32/64-bit ODBC dilemma

[Frank Furter]

I use SPSS 18 under Windows 7 64-bit where SPSS is installed as a 64-bit application. Accordingly, 64-bit drivers are required for ODBC database access. Unfortunately the SPSS Data Access Pack includes with SPSS 18 does not provide drivers for MS Access or Excel; such drivers are included with MS Office products or are available from MS in separate data access packages.

It turns out that 64-bit drivers have recently been released in the MS AccessDatabaseEngine X64 package. I need to use MS Office 32-bit as several of my required plugins are not yet available in 64-bit. The dilemma is that after installing MS Office 2010 32-bit the MS AccessDatabaseEngine X64 package won't install; it tells me that a 32-bit Office version is already on the PC (correct!) that needs to be uninstalled first. Indeed, after removing Office 32-bit I can install the MS AccessDatabaseEngine X64 package, and I have all the nice, long-awaited 64-bit ODBC drivers available for use with SPSS. However, when I then try to re-install Office 32-bit the installer tells me that a 64-bit Office version is already on the PC (wrong!) that needs to be uninstalled first.

Do I have to say more? This is extremely frustrating! Has anybody found a solution on how to access Excel or Access databases via ODBC on a 64-bit Windows when a 32-bit version of MS Office is installed?

Andreas.

[Barnett, Adrian (DECD)]

Hi Andreas
Sadly, where ODBC is concerned, transfers have to be via the same bit-width system  - 32-bit to 32-bit or 64-bit to 64-bit. The issue is that a 64-bit quantity may not be reproducible in 32 bits if it is larger than a 32-bit word could represent. Of course 32 bit to 64 bit would not suffer from this. But there you are, we are stuck with it.

Your only option in the longer term is 64 bit Office. No help right now, unfortunately.

More 'agnostic' formats like CSV may be your easiest short term option (painful though that is). Specialist all-format converters (like DBMS/Copy or Stat Transfer) may be another option, so long as they don't make use of ODBC for Access conversions (DBMS/Copy 7 used ODBC - not sure what later versions do)


Adrian Barnett
Project Officer
Educational Measurement and Analysis
Data and Educational Measurement
DECS
ph 82261080

-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Andreas Voelp
Sent: Sunday, 20 June 2010 9:28 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: 32/64-bit ODBC dilemma

I use SPSS 18 under Windows 7 64-bit where SPSS is installed as a 64-bit
application. Accordingly, 64-bit drivers are required for ODBC database
access. Unfortunately the SPSS Data Access Pack includes with SPSS 18 does
not provide drivers for MS Access or Excel; such drivers are included with
MS Office products or are available from MS in separate data access
packages.

It turns out that 64-bit drivers have recently been released in the MS
AccessDatabaseEngine X64 package. I need to use MS Office 32-bit as several
of my required plugins are not yet available in 64-bit. The dilemma is that
after installing MS Office 2010 32-bit the MS AccessDatabaseEngine X64
package won't install; it tells me that a 32-bit Office version is already
on the PC (correct!) that needs to be uninstalled first. Indeed, after
removing Office 32-bit I can install the MS AccessDatabaseEngine X64
package, and I have all the nice, long-awaited 64-bit ODBC drivers available
for use with SPSS. However, when I then try to re-install Office 32-bit the
installer tells me that a 64-bit Office version is already on the PC
(wrong!) that needs to be uninstalled first.

Do I have to say more? This is extremely frustrating! Has anybody found a
solution on how to access Excel or Access databases via ODBC on a 64-bit
Windows when a 32-bit version of MS Office is installed?

Andreas.
--
View this message in context: http://old.nabble.com/32-64-bit-ODBC-dilemma-tp28940381p28940381.html
Sent from the SPSSX Discussion mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

[Frank Furter]

Dear Adrian:

Thanks for your message. Of course, it is no problem to have both
32-bit and 64-bit ODBC drivers on the same system under Windows 7
64-bit. The trouble is that the MS 64-bit driver package won't install
with 32-bit Office on the machine, and vice versa. So I was just
wondering whether there might be another way of installing the 64-bit
Access and Excel ODBC drivers.

My current workaround is to place a second installation of SPSS in a
virtual machine running in XP mode (32-bit) so that I can use the
32-bit ODBC drivers there. However, this is just a workaround, not a
solution (not very convenient ...).


Best regards
Andreas Völp
Fuchstanzstrasse 107 - 60489 Frankfurt, Germany

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD