File DSN's are just that - file based. You can copy, distribute and view them. System and User DSN's are entries in the ODBC.INI file. Creating file DSN's give you the ability to see what the contents of a connection string should be. That is all I use a File DSN for. In an application, I create procedures that build the connection string dynamically in order to connect to the correct data source.

In C/S apps, this is the biggest mistake I have see. Developers take all the time in the world to debug the app. Any machine that runs the app had the DSN created. When the app is deployed to a machine that does not have the DSN setup, the app crashes. It is a shame when this happens because DSN's are a simple thing to take care of.

In sum, a file DSN is good for showing you what constitutes a complete connection string.




>Can someone explain when U would want to use a File DSN as opposed to a User or System DSN and, having created one how do you set up the SQLCONNECT string to make use of it. I have been trying to set one up for SQL Server 7 and failed.
>Thanks