Connecting to Oracle without Configuring the tnsnames.ora File

The trick is to put the tnsnames information into the ODBC connection string directly, using the Data Source=... option.

The following (untested) code is VB, but the concept should work in any language that supports ODBC:

    Dim TNS_INFO As String
    Dim cnxDB As New ADODB.Connection
    
    TNS_INFO = "(DESCRIPTION=" & _
                       "(ADDRESS_LIST=" & _
                       "(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)" & _
                       "(HOST=prodtst1.sdd.hp.com)" & _
                       "(PORT=1521)))" & _
                       "(CONNECT_DATA=(SID=prod_tst)" & _
                       "(SERVER=DEDICATED)))"
    
    cnxDB.ConnectionString = "Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;" & _
                       "Data Source=" & TNS_INFO & ";" & _
                       "user id=cressman;" & _
                       "password=mean2me"
    Debug.Print cnxDB.ConnectionString
    cnxDB.Open