>>
>>Is there any place from where I could download that COM?
>>also what ods.dsOpen() returns? Can it be a channel?
>
>ods.dsOpen() returns -1 on success, or an error code (positive number) on failure.
>
>The DLL is found behind this door, but really I don't expect you to fiddle with it. The COM object can be installed and loaded without purchasing it, but it cannot do anything without purchasing the server component.
>
>http://synergetic-data.com/sdsi.cgi?p=dserve&sp=download
>
>I am waiting for a reply from the vendor to see if there are some methods/properties in the object that can give me the answer.
>
>Thanks again,

I don't see anywhere in documentation where that COM could change channel.
It expects dsOpen(fl$,chan%)

• $ for strings
• & for long integers
• % for short integers

Not passed by reference at all, so it couldn't change the channel at all.
Of course I could be wrong, but from documentation:

Either way, you are provided a file channel that is used to read data in the file.