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge client" on page 86).
5. Optionally, create a data source on each of your client machines to connect to your System Z data via the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge (see "Setting up a data source on your Windows client" on page 87).
The installation of the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge and the Easysoft JDBC-ODBC Bridge are explained briefly in this manual, but for full details please refer to the product-specific documentation.
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