ACC2000: "Data Source Name Not Found" Message When You Open Web Page

After you export data to create Dynamic HTX/IDC or Dynamic Active Server Pages (ASP) files on your Web server, you may receive the following message when you try to view those files with your Web browser: In addition to the path and file name of the page that you try to open, the error message may include the following:

This behavior occurs when there is not a System data source name (DSN) data source on the server or when your Web page file contains an incorrect reference to the System DSN.

To add a new System DSN or check the name of an existing data source on your Web server computer, follow these steps:

1. Open the ODBC Data Source Administrator on your Web server:
   • In Windows 98, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then open ODBC Data Sources (32 bit).
   • In Windows 2000 and Windows NT, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, click Administrative Tools, and then open ODBC Data Sources.
2. In the Data Sources dialog box, click the System DSN tab.
3. Click Add if you do not see the name of the System DSN that you used as the DSN in the export process.
4. Click Microsoft Access Driver, and then click Finish.
   
   NOTE: If Microsoft Access Driver does not appear, it needs to be installed on your Web server.
5. In the ODBC Microsoft Access Setup dialog box, type the requested information. The name that you type in the Data Source Name box is the name you will use in the Data Source Name box in the Export Table 'filename' As dialog box, where filename is the name of the table that you are exporting.
6. Click OK to close the ODBC Microsoft Access Setup dialog box.
7. Click OK in the ODBC Data Source Administrator dialog box.

If the DSN in the System DSN on your Web server is different than the one you used when you created your Web pages, return to the export process in Microsoft Access and recreate your Web pages using the correct DSN.

Dynamic HTX/IDC and Dynamic ASP files are Web pages that use ODBC to display updated information from your database each time you open or refresh the page in your Web browser.

NOTE: Dynamic HTX/IDC and Dynamic ASP files require specific Web server software, and in some cases, specific Web browser software.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

1. Start Microsoft Access and open the sample database Northwind.mdb.
2. In the Database window, click Tables, and then click Customers.
3. On the File menu, click Export.
4. In the Export Table 'Customers' As dialog box, browse to the folder in which you want to store your Web page (in many cases this folder is Inetpub\Wwwroot), accept the file name Customers, select Microsoft Active Server Pages (*.asp) in the Save as type list, and then click Save.
5. In the Microsoft Active Server Pages Output Options dialog box, type MyDSN in the Data Source Name box, type the URL of the location (in many cases this may be //localhost/) where you will store the ASP file in the Server URL box, and then click OK.
   
   NOTE: If you do not have write permissions for the destination folder on your Web server, you receive the following message:
   Microsoft Access can't save the output data to the file you've selected.
6. Start your Web browser, and in the Address box, type the URL for the Customers.asp file you just created (for example, //localhost/customers.asp)
   .
   Notice that you receive the following message:
   Data source name not found and no default driver specified

For more information about Active Server Pages and HTX/IDC file formats, click Microsoft Access Help on the Help menu, type dynamic html in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.