Overview

BarTender 2022 is now only available in 64-bit, so 32-bit ODBC database connections will no longer be available. To make your database connections compatible with BarTender, you'll need to migrate the configuration to 64-bit ODBC connections.

While this article shows how to update ODBC connections, the same principle applies to updating OLEDB connections.

Applicable to 

• BarTender 2022 and later.
• Applies also to BarTender 2016 and later if you're looking to transfer everything over to 64-bit from previous versions of BarTender, which were only available as 32-bit.

Information

ODBC database connections have a bit of a caveat when migrating from 32- to 64-bit. Each bitrate needs to have a corresponding driver to tell the ODBC connection how to handle the data coming from your database. Databases such as CSV, SQL, and Microsoft Office databases generally have both, but another type of database will need to have a 64-bit driver to establish a 64-bit ODBC connection.

Using a Named Database Connection can make migration and changes easier in the future by removing the need to update the document's connection information. You would only need to update the connection details for the database in the Administration Console.

Migrating the DSNs

While there are methods to exporting ODBC DSNs or controlling them with group policies, there is no means to transfer those DSNs from 32-bit to 64-bit version. The migration will need to be done manually. If you need to migrate this to multiple machines, you can export the DSNs and carry them over to a new computer.

When making a plan for migration, you'll need ensure you have the following:

• DSN connection string (if not a built-in one)
• 64-bit driver available for your database

Once you have the driver installed and the connection string, you can do the following:

1. Navigate to the Control Panel and open the Administrative Tools.
2. Open ODBC Data Sources (64-bit) and select the System DSN tab to set up the connection for all users (Optionally, you may select another DSN type based on your needs).
3. Use the Add button to add your connection.
4. Configure the DSN as necessary. Each type of connection may have different requirements to complete the connection.
5. Once the connection is configured, click OK and test as necessary.
6. Configure and update the BarTender document or Named Database Connection to use the new 64-bit ODBC database connection (See additional resources below).

Additional resources

• Getting started with database connections (Video - 5:20)
• Making use of Named Database Connections in BarTender