Provider Recommendations for External Database Connections

The table below lists the recommended OLE DB providers to be used for an external database connection (see Connection to External Database (Object Types) or Connection to External Database (Value Lists)).

Database	Provider
MS SQL Server	Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server.
Access	Microsoft JET OLE DB Provider.
Excel	Microsoft JET OLE DB Provider. Also, set Extended Properties to "Excel 8.0;". Use the Define name functionality to define the data area in Excel. This named Excel data area corresponds to a database table. The values in the first row of the data area become the column titles of a table.
MySQL	Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers (MySQL Connector/ODBC). Use the Data sources (ODBC) administrative tool to configure a new system data source. Select MySQL Connector/ODBC as the ODBC driver. Define the data source. Under driver properties, select the Disable Transactions check box. In connection settings, select Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers as the provider and the system data source you defined as the data source. The default collection in the connection settings remains empty. Thus you only define the database in the driver settings. You can also use MySql.OLEDB Provider with MySQL.

Note: The Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Jet and the Jet ODBC driver are available in 32-bit versions only. If you need to use either of these in a 64-bit environment for connecting to an external Excel or Access resource, we recommend installing the 64-bit version of Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable or running M-Files Server in the 32-bit mode.