ODBC module and strange date reference <...>

[dananrg at yahoo.com]

Magnus Lycka wrote:
> Are you using an old version of ESRI software, or are
> they shipping a product with an ancient version of Python?

We're using the latest and greatest ArcGIS Desktop product, which is at
release 9.1. Evidently they chose to use Python 2.1 to ensure a "silent
install" when ArcGIS Desktop gets installed.

I've been told the beta for ArcGIS Desktop 9.2 ships with Python 2.4,
so it's safe to say the official release of 9.2 this summer will ship
with Python 2.4 as well. At least that's my hope.

> You can't really expect that third party product will
> support Python 2.1 any longer. A lot of new software
> take advantage of the new features in Python that came
> in later versions. Current Python versions are also a
> bit faster.

I'm all for using for the latest version of Python. I'm just now
learning about Python classes, and it seems like there were some
significant changes at 2.2.

> If I were you, I'd check with ESRI support if you can't
> use a newer version of Python. I think it's possible.

I think it is as well and am looking into it.
 
Thanks again for your help Magnus.

Dana