Contents

ODBC Inspector for Windows

The following Help Topics are available:

Introduction

Disclaimer

About Blue Lagoon Software

ODBC Inspector menu commands

ODBC Inspector options dialog box

ODBC Inspector's traced data


Introduction

Thank you for purchasing ODBC Inspector for Windows!

Every application under Windows 3.1 written to access database servers, whether in Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft ACCESS, Power Builder, C, or Microsoft Excel does so through some library specific to the tool being used.  These libraries in turn interface with an ODBC client driver.

The version of ODBC Inspector for Windows you have purchased is to be used under Windows 3.1.  The Inspector allows you to trace all ODBC API calls simultaneously.

To make the most out of ODBC Inspector for Windows, you should have a copy of The Microsoft ODBC SDK API Reference handy.  This valuable reference lists all of the ODBC API along with the parameters passed and return values.  This information will be needed when examining ODBC Inspector's traced data.


Disclaimer

ODBC Inspector for Windows, Copyright © 1992-1994 by Blue Lagoon Software, is provided as-is without warranty of any kind.  Blue Lagoon Software shall not be liable for any loss of profits, loss of use, interruption of business, nor indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages of any kind from the use of this product.


About Blue Lagoon Software

ODBC Inspector for Windows was designed and developed by Blue Lagoon Software.  Blue Lagoon Software is a Windows consulting and product development company with expertise in the following areas:

• Client/Server application development;

Microsoft and Sybase SQL Server

Visual Basic

C and C++

Excel macro language

ODBC

• Multimedia Training systems

Ultimedia

• Windows SDK and DDK development

Experts in user interface design.

Experts in GDI implementation.

Experts in Windows 3.1 architecture.

Blue Lagoon Software

6047 Tampa Ave., Suite 209

Tarzana, CA  91356

Voice:	(818) 345-2200

Fax:	(818) 345-8905

BBS:	(818) 343-8433

CServe:	70152,1601

Internet:	blagoon@netcom.com


ODBC Inspector menu commands

ODBC Inspector for Windows has four menus; Inspector, Windows, Options, and Help.

Inspector menu commands

Inspector On/Off

Toggles trace mode.  When ODBC Inspector is tracing, the caption bar of the application will be set to "<< ODBC Inspector >>".  When ODBC Inspector is not tracing, the caption bar of the application will be set to "ODBC Inspector".

Exit

Exits ODBC Inspector.

Window menu commands

Clear Window

Clears the ODBC Inspector application window.  Any output in the ODBC Inspector application window will be cleared.

Options! menu command

Brings up the ODBC Inspector options dialog box .  It is within this dialog box that tracing options are setup.

Help menu commands

Contents

Brings up the contents portion of the help file.

About

Displays application about box.


ODBC Inspector options dialog box

Programs combo box

The Programs combo box contains a list of all programs currently running under Windows.

To trace a specific applications ODBC accesses, first make sure that the application is currently running, then select it from this combo box.  ODBC Inspector will only display ODBC calls made by this application.  The "(All)" option is designed to display ODBC calls made by ALL applications.

API list box

The API list box is a multiselection list box.  Individual APIs are selected to indicate that they should be displayed by the Inspector when they are called.  This allows you to filter out the APIs you're not interested in seeing.

Window check box

This check box should be selected to indicate that you want ODBC Inspector to display what it traces in the application area of the ODBC Inspector's application window.

Lines entry field

This entry field must contain a number between 10 and 250.  The number indicates the number of lines of traced data that the ODBC Inspector's application window will display at any given time.

File check box

This check box should be selected to indicate that you want ODBC Inspector to create a log file which will contain all traced data.  As ODBC Inspector traces, it will append its data in ASCII format to a log file whose path name is specified in the adjacent entry field.

Select all pushbutton

This pushbutton selects ALL APIs in the API list box.

Deselect all pushbuton

This pushbutton deselects ALL APIs in the API list box.

OK pushbutton

Accepts the changes made.

Cancel pushbutton

Cancels the changes made.


ODBC Inspector's traced data

It is possible to have ODBC Inspector trace data into both ODBC Inspector's application window and/or a log file in ASCII format.  The application window is subject to a maximum of 250 lines of output while the log file has no imposed limits.

When an ODBC API call is made, the execution time of the call in seconds:milliseconds, the application that made the call, the name of the API along with the parameters and return value are displayed in the application window and/or saved to the log file in the following format:

000:016 MSACCESS: SQLExecDirect(1257177088, "select * from foo", 17), RETVAL=SQL_SUCCESS

Note:  the execution time of the call is the amount time in seconds:milliseconds it took ODBC to execute the call.  So, for example, it took 16 milliseconds to execute the above ODBC call.  This performance information is especially useful for commands such as SQLExecDirect and SQLExecute because they send ODBC commands to database servers for execution.  By measuring their performance, it is possible to determine how long queries and stored procedures take to execute.

According to the ODBC SDK API documentation, SQLExecDirect has three parameters, a handle to the database connection, a long pointer to the SQL command to execute, and the number of characters in the SQL command.  The return value can be any of the values documented.  As we can see, the SQLExecDirect call was made by Microsoft ACCESS, the database handle is 1257177088, and the command being executed is "select * from foo".  The return value is SQL_SUCCESS.