This works with the gnome libraries out of the CVS tree.
I'm not sure if the software compiles with an older
gnome environment.

This software is an attempt to implement a sort unified
data access for gnome. Currently it supports the usage of
RDBS with an ODBC client library. But I'm going to implement
different libraries offering access to flat files and DBs
without ODBC drivers (Informix comes to my mind).


After the introduction of CORBA it might be even possible to use
the Calender CORBA interface as a data source and query
your calender for data. A nice thing would be a LDAP interface,
which seems a sensitive thing to do, because the OpenLDAP project
seems to be going fine.

How to use it
==============

Copy the odbc.ini file located in the top level source
directory to your home directory with the name `.odbc.ini'. The next
thing to do is to get some database running. I've tried the software
with two different database systems. One is Solid <www.solid.fi> which 
offers a one place evaluation copy without charge. The other DB i've
used is Postgres. The ODBC driver for this database is included in the 
tarball (postgres/ directory).

Then edit the ~/.odbc.ini file according to your setup. The most
important lines you might have to change are:

The `Default' entry is just there for testing purposes. Ignore it, or
delete it from the [Data Sources] section.

In all sections:
The line `Driver' should point to the shared library,
implementing the  ODBC driver for the database

The line `NetworkName' should have the value, the ODBC driver needs to 
connect to the database. This is necessary for all database driver
which don't parse the odbc.ini file (Solid uses it's own file).

in the [Solid] section:
change the `NetworkName' variable to a value usable for you.

in the [Postgres] section:
Database, User, and Password entries must  be changed to suit your
environment.

The postgres server (postmaster) must be started with the `-i' options
so that it accepts TCP/IP connections.

After compiling the source, you can call the `gnome-dbadm' program in
the src directory. It shows a login dialog. In the topmest combo box
you can select the data source you want to connect to. In the user and 
Password entry fields, enter the name and the password of a user who
has permission to use the database.

After clicking `Login' the main window appears. Clock on the `+' sign
left of the `Tables' label in the GtkCtree widget on the left side.
All tables in the database should become visible.

Right-Clicking on a table name in the GtkCtree widget pops up a menu,
which lets you choose between a `data view' and a `structure view' of
a table. BEWARE: the data view lists ALL rows of a table. This might
take a long time and need lots of memory (see news file about the grid 
widget, which will change all this).

In the construction view, the right part of the main window becomes
active, showing all columns of the table and their data types. 

