External data can be in any ODBC compliant form.

In order to use the data source, a DSN (Data Source Name) must be defined using the Windows Control Panel.

For example, in Windows 2000 you would use...

Start>Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Data Sources

In the above, PROJECT1 is the DSN name and has been set up as a Microsoft Excel data source.

The type of data that is linked to depends on the ODBC database drivers currently installed on the machine – but drivers for Access, Excel, SQL Server and Oracle databases are commonly available.

Setting up a new DSN is dependent on the database being set-up, but in each case, the DSN is given a name and this name will be used in the XML Configuration file referenced by the Alias application which uses it.