Creating a Connection

Spatial Manager allows you to create database (JDBC) or file-system named connections.

To create a connection in Spatial Manager:

  1. Navigate to the location in the repository where you want to create the connection. This location must be a folder that contains the datasources (such as TAB files) that will use the connection; that is, it must be located above the resources and not below.
  2. From the Create drop-down located in the toolbar, select Connection.
    Note: This is disabled if you do not have sufficient permissions.
    The Create Connection page appears.
  3. Type the name for the connection. The Spatial Manager will warn you if another connection exists with that name, in which case you will have to enter another name. Names are case sensitive and cannot contain the following characters: / \ : [ ] | * { } "
  4. Select a connection type:
    OptionDescription
    File SystemUse the file-system type for file-based datasources such as TAB files.
    Click the Browse button to locate the folder that contains your datasources on your server file system. Alternatively, enter a folder path (for example, C:\data) or a UNC path (for example, \\localhost\share) in the Source Folder field. UNC paths are supported for Windows.
    Note: If you cannot locate a folder, check with your administrator to determine if restrictions have been placed at the file-server level. You must have access rights to this folder, as instructed in Creating a Named Resources Administrator.
    DatabaseUse the database type if you have a JDBC database (Oracle, PostGIS, or SQL Server) as a datasource.
    1. Specify the JDBC connection URL to the database. This URL is in the format jdbc:subprotocol:subname. For example:
      • Oracle— jdbc:oracle:thin:@oracle.example.com:1521:pbspatial
      • SQL Server—jdbc:sqlserver://sqlserver.example.com:1234;databaseName=pbspatial
      • Postgres/PostGIS— jdbc:postgresql://postgres.example.com:1433/pbspatial
      • Generic JDBC —jdbc:mysql://mysql.example.com:3306/pbspatial
      For specific information on the JDBC connection URL format, refer to the database's website.
    2. In the Username field, optionally specify the user for connecting to the database resource.
    3. In the Password field, optionally specify the password for the user connecting to the database resource.
    4. In the Properties field, optionally specify any database-specific connection properties. Consult the database documentation for property names and value types that can be appended to a connection string. For example, property value networkProtocol and key tcp.
    5. Click Test to make sure your connection is valid.
  5. Click Create.
The details page for the named connection appears. A message also appears at the top of the page if there are named tables using inline references that could be updated to use this connection instead. Click the link to update named tables with this connection (see Benefits of Using a Connection for more information on why you should use connections and Applying a Connection to Inline Named Tables for instructions). From the details page, you also have the ability to add named tables for the new connection you created (see Creating Multiple Tables).