installing cx_Oracle

[Rodrigo Daunaravicius]

I can't get this configuration working:
cx_Oracle 4.0.1
Oracle 8.0.6
Python 2.3.3
Win NT4.0 SP6fc

My first shot at the problem was just running the installation thingie
pre-built for win32/python2.3/Oracle8i. It installed with no complaints but
I can't import the module (can't find OCIEnvCreate entry point in the
OCI.dll library). 
This version was built for Oracle 8.1.7, so I figure that must be the
problem.

Then I downloaded the sources, but can't build them. After a fair amount of
fiddling with setup.py and some of the C header files to compensate for the
unusual file structure of my Oracle Client installation and for the use of
the gcc compilator instead of Visual Studio, I got stuck at this point:

:>python setup.py -build -c mingw32 install
:running build
:running build_ext
:building 'cx_Oracle' extension
:D:\minGW\bin\gcc.exe -mno-cygwin -mdll -O -Wall -Id:\orant\oci80\include
:-Id:\orant\rdbms80\demo -ID:\Python23\include -ID:\Python23\PC -c
:cx_Oracle.c -o build\temp.win32-2.3\Release\cx_oracle.o
:"-DBUILD_TIME="""June 04, 2004 16:42:10"""
:In file included from cx_Oracle.c:63:
:Environment.c: In function `Environment_New':
:Environment.c:78: warning: implicit declaration of function `OCIEnvCreate'
:[follows a bunch of declaration errors for anything that's named
:OCIwhatever]


According to the Oracle Docs, "OCIEnvCreate creates and initializes an
environment for OCI functions to work under".

So my uneducated guess is that this OCIEnvCreate function is not present in
Oracle 8.0.6, but I can't find anything in the docs that hints to it.


1. Is there a way around this OCIEnvCrete problem?

2. Is there an alternative to cx_Oracle that works out of the box with
Oracle 8.0.6? (tryed DCOracle2, but couldn't make it work with Python2.3
AND without Zope)

3. Should I give up cx_Oracle and stick with ODBC?

4. Should I give up python and stick with Access VBA? (sorry, bad joke)



Any insight would be helpful (even another forum where I could forward this
specific question).

Thanks in advance,
Rodrigo Daunaravicius