---
title: "ODBC Datasources"
slug: "odbc-datasources"
updated: 2025-04-10T06:51:51Z
published: 2025-04-10T06:51:51Z
canonical: "help.mail-and-deploy.com/odbc-datasources"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.mail-and-deploy.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# ODBC Datasources

### Introduction

These types of datasources represent a connection to an ODBC database or datasource.

Free and commercial ODBC drivers are available to many data sources such as Databricks, Snowflake, Dremio, Greenplum and Power BI. Below is a simple example showing how to connect to an Excel file.

          Note

          

- This is available in version 3.5.11 and later.
- We are not able to offer support for specific ODBC drivers or data sources. ODBC Drivers will need to support a certain minimum level of functionality - including importantly, parameterised queries - for all SQL functionality to be supported.
- Your ODBC Connection string (or underlying DSN) should include the Schema you are connecting to.
  - If you specify Field, Table or View SQL queries in the connection (see below) these should also specify the schema as a WHERE clause.
- If you are using Mail & Deploy SaaS please contact us if you would like to discuss installing an ODBC driver on your instance.

### Properties

This type of datasource has the following properties:

| Name | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Connection String | Connection string to the ODBC data source. Examples: DSN=my_db_dsn;PWD=password123; DSN=my_other_db_dsn Driver={MyDbDriver};Server=yourdbserver.com;Database=SAMPLE_DATA;Schema=SCHEMA1;Uid=USERA;Pwd=password123; |
| Field Query SQL | A SQL query which returns a table containing TABLE_NAME and COLUMN_NAME columns and rows for all combinations of tables and column names. **This is optional**, if it is set it will be used to populate the 'Fields' entries in the Datasource Browser in the Mail & Deploy Designer. Example: SELECT tableName As TABLE_NAME, columnName As COLUMN_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA='MY_SCHEMA' AND TABLE_CATALOG='MY_DATABASE_NAME' |
| Table Query SQL | A SQL query which returns a table containing a TABLE_NAME column and rows for all of the tables in the datasource. **This is optional**, if it is set it will be used to populate the 'Tables' entries in the Datasource Browser in the Mail & Deploy Designer. Example: SELECT distinct TableName as TABLE_NAME FROM system_tables |
| View Query SQL | A SQL query which returns a table containing a TABLE_NAME column and rows for all of the views in the datasource. **This is optional**, if it is set it will be used to populate the 'Views' entries in the Datasource Browser in the Mail & Deploy Designer. Example: SELECT TABLE_NAME FROM sys_views |

## Example

You can connect to an Excel file using a connection string like this:

```
Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls, *.xlsx, *.xlsm, *.xlsb)};DBQ=C:\path\to\your\file\Test Source.xlsx;Extended Properties='READONLY=TRUE'
```

And here are some example queries which you could use in Table Element in the report designer:

          Note

          

You should make sure that the Excel file is closed when you access it via the ODBC driver.

```
SELECT * from [Sheet1$]
SELECT * FROM [MyRange]
SELECT * FROM [Sheet1$A1:C2]
SELECT B, sum(A) as count FROM [MyRange] group by B
```

You may find other examples posted [here](https://mailanddeploy.zohodesk.eu/portal/en/kb/articles/how-to-configure-an-odbc-datasource-to-databricks-with-simba-spark-odbc-driver) from time to time.