Proper setup of MySQL ODBC DSN

[John Allred]

I have a web site I created years ago using Coldfusion and Access as my DSN. It's worked fine for years. But my ISP recently demanded I drop the use of Access and move to MySQL (among other choices). I got my Access database converted to MySQL, and everything on the ISP server is working fine. I'm trying to configure my localhost version by replacing the Access DSN with a MySQL version. Terminology around data sources is confusing in this new environment. I got the MySQL Connector installed in Windows ODBC, so I can select a MySQL datasource there. I created a database in MySQL Workbench from scratch, but I'm confused about the terms it uses.

The MySQL Connector/ODBC Source Configuration has a "Database" field with five items in the dropdown: Information Schema, mysql, new_schema, performance_schema, and test. Only new_schema and test appear in the Schemas section under Navigator. These are two that I created while trying to figure it out.

Under Model Overview => Physical Schemas, I have listed what I thought was my database name, AptMaps. Under that name is "MySQL Schema." I have no idea what those terms are referring to, as neither term appears anywhere else in either the Workbench or the Windows ODBC configurator..

The ODBC DSN I created works. But I don't have a clue what it's connected to. My Coldfusion template (developed earlier using Access DSN) throws an error at the end of my WHERE clause. I cant tell whether its because the fields are missing or what. The same version of MySQL exists on both the ISP server and my local server, so it's not a syntax issue.

I know this is just a messy question, but I don't know where to go to sort out this terminology. Documentation nowadays is of the drive-by type. Over here is xyz. Over there is abc. There's no what or why.

Could someone engage me in a dialog to step through the successful creation of my DSN for this application?