# Connecting to ASCII Text Databases

ColdFusion lets you access ASCII text databases on both Windows NT and UNIX, via ODBC drivers.

## Configuring Microsoft Text options (Windows)

If ColdFusion Server is installed on a Windows NT server, you can configure ASCII text files as ColdFusion data sources using an ODBC driver.

| ODBC: Microsoft Text Options (Windows)

The following table describes ColdFusion ODBC options for data sources you create with the Microsoft Text driver.

Microsoft Text ODBC Options
Option | Description
--- | ---
Data Source Name | A name for your ODBC data source.
Description | Descriptive information about the data source.
Database Directory | The directory where the text files are found.
Extensions List | Lists the file name extensions of the text files on the data source. To use all files in the directory, enter *.*. To use only those files with certain extensions, add each extension you want to use.

## Configuring Microsoft Text ODBC options (UNIX)

| ODBC: MERANT Text Driver Options (Solaris)

The following table describes ColdFusion ODBC options for data sources created with the MERANT Text driver.

MERANT Text ODBC Options
Option | Description
--- | ---
Data Source Name | A name for your data source.
Description | Descriptive information about the data source.
Database Directory | The directory where the text files are found.
Extensions List | Lists the file name extensions of the text files on the data source. To use all files in the directory, enter *.*. To use only those files with certain extensions, add each extension you want to use.