MATLAB: Does MATLAB return errors when connecting to SQL Server database using Database Toolbox 3.6 (R2009b) on a 64-bit Windows machine

Question

I have a SQL Server database hosted on a remote machine. I am running 32-bit MATLAB version on a 64-bit Windows machine. I have created a System DSN datasource for this database from the ODBC Data Administrator. I am an adminstrator of the local machine and when I execute the 'getdatasources' command, I do not see the created datasource. To locate the data sources available, I executed the following command to make MATLAB use the 'odbc.ini' file, existing in the directory pointed by WINDIR environment variable, and not the registry:

setdbprefs('UseRegistryForSources','no');

Now, when I execute the following command

getdatasources

I get the datasource listed in the results. However, when I try connecting to the created data source, I receive the following error:

 conn.Message = [Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Data source name not
 found and no default driver specified

How do I resolve this issue?

Answer 1

In a 64-bit machine, there are two versions of ODBC drivers. I.e. the 32-bit version and the 64-bit version. So you have to setup the drivers in both places to make it work for both 32-bit and 64-bit applications. The driver that you setup by using control panel (Start - Admin Tools - Data Sources) is for controlling the 64-bit version. However, we need to setup the 32-bit driver since the installed MATLAB is a 32-bit application. To do this, run the following executable:

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe