The HL7Tools applications are built with Delphi, which comes with the fantastic FireDAC components to allow for connectivity to numerous database systems. FireDAC provides the FDAdministrator.exe application for configuring these connections, which is distributed with HL7Tools.

The HL7Tools applications present a drop-down list of previously configured connection definitions. Pressing the "..." button next to a Database Connection entry will launch the FDAdministrator application for creating new connections or editing existing ones.

By default, FireDAC first looks in the application directory for the FDConnectionDefs.ini and FDDrivers.ini files. The config programs will create empty versions of those files for you if the ini files and FireDAC registry keys for the workstation default location are not already present.

If the ini files are not found in the application directory, a registry entry for the workstation default ini location is checked and used if present.

IMPORTANT: In order to save a connection definition, you MUST click on the [+] in the Connection Definitions list to verify/test the connection. An unsuccessful connection will not be saved.

HL7Tools includes the following drivers. If your database of choice is not currently supported, please provide feedback.

• Microsoft SQL Server
• MySQL
• ODBC
• Oracle
• PostgreSQL
• SQLite

Additional help for FDAdministrator can be found here:
http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/RADStudio/Tokyo/en/FDExplorer

Example SQL Express Connection

This seqeuence of screenshots shows how to use FDAdministrator to create a simple connection to a local SQL Express database.

1. Add Connection and Select Driver

Click on the new connection icon or right-click the tree and select Connection Definition (Ctrl-N). In the right pane, click on the Driver ID drop-down to select the appropriate database driver.

2. Select Server and Database

In the grid of options, find the Server and Database entries and enter their respective names. Include the SQL instance in the server name if there is one.

3. Select Authentication

Click in the OSAuthent option and choose whether to use the operating system authentication (log in as the current user) or to enter a SQL Server user name and password. This example uses OS authentication.

4. Rename and Save

Right-click on the "ConnectionDef1" default name in the tree and choose Rename. Give the connection a simple but meaningful name. Then click on the [+] next to the connection name to start the save process. Press "OK" on the confirmation dialog.

5. Connection Test

Confirm or enter the credentials needed to connect to the database and press "OK". A successful connection is required to save the definition.

6. Saved

After the connection is made, the definition is saved and the [+] symbol disappears from the saved connection. Close and re-open FDAdministrator if the connection needs further editing.

My apologies: The FDAdministrator application doesn't quite live up to my usual "no surprises" user experience standards, but I don't think writing a replacement would be the best use of my time. It works well enough, and is a set-it-and-forget-it sort of tool.