8.4 Connector/ODBC Errors and Resolutions (FAQ)

The following section details some common errors and their suggested fix or alternative solution. If you are still experiencing problems, use the Connector/ODBC mailing list; see Section 9.1, “Connector/ODBC Community Support”.

Many problems can be resolved by upgrading your Connector/ODBC drivers to the latest available release. On Windows, make sure that you have the latest versions of the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) installed.

64-Bit Windows and ODBC Data Source Administrator

I have installed Connector/ODBC on Windows XP x64 Edition or Windows Server 2003 R2 x64. The installation completed successfully, but the Connector/ODBC driver does not appear in ODBC Data Source Administrator.

This is not a bug, but is related to the way Windows x64 editions operate with the ODBC driver. On Windows x64 editions, the Connector/ODBC driver is installed in the %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64 folder. However, the default ODBC Data Source Administrator that is available through the Administrative Tools or Control Panel in Windows x64 Editions is located in the %SystemRoot%\system32 folder, and only searches this folder for ODBC drivers.

On Windows x64 editions, use the ODBC administration tool located at %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe, this will correctly locate the installed Connector/ODBC drivers and enable you to create a Connector/ODBC DSN.

This issue was originally reported as Bug #20301.

Error 10061 (Cannot connect to server)

When connecting or using the Test button in ODBC Data Source Administrator I get error 10061 (Cannot connect to server)

This error can be raised by a number of different issues, including server problems, network problems, and firewall and port blocking problems. For more information, see Can't connect to [local] MySQL server.

"Transactions are not enabled" Error

The following error is reported when using transactions: Transactions are not enabled

This error indicates that you are trying to use transactions with a MySQL table that does not support transactions. Transactions are supported within MySQL when using the InnoDB database engine, which is the default storage engine in MySQL 5.5 and higher. In versions of MySQL before MySQL 5.1, you may also use the BDB engine.

Check the following before continuing:

• Verify that your MySQL server supports a transactional database engine. Use SHOW ENGINES to obtain a list of the available engine types.

• Verify that the tables you are updating use a transactional database engine.

• Ensure that you have not enabled the disable transactions option in your DSN.

#DELETED# Records Reported by Access

Access reports records as #DELETED# when inserting or updating records in linked tables.

If the inserted or updated records are shown as #DELETED# in Access, then:

• If you are using Access 2000, get and install the newest (version 2.6 or higher) Microsoft MDAC (Microsoft Data Access Components) from https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=21995. This fixes a bug in Access that when you export data to MySQL, the table and column names aren't specified.

  Also, get and apply the Microsoft Jet 4.0 Service Pack 5 (SP5), which can be found at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q239114. This fixes some cases where columns are marked as #DELETED# in Access.

• For all versions of Access, enable the Connector/ODBC Return matching rows option. For Access 2.0, also enable the Simulate ODBC 1.0 option.

• Include a TIMESTAMP in all tables that you want to be able to update.

• Include a primary key in the table. If not, new or updated rows may show up as #DELETED#.

• Use only DOUBLE float fields. Access fails when comparing with single-precision floats. The symptom usually is that new or updated rows may show up as #DELETED# or that you cannot find or update rows.

• If you are using Connector/ODBC to link to a table that has a BIGINT column, the results are displayed as #DELETED. The work around solution is:

  • Have one more dummy column with TIMESTAMP as the data type.

  • Select the Change BIGINT columns to INT option in the connection dialog in ODBC DSN Administrator.

  • Delete the table link from Access and re-create it.

  Old records still display as #DELETED#, but newly added/updated records are displayed properly.

Write Conflicts or Row Location Errors

How do I handle Write Conflicts or Row Location errors?

If you see the following errors, select the Return Matching Rows option in the DSN configuration dialog, or specify OPTION=2, as the connection parameter:

Write Conflict. Another user has changed your data.

Row cannot be located for updating. Some values may have been changed
since it was last read.

Importing from Access 97

Exporting data from Access 97 to MySQL reports a Syntax Error.

This error is specific to Access 97 and versions of Connector/ODBC earlier than 3.51.02. Update to the latest version of the Connector/ODBC driver to resolve this problem.

Importing from Microsoft DTS

Exporting data from Microsoft DTS to MySQL reports a Syntax Error.

This error occurs only with MySQL tables using the TEXT or VARCHAR data types. You can fix this error by upgrading your Connector/ODBC driver to version 3.51.02 or higher.

SQL_NO_DATA Exception from ODBC.NET

Using ODBC.NET with Connector/ODBC, while fetching empty string (0 length), it starts giving the SQL_NO_DATA exception.

You can get the patch that addresses this problem from http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q319243.

Error with SELECT COUNT(*)

Using SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tbl_name within Visual Basic and ASP returns an error.

This error occurs because the COUNT(*) expression is returning a BIGINT, and ADO cannot make sense of a number this big. Select the Change BIGINT columns to INT option (option value 16384).

Multiple-Step Operation Error

Using the AppendChunk() or GetChunk() ADO methods, the Multiple-step operation generated errors. Check each status value error is returned.

The GetChunk() and AppendChunk() methods from ADO do not work as expected when the cursor location is specified as adUseServer. On the other hand, you can overcome this error by using adUseClient.

A simple example can be found from http://www.dwam.net/iishelp/ado/docs/adomth02_4.htm

Modified Record Error

Access returns Another user had modified the record that you have modified while editing records on a Linked Table.

