[R-sig-DB] Reading data from an Oracle database into R from a Windows operating system.

[Dirk Eddelbuettel]

On Wed, Dec 25, 2002 at 11:00:26AM -0800, Stephen Arthur wrote:
> Has anyone on this list successfully used package
> RODBC to connect to an Oracle database using Windows
> operating system?

Yes.

> I am using Oracle 8.0.6 database (later Oracle 9i)
> with Windows NT operating system.

It's a system at work, so I am writing this from memory. Oracle 8.0 or 8.1
client software. ODBC drivers for Oracle from Microsoft, something called
MAC or MCA .... NT4SP6.  Oracle backend in on Unix, but that shouldn't
matter. 

> I still need to read the manuals etc., but I was
> hoping to get feedback regarding whether there were
> limitations on the length of an R variable name to 8
> characters which I encountered when trying to read SAS
> data into R.
> 
> Are there any other tips with regard to connecting to
> an Oracle database that you could supply me with
> before I get serious in trying to solve this problem?

Try to understand how RODBC works. Test the ODBC data sources from other
client programs (e.g. Excel). Test it against other ODBC sources like
Access, SQL Server, Excel or whatever you have. Then try both from R. 
Once you have that working, switch to Oracle via RODBC. In other words, try
to isolate your complex connection setup into a series of separate steps you
can debug one by one.

Dirk

-- 
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. 
				             -- Niels Bohr