Change where pyodbc expects libodbc.2.dylib to live (changing default odbc file locations)

Question

When importing pyodbc

❯ python
>>> import pyodbc
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ImportError: dlopen(/Users/pcosta/Documents/test/myenv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pyodbc.cpython-37m-darwin.so, 2): Library not loaded: /usr/local/opt/unixodbc/lib/libodbc.2.dylib
  Referenced from: /Users/pcosta/Documents/test/myenv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pyodbc.cpython-37m-darwin.so
  Reason: image not found

I know why this is happening, as I don't have libodbc.2.dylib in the expected location. The reason is I do not have permission to write to /usr/local/, so I have Homebrew installing into ~/.brew. This mostly works fine. I am even able to get both tsql and isql working as expected by following the steps outlined here: https://github.com/mkleehammer/pyodbc/wiki/Connecting-to-SQL-Server-from-Mac-OSX.

So I do have libodbc.2.dylib, it's just that it lives in /Users/pcosta/.brew/lib, not /usr/local/opt/unixodbc/lib.

The main questions is can I get pyodbc to look for libodbc.2.dylib (and other associated files) in another directory?

I have all the files needed and have configured them correctly, I just need to repoint pyodbc somehow.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Thanks in part to guidance from this GitHub issue I was able to come to some solution.

Assuming you have brew install unixodbc:

1. Add the following paths (to .zshrc, .bashrc, or .bash_profile):

export LDFLAGS="-L/Users/pcosta/homebrew/opt/unixodbc/lib $LDFLAGS"
export CPPFLAGS="-I/Users/pcosta/homebrew/opt/unixodbc/include $CPPFLAGS"
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="/Users/pcosta/homebrew/opt/unixodbc/lib/pkgconfig $PKG_CONFIG_PATH"

2. Run pip install --no-binary pyodbc pyodbc to bypass the binary and build yourself