Connecting to Oracle 8.1.7 - how to get the right ODBC driver?

Question

I have a Vista machine that needs to remotely connect to Oracle 8.1.7 database. Installing the instant client with the ODBC pack gets an ODBC driver, but when you create a datasource with it, it says it's no longer compatible with that database version.

What's the best way to get the correct ODBC driver?

Solution 1

The Oracle 10g OCI Client and Instant Client can connect to Oracle 8.1.7.4 and later; earlier 8i patchsets mandate a 9i or 8i OCI Client.

The driver hwilliams suggested earlier requires that you have a functional 8i or 9i OCI Client on the Vista host.

OpenLink Software (my employer) also has Multi-Tier solutions for 8i and 9i, free to try for 2 weeks, which will support Vista (and many other OS) ODBC (and JDBC and ADO.NET) clients. All you need is an 8i or 9i Client on any host with a supported OS on which you can install the OpenLink server-side components, including the Oracle server host itself, which includes these OCI components as part of the default installation.

Solution 2

Firstly, you mean 8.1.7, not 8.7.1.

Secondly, I think 10g permitted connections to an 8.1.7 database. Don't even try an 11g client. I think the Instant Clients came out after 8i was desupported, so I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't work.

You could try a 10g full client install but I doubt whether you'd get that working on Vista. Either you need a newer (supported) database version or an older operating system.

Can you use a JDBC connection ?

Comments

[waqasbutt028]

The 10g client will only connect to the terminal release of 8i (8.1.7.4).