Disclaimer

This software is supplied as is. No responsibility will be taken by the author for any loss of data through the use or misuse of this application.

What is ODBC?

ODBC stands for Open DataBase Connectivity. Open Database Connectivity is a widely accepted application programming interface (API) for database access. It is based on the Call-Level Interface (CLI) specifications from X/Open and ISO/IEC for database APIs and uses Structured Query Language (SQL) as its database access language.

What is SQL?

SQL is an acronym for Structured Query Language. It is a database query language that was adopted as an industry standard in 1986.

iODBC

iODBC is a port of the iODBC driver manager. This library basically manages drivers for different databases (local or remote) on behalf of applications to allow transparent connectivity to different databases.

This port has been implemented in a number of discreet sections:

• A stubs library to link to the client application
• A server application to manage the drivers using iODBC
• A module to enable to communication between the client and server components

Note that due to the way this port has been carried out there are a fewrestrictions about how ODBC compliant applications have to be written:

• Client applications must be WIMP based
• The main WIMP poll loop may require modifications

Documentation on how to write ODBC compliant applications is beyond the scope of this document. The MSDN site should have links leading to ODBC documentation and examples.