Dear Mr. Kurt,

        I am a student working on a Java project which involve
        using JDBC-ODBC Bridge to access a remote database.

        I have put the Access database (.mdb file) in a remote
        machine with a fixed IP address, and added it to the
        System DSN of the ODBC Manager of that machine.

        Then I tried to access the database with a Java application
        on another machine. (Both machines are PC and have the OBDC
        Driver for Access Database). I wrote the URL as:

        jdbc:odbc://whatwhat.sth/data_source_name 
        
        and I failed to get the data. I have also tried to add a
        port in the URL, but the same SQLException is generated:
        cannot find dsn and driver not specified.

        Could you please tell me what I should do to solve this
        problem?
        Could you please also tell me what is "ODBC Server name",
        and what is the "port" for ODBC Server?

        I have been searching webs and books on JDBC and ODBC for
        a week without getting an answer.

        Thank you very much in advance. I must also thank you for
        I have learnt a lot from your "Using JDBC To Access a
        Database" document.

        My email address is im_csfaa@stu.ust.hk
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Response:

The JDBC FAQ at
http://java.sun.com:80/products/jdbc/jdbc-frequent.html

has the following question
 
    How can I use JDBC to access a desktop database
    like Microsoft Access over the network? 

The answer makes it clear that the bridge does not allow access to
databases across the internet all by itself.  The database driver
must understand the HTTP protocol, and Access drivers currently
don't.

As for drivers that do, you can check the JavaSoft's site for
a list of drivers.  I believe that MS SQL Server has such a driver.  



--Kurt