ODBC is an API that uses Structured Query Language (SQL) as the database access language. You can access a wide variety of database management systems (DBMSs) with the same ODBC source code that is directly incorporated into an application’s source code. With the Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers, a user of an ODBC-enabled application can open, query, and update a desktop database through the ODBC interface.
ODBC architecture consists of a Driver Manager and a set of ODBC drivers. ODBC drivers are database-specific modules that accept function calls from the Driver Manager and translate them into function calls that can operate directly upon databases or database files. These drivers isolate applications from database-specific calls, much the same way printer drivers enable an application to communicate with a variety of printers. Drivers are loaded at run time, so that a user only has to add a new driver to access a new DBMS.
The Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers are a Microsoft Jet-based set of ODBC drivers. Whereas Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers 2.0 includes both 16- and 32-bit drivers, versions 3.0 and later include only 32-bit drivers that work on Microsoft Windows 95 or later, or Microsoft Windows NT Workstation or Server version 3.51 or later. These drivers provide access to the following types of data sources:
See Also Access to Lotus 1-2-3, Microsoft Exchange, and HTML is enabled by installable ISAM (IISAM) drivers. For more information about these drivers, see Chapter 8, “Accessing External Data.”
The Desktop Database Drivers were created to provide access to the desktop data sources listed (which are among the most widely used in the industry), to satisfy the need of Microsoft applications for this data, and to provide ODBC drivers whose architecture is compatible with Microsoft products. Using the Microsoft Jet database engine to access data has helped the Desktop Database Drivers achieve these goals. Because a primary design goal of the drivers has been to expose as much Microsoft Jet functionality as possible in an ODBC context, the drivers provide users with a powerful extension of the Microsoft Jet engine.