This dialog lets you configure a live data source.
Text File Data Source
By clicking the 'Text File' button, you can link to a text file containing comma separated value data (CSV). The first line of the CSV file should contain the column names (e.g. 'Name', 'Sales', etc.), and each subsequent line should contain the actual data.
Any text files embedded as resources - this will look in the top level documents resources for the text file.
Any text files embedded as resources - this will look in a particular directory - WARNING: If you move the document to another machine, the file may no longer exist at the specified path. You should therefore take care when using absolute paths.
Test Connection - This will check to see if the specified text file directory exists. NOTE: This does not actually locate individual text files, as these are defined later as 'tables'. It merely checks that the directory path is OK.
Database Data Source
Connection String - The OLEDB connection string that defines the address and parameters needed to connect to the database. Your database manager should be able to provide a suitable connection string, or alternatively you can use one of the string builder wizards provided.
Connect to Access Database - This button pops up a browser to allow you to locate the Access database file (.MDB extension). Once you have selected the file, the wizard will provide the required connection string.
Connect to SQL Server - This button pops up the SQL Server Connection String wizard that will help you to locate and connect to a SQL server database.
Test Connection - To check the connection string works, this button will attempt to open the connection. If it works, the tables available in the database will be returned. Otherwise, you will be notified of the error.
Web Page Data Source
Folder URL - This is where you should supply a URL that defines the folder in which your web pages that return data lie. For example, if a page called getdata.asp could be found in http://www.worldweaver.com/data/ you should supply the folder URL 'http://www.worldweaver.com/data/' here. For the purposes of web page data sources, the file 'getdata.asp' is then used as the table.
Test Connection - As the full URL requires the table name, the test will append a user supplied filename (eg. 'getdata.asp') to the folder path for testing.