[R-sig-Debian] How to open an access mdb using the rodbc package under Ubuntu 22.04

[Chris Evans]

Thanks Ivan: in passing, I've found your many inputs here and on r-help wonderful: thank you.

----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ivan Krylov" <krylov.r00t using gmail.com>
> To: "Chris Evans" <chrishold using psyctc.org>
> Cc: "r-sig-debian" <r-sig-debian using r-project.org>
> Sent: Friday, 17 June, 2022 10:41:14
> Subject: Re: [R-sig-Debian] How to open an access mdb using the rodbc package under Ubuntu 22.04

> On Fri, 17 Jun 2022 08:18:10 +0000 (UTC)
> Chris Evans <chrishold using psyctc.org> wrote:
> 
>> I want to open a moderately large (830Mb) and moderately complex
>> Access mdb database into R (4.2.0 (2022-04-22)) I'm running it under
>> Ubuntu 22.04 and have pulled in and compiled unixODBC
> 
> ODBC needs an Access driver in order to work with Access databases. A
> cursory web search gave me this commercial product:
> https://www.easysoft.com/products/data_access/odbc-access-driver/index.html

Ah, perhaps I should have said that I try to avoid proprietary s'ware if possible
and £899 is out of my range by well perhaps £890!  I could use their 15 day free
offer I guess but I'd prefer to find, and document somewhere, a FLOSS solution 
that goes all the way from having R on Ubuntu to having the RODBC connection work.
I am finding bits of that pipeline explained but not all ...

> 
> There's also mdbtools <https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools>, which
> also seems to offer an ODBC driver. It might also be able to let you
> convert the Access database for a different SQL engine.

OK but I didn't see anything there about how I would get RODBC to use that to
connect to the mdb file. 

Sorry if I'm being stupid, not for want of searching or trying!

If I can find a FLOSS way of doing it, I _will_ document it at https://www.psyctc.org/Rblog/
for others who may find this challenging as I have.

Any further advice or pointers out there?!  TIA!

Chris

> 
> --
> Best regards,
> Ivan

-- 
Chris Evans (he/him) <chris using psyctc.org> 
Visiting Professor, UDLA, Quito, Ecuador & Honorary Professor, University of Roehampton, London, UK.
Work web site: https://www.psyctc.org/psyctc/ 
CORE site:     https://www.coresystemtrust.org.uk/
Personal site: https://www.psyctc.org/pelerinage2016/
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