Connecting Oracle with MS

This article shows how Oracle's Heterogeneous Services can be configured to allow a database to connect to a Microsoft Access database using standard databases links. The method described can be used to connect to MS-Access from about any platform - Unix/ Linux or Windows.
MS-Access 2003 and Oracle 10g Release 1 are used to illustrate the concepts. However, this procedure should work with Oracle 8i, 9i and 10g databases, as well as various versions of MS-Access.
Step 1: Prepare the MS-Access environment
If you do not have a MS-Access environment, start by installing the required software and create a test table.
Step 2: Define ODBC connectivity
Use the ODBC Administrator Utility to define a local System DSN that can be used to connect to the Access database (same machine). Ensure that the correct *.MDB database file is selected.

Step 3: Prepare the Oracle Environment
Install the Oracle Database Server software on the same machine where MS-Access is installed.
NOTE: It is not sufficient to only install Client Software, as we require an Oracle Net Listener and the Heterogeneous Services (ORACLE_HOME\hs directory) software to be installed as well.
Step 4: Configure and Start the Oracle Listener
Configure the Oracle Listener on the Windows machine. Here is a sample LISTENER.ORA entry that can be used. Change the HOST, PORT and ORACLE_HOME entries to match your setup. You may also use a different SID_NAME if required.
LISTENER =
(DESCRIPTION_LIST =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS_LIST =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = my_windows_machine_name)(PORT = 1521))
)
)
)
SID_LIST_LISTENER=
(SID_LIST =
(SID_DESC =
(SID_NAME = hsodbc)
(ORACLE_HOME = c:\Oracle\Ora101)
(PROGRAM = hsodbc)
)
)
Stop and start the listener service or from the command line:
C:\> lsnrctl stop
C:\> lsnrctl start
Step 5: Configure Oracle HS:
Edit the ORACLE_HOME\hs\admin\inithsodbc.ora file and add your ODBC System