1. Create a master DSN just as you create a standard DSN. (Refer to Section 3.1 Data Source Names for details.) This master DSN should reflect the type of data in the multi-company files (e.g., "Accounting").
When in the AcuODBC Setup window for the master DSN, click the "Advanced. . ." button.
2. In the File Prefix field, type the pathnaming convention that you used for all of your company data directories. For example:
@server1:/acctxxx
In this example, the company directories are acctabc, acctacme, acctacu, etc. Before opening the data source, AcuODBC will substitute specific characters in place of the xxx to create a proper pathname. If desired, you can use multiple variable strings in the FilePrefix field.
For example, you could enter:
@server1:/yyyxxx
3. Create a DSN for each company to be managed. This DSN should reflect the company name or other identifier (e.g., ABC Corporation, Acme Glass, etc.). Be sure to specify a Data Dictionary directory for each DSN you establish (e.g., /acctabc, /acctacme, etc.)
When in the AcuODBC Setup window, press the "Multi Companies. . ." button. The Multi-Companies window displays.
4. Complete the fields as instructed below.
Pointer to existing DSN
Enter the data source name you assigned the master DSN (e.g., "Accounting").
Replacing characters
Type the string of characters that needs to be replaced, followed by an equals sign and the string of characters to be used for this company. For example, when creating the Acme Glass DSN, type:
xxx=acme
If more than one variable was used, separate the variables by a space. For example:
xxx=acme yyy=data
Click "OK" when you are done.
Complete steps 3, 4, and 5 for each company, and you are finished! Then, when AcuODBC opens the data source, it replaces the general string found in File Prefix with the specific string to obtain the correct pathname. In our example, AcuODBC would replace the "xxx" string with "acme" to obtain the correct pathname:
@server1:/acctacme