MySQL is an open source database that is used by millions of people each year.  It is very robust and scalable.  But to access it usually requires some type of custom program or a MySQL front end.  There are other good database applications, such as Microsoft Access and FileMaker Pro.  These applications make it easy to design forms to add and edit the data, and to create custom reports such as mailing labels.  By using ODBC you are able to get many of the benefits of these local programs and the benefits of using a MySQL database.  This is how to get start.

OBDC Driver

First you need to install a ODBC driver if you don’t already have one.  A good source for a free driver is the MySQL website.  Look for the MySQL connector for the operating system you have. They have a version for Windows, Mac and Linux you can download for free.  Download one of the packaged drivers that include an installation program.

Setup The Connection

After you have the ODBC driver installed, you need to setup to use it to connect to your MySQL database. How you do that depends on your operating system.

Windows

Open the Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Data Sources (ODBC).  Click on the System DNS Tab and select to Add.  From the drop down select the ODBC driver you just installed.

Enter the information about your MySQL database, including the server and login information, then press Finish.

Mac

To setup for the Mac, it is similar.  In the Applications/Utilities folder you will find the “ODBC Aministrator” application.  Run that and select the System DNS tab, then click Add.  Select the driver you just added and then enter the login information for your MySQL database.  The form looks just the same as the figure above.

Connecting Microsoft Access to your MySQL database.

After starting Access, either open an existing database or start a new one.  Click on Tables and then click New.  Select the option for a Link Table.   For the File type, select ODBC databases.  Click on the Machine Data Source tab.  You should find the data source you setup in the step above, so select that, then select the table in the MySQL database you want to use.

If you have an existing Microsoft Application setup with a local database, if you export that data to a MySQL database using the same name, delete the table from the Access application, then add the MySQL table, it will use that table for the application in place of the local version you removed.  Your existing reports, queries and forms should work.

Connecting  File Maker Pro to your MySQL database.

Start File Maker Pro and either open an existing database or create a new local one.   Select File, Manage, External Data Sources.  Click on New and then select ODBC.  When you click the Specify button, you should be able to select the connector you setup already.

Conclusion

This tutorial is meant only to get you started  with installing an ODBC driver and making a connection to your MySQL database from either Microsoft Access or File Maker Pro.  Once you make that connection, you can then use the features in your database application with the MySQL table.  It should be noted that once you link the MySQL datbase to Access, it will be treated like a Access table and you would need to use Access SQL statements.  You will also find some limitations with this approach since some functions in Access will not work and some of the features of MySQL will not be available. But for many applications you will be able to work with Access as a front end to your MySQL database.