Hitting an Oracle view

I have been asked to include a view from our Oracle system in one of my SQL queries. As a programmer I can write querries all day long, but I have no administration skills.

Can someone just give me the basics on creating this ability? On my development system I have installed the Oracle client and configured an ODBC driver that points to the Oracle views. This has allowed me to create a linked table in Access, but I have never attempted to port this to SQL Server 2k.

I assume I just load the drivers on the production system as before, but do I then use an ODBC driver again, or is there a better method with SQL Server? If its the ODBC method, then how do I add a linked table in SQL?

Sorry for the basic questions, and I really appreciate any help.

Thansks,

RobI'd suggest just using the Microsoft provided drivers unless you need specific Oracle functionality. It makes life a lot simpler in the long run.

Just use Enterprise Mangler or sp_addlinkedserver to make the Oracle server a linked server from your SQL Server, and life ought to be lovely. I don't remember needing to add any drivers to make it work, but I almost always use the Enterprise Edition of MS-SQL so I'm not always aware of what ships/installs with other editions.

-PatP|||Thanks for that tip - I have looked into sp_addlinkedserver and I can probably figure it out, but using the mangler just seems easier to me. If I start up the register server wizard, it seems to only be looking for SQL servers. I don't see any way to change the provider. Is it possible that the developer edition I am using doesn't have the functionality?|||Like so:

-PatPsql

Hit Outlook contacts database (API?)

I am not really sure what an API is and am about to do some research. However, I think the solution to my problem will include some knowledge of APIs.

I need to be able to access Outlook's contacts with my web app. Can someone point me into the right direction to instructions on how to do this?

ThanksYou could create a linked server and go from there (or use ADO/Active X script in DTS). Check this link out:

http://www.slipstick.com/dev/database.htmsql

Hiding/Collapsing Report Sections

I have lot of information to display on one report. I am trying to come up with a reasonable layout, that could include all the information on one page without over whelming the user. Essentially I would like to divide the report in three sections, ideally with a collapse/expand functionality. Is it possible with Reporting services. How?

- Section1 Heading....(Expanded/Visible)

<Table, text boxes, lists go here>

<data region>

<data region>

<...>

<...>

+ Section2 Heading (Collapsed/Hidden)

<Table and other data regions are hidden>

+ Section3 Heading (Collapsed/Hidden)

<Table and other data regions are hidden>

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks.

DNG

This is possible using the visibility and toggle properties of report items. Experiment with tables, one for each section. You can add extra header/footer rows as appropriate for your lists and other fields. The same can also be accomplished using rectangles, but I haven't heard good results on the layout of rectangles when rendered in production. It all depends on how the report will be laid out, but in the end, the primary properties are visibility and toggle.

Simone

|||

Very Cool. I am able to use the text box as toggle item but have to use rectangles as it needs to contain multiple tables and other data regions..Hopefully it wont do anything funky in production.

Thanks much.

DNG