What Is an ODBC Driver
ODBC stands for Open DataBase Connectivity. ODBC provides a standardized set of rules for getting information to and from a database. An ODBC driver is a software interface that accepts ODBC standard queries and then passes them through to the specific application, modifying where necessary to account for application specific database structure and format. The functions of a driver are invisible to users and third party applications. From a third party perspective, a standardized ODBC query or update is presented to the database, and a standardized ODBC response is returned.
How Do I Benefit from My ODBC Driver?
Many software applications (such as Biblioscape) use databases to store and retrieve information. The database design is often specific to the application associated with the database. Before the introduction of ODBC, important information might only be accessible through one application, or via export solutions. The immediate benefit of ODBC is that those applications that support the ODBC standards can access Biblioscape directly through ODBC. They can search and read the data in Biblioscape, even update records in Biblioscape without starting Biblioscape. With the ODBC driver, you can make Biblioscape database part of a bigger solution in your organization.
More About the Driver
The Biblioscape ODBC driver is an ODBC 3 driver and we've used it successfully with MDAC 2.7 and the following applications:
Crystal Reports 8.5
MS Query (and subsequently mail-merge in Word and external data in Excel) (Office 2000)
MS Access 2000
MS Visio 2000
BDE 5.01
ODBCExpress 5.06/7 (Delphi 5)
ADOExpress (Delphi 5 with update packs)
IIS5 ASP scripts
Visual Basic 6
Visual Studio .NET
The driver can completely handle all updating of data via SQL statements and the SQLExecute or SQLExecDirect calls, including BLOB data. Parameters are also completely supported, including BLOB parameters.
The driver provides scrollable cursor support via SQLFetchScroll and SQLExtendedFetch. The only two types of scrollable cursors supported are Static and Dynamic. Keyset-Driven cursors are not supported.
The driver cannot performe positioned updates using the SQL syntax WHERE CURRENT OF and using the SQLSetCursorName and SQLGetCursorName calls. This functionality is not supported in the database engine.
Even though the driver supports parameter arrays, you still cannot request multiple result sets with the SQLMoreResults call. This is not supported in the database engine. You will, however, be able to execute multiple INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statements.
How to Get it
You can purchase the ODBC driver for $49. Click here to purchase it online. A separate help file is included in the ODBC installation.