In most cases, this can be solved by doing one of the following things:

• Add a primary key for the table if one doesn't exist.

• Add a timestamp column if one doesn't exist.

• Only use double-precision float fields. Some programs may fail when they compare single-precision floats.

If these strategies do not help, start by making a log file from the ODBC manager (the log you get when requesting logs from ODBCADMIN) and a Connector/ODBC log to help you figure out why things go wrong. For instructions, see Section 5.10, “Getting an ODBC Trace File”.

Direct Application Linking Under Unix or Linux

When linking an application directly to the Connector/ODBC library under Unix or Linux, the application crashes.

Connector/ODBC under Unix or Linux is not compatible with direct application linking. To connect to an ODBC source, use a driver manager, such as iODBC or unixODBC.

Microsoft Office and DATE or TIMESTAMP Columns

Applications in the Microsoft Office suite cannot update tables that have DATE or TIMESTAMP columns.

This is a known issue with Connector/ODBC. Ensure that the field has a default value (rather than NULL) and that the default value is nonzero (that is, something other than 0000-00-00 00:00:00).

INFORMATION_SCHEMA Database

When connecting Connector/ODBC 5.x to a MySQL 4.x server, the error 1044 Access denied for user 'xxx'@'%' to database 'information_schema' is returned.

Connector/ODBC 5.x is designed to work with MySQL 5.0 or later, taking advantage of the INFORMATION_SCHEMA database to determine data definition information. Support for MySQL 4.1 is planned for the final release.

S1T00 Error

When calling SQLTables, the error S1T00 is returned, but I cannot find this in the list of error numbers for Connector/ODBC.

The S1T00 error indicates that a general timeout has occurred within the ODBC system and is not a MySQL error. Typically it indicates that the connection you are using is stale, the server is too busy to accept your request or that the server has gone away.

"Table does not exist" Error in Access 2000

When linking to tables in Access 2000 and generating links to tables programmatically, rather than through the table designer interface, you may get errors about tables not existing.

There is a known issue with a specific version of the msjet40.dll that exhibits this issue. The version affected is 4.0.9025.0. Reverting to an older version will enable you to create the links. If you have recently updated your version, check your WINDOWS directory for the older version of the file and copy it to the drivers directory.

Batched Statements

When I try to use batched statements, the execution of the batched statements fails.

Batched statement support was added in 3.51.18. Support for batched statements is not enabled by default. Enable option FLAG_MULTI_STATEMENTS, value 67108864, or select the Allow multiple statements flag within a GUI configuration. Batched statements using prepared statements is not supported in MySQL.

Packet Errors with ADODB and Excel

When connecting to a MySQL server using ADODB and Excel, occasionally the application fails to communicate with the server and the error Got an error reading communication packets appears in the error log.

This error may be related to Keyboard Logger 1.1 from PanteraSoft.com, which is known to interfere with the network communication between MySQL Connector/ODBC and MySQL.

Outer Join Error

When using some applications to access a MySQL server using Connector/ODBC and outer joins, an error is reported regarding the Outer Join Escape Sequence.

This is a known issue with MySQL Connector/ODBC which is not correctly parsing the "Outer Join Escape Sequence", as per the specs at Microsoft ODBC Specs. Currently, Connector/ODBC will return a value > 0 when asked for SQL_OJ_CAPABILITIES even though no parsing takes place in the driver to handle the outer join escape sequence.

Hebrew/CJK Characters

I can correctly store extended characters in the database (Hebrew/CJK) using Connector/ODBC 5.1, but when I retrieve the data, the text is not formatted correctly and I get garbled characters.

When using ASP and UTF8 characters, add the following to your ASP files to ensure that the data returned is correctly encoded:

Response.CodePage = 65001
Response.CharSet = "utf-8"

Duplicate Entry in Installed Programs List

I have a duplicate MySQL Connector/ODBC entry within my Installed Programs list, but I cannot delete one of them.

This problem can occur when you upgrade an existing Connector/ODBC installation, rather than removing and then installing the updated version.

Warning

To fix the problem, use any working uninstallers to remove existing installations; then may have to edit the contents of the registry. Make sure you have a backup of your registry information before attempting any editing of the registry contents.

Values Truncated to 255 Characters

When submitting queries with parameter binding using UPDATE, my field values are being truncated to 255 characters.

Ensure that the FLAG_BIG_PACKETS option is set for your connection. This removes the 255 character limitation on bound parameters.

Disabling Data-At-Execution

Is it possible to disable data-at-execution using a flag?

If you do not want to use data-at-execution, remove the corresponding calls. For example:

SQLLEN ylen = SQL_LEN_DATA_AT_EXEC(10);
SQLBindCol(hstmt,2,SQL_C_BINARY, buf, 10, &ylen);

Would become:

SQLBindCol(hstmt,2,SQL_C_BINARY, buf, 10, NULL);

This example also replaced &ylen with NULL in the call to SQLBindCol().

For further information, refer to the MSDN documentation for SQLBindCol().

NULLABLE Attribute for AUTO_INCREMENT Columns

When you call SQLColumns() for a table column that is AUTO_INCREMENT, the NULLABLE column of the result set is always SQL_NULLABLE (1).

This is because MySQL reports the DEFAULT value for such a column as NULL. It means, if you insert a NULL value into the column, you will get the next integer value for the table's auto_increment counter.