The first production version of the MySQL Connector for OpenOffice.org has been released. You can download it from http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/mysql_connector. The driver is implemented as an OpenOffice.org extension and thus it is very easy to install. The driver can be used in OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 and the upcoming OpenOffice.org 3.2 to connect to MySQL 5.1 or newer. Installation and first steps are described on http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Database/Drivers/MySQL_Native/1.0.

The driver offers the following advantages over MySQL Connector/ODBC and MySQL Connector/J:

• Easy installation through the OpenOffice.org Extension Manager
• Seamless integration into OpenOffice.org
• Work on multiple MySQL schemata (databases) simultaneously
• Connect to MySQL servers using named pipes (Windows) or Sockets (Unix)
• No need to go through an additional Connector installation routine (ODBC/JDBC)
• No need to configure or register an additional connector (ODBC)
• No need to install or configure a driver manager (ODBC)
• No need for a Java Runtime Environment (JDBC)

Questions, comments and any other kind of feedback is welcome. To discuss the new MySQL Connector/OpenOffice.org, please subscribe to the mailing list users@dba.openoffice.org. It is a low-volume list with less than 10 mails per day.