Checking the Data Source Connection via ODBC

This support note applies to:

AO Practice Manager (NZ)
AO Practice Manager (AU)
AO Tax (AU)
AE Practice Manager (NZ)
AE Practice Manager (AU)
AE Tax Series 6 & 8 (AU)
AE Tax (AU)

Article ID: 26453

In MYOB Accountants Enterprise (AE) and Accountants Office (AO), if you receive any errors regarding the ODBC, this is because the workstation cannot connect successfully to the SQL server.

These errors can orrcur whether you are a workstation in a network or a terminal server environment and it is important that you check first to make sure the ODBC connection is correct.

To do this you will need to open the ODBC Data Source Administrator and highlight the VPMsql Data Source name and configure following the wizard prompts. If the VPMsql Data Source does not exist, you can create a new one. This is done by selecting New and choosing the type as the SQL Server.

In a Terminal Server environment, you will need to check the ODBC connection from the Terminal Server itself. All other setups need to check the ODBC connection from the workstation itself.

You can use the following instructions to check your ODBC connection. Please note, if you cannot connect to the server using ODBC, please contact your I.T vendor as this is not an MYOB software issue.

Refreshing the VPMsql System Data Source connection

Click the Start button and select Control Panel. The Control Panel screen appears.
Double click the Administrative Tools icon. The Administrative Tools screen appears.
Double Click the Data Sources (ODBC) icon. The ODBC Data Source Administrator screen appears.
Click the System DSN tab. A list of all the System Data Sources appears.
At the Name field, highlight VPMsql and click Configure. The Microsoft SQL Server DSN Configuration screen appears.

If the VPMsql does not exist, click Add then choose SQL Server and continue to Step 6.
In the Server field, type or select from the drop down box, the name of the VPM Server.

The Name and Description field should pre-fill automatically.
Click Next. The Microsoft SQL Server DSN Configuration screen appears.
Select the With SQL Server authentication using a login ID and password entered by the user option. This option is selected.
Select "Connect to SQL Server to obtain default settings for the additional configurations options". This option is selected.
At the Login ID field, type the login code of: vpmuser, and the password of: BelfrY18. The login code and password are entered.
Click Next. The Microsoft SQL Server DSN Configuration screen appears.
Select "Change the default database to" and make sure the PM database appears in the Change the default database to field.

For AE clients, this is called VPMSER or AEDBn i.e AEDB1, for AO clients it is AODBn i.e. AODB1.
Select Use ANSI quoted identifiers. The option is selected.
Select Use ANSI nulls, paddings and warnings. The option is selected.
Click Next. The Microsoft SQL Server DSN Configuration screen appears.
Select Perform translation for character data. The option is selected.
Click Finish. The ODBC Microsoft SQL Server Setup screen appears.
Click Test Data Source. The SQL Server ODBC Data Source Test screen appears. The connectivity test completes and you should receive the message TESTS COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY!.
Click OK. The ODBC Microsoft SQL Server Setup screen appears.
Click OK. The ODBC Data Source Administrator window appears.
Click OK. The ODBC Data Source Administrator window closes.