I have a Microsoft Access database on Microsoft Windows that I want to process using Pharo. ConfigurationOfODBC looked promising so followed instructions at http://www.pharocasts.com/2010/12/access-database-through-odbc.html, though using a blank MDB file rather than SQLLite, and 'TestMDB' as the ODBC DSN, I executed... --8<--- Gofer new squeaksource: 'ODBC'; package: 'ConfigurationOfODBC'; load. (Smalltalk at: #ConfigurationOfODBC) load. connection := ODBCConnection dsn: 'TestMDB' user: '' password: ''. connection execute: 'CREATE TABLE user(name varchar(10), age smallint)'. connection execute: 'INSERT INTO user VALUES(''Old Bob'', 100)'. contents := (connection query: 'select * from user;') execute: ''. contents asTable inspect. connection close. --8<--- which failed on Pharo 1.3 but worked on Pharo 1.2.1. To debug this I compared each by single stepping 1.3 & 1.2.1 side-by-side. I executed... connection := ODBCConnection dsn: 'TestMDB' user: '' password: ''. which seemed to worked the same on both platforms up to the inserted 'self halt' shown here... --8<--- ODBCConnection>>connect "Connect to the database" self registerForFinalization. hEnv := self sqlAllocEnv. false ifTrue: [ self sqlSetEnvAttr: 200 value: 2 "SQL_ATTR_ODBC_VERSION" ]. self halt. hdbc := self sqlAllocConnect: hEnv. --8<--- ODBCConnection>>sqlAllocConnect: envHandle | h | h := SQLHDBC new. self checkSQLReturn: (ODBCLibrary default sqlAllocConnectEnvironment: hEnv connection: h ). ^h --8<--- ODBCLibrary(Object)>>sqlAllocConnectEnvironment: environmentHandle connection: connectionHandle "SQLRETURN SQLAllocConnect( SQLHENV EnvironmentHandle, SQLHDBC *ConnectionHandle);" <cdecl: short 'SQLAllocConnect' (SQLHENV SQLHDBC*)> ^ self externalCallFailed --8<--- ODBCConnection>>checkSQLReturn: sqlReturn "private - check the sqlReturn and generates an exception if corresponds" self checkSQLReturn: sqlReturn environment: hEnv connection: hdbc statement: nil --8<--- If you've followed the call chain down to here, then the result is... In Pharo 1.2.1 (WinXP & Win7) primitive SQLAllocConnect primitive succeeds, with sqlReturn=0 In Pharo 1.3 (WinXP & Win7) primitive SQLAllocConnect primitive succeeds, with sqlReturn=-2 I cannot find what -2 may mean on any of the Microsoft ODBC API pages, nor a few header files I checked (though I may have missed some header file) ================= To investigate further, I thought to try running the bypassed code... --8<--- ODBCConnection>>connect "Connect to the database" self registerForFinalization. hEnv := self sqlAllocEnv. self halt. true ifTrue: [ self sqlSetEnvAttr: 200 value: 2 "SQL_ATTR_ODBC_VERSION" ]. --8<--- sqlSetEnvAttr: attr value: value self checkSQLReturn: (ODBCLibrary default sqlSetEnvAttr: hEnv attr: attr value: value length: 0 ) --8<--- sqlSetEnvAttrPtr: hEnv attr: attr value: value length: length "SQLRETURN SQLSetEnvAttr( SQLHENV EnvironmentHandle, SQLINTEGER Attribute, SQLPOINTER ValuePtr, SQLINTEGER StringLength);" <cdecl: short 'SQLSetEnvAttr' (SQLHENV long void* long)> ^ self externalCallFailed --8<--- For both 1.2.1 and 1.3 'self externalCallFailed' is executed for 1.2.1 errCode=12 'No module to load address from' for 1.3 errCode=13 'Unable to find function address' --8<--- Pointers anyone? btw, In parallel I am also trying out DBXTalk.