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Which set of MFC classes should you use? This depends on your needs:
Note DAO requires additional hard disk space.
The DAO classes have the following advantages:
Here’s a summary of the key differences to help you choose:
Choosing Between MFC’s DAO and ODBC Classes
Can I... | with DAO Classes? | with ODBC Classes? |
Access .MDB files | Yes | Yes |
Access ODBC data sources | Yes | Yes |
Available for 16 Bit | No | Yes |
Available for 32 Bit | Yes | Yes |
Database compaction | Yes | No |
Database engine support | Microsoft Jet database engine | Target DBMS |
DDL support | Yes | Only via direct ODBC calls |
DML support | Yes | Yes |
Nature of the MFC implementation | “Wrapper” of DAO core functions | Simplified abstraction rather than a “wrapper” of the ODBC API |
Optimal for | .MDB files (Microsoft Access) | Any DBMS for which you have a driver, especially in client/server situations |
Transaction support | Per “workspace” or, for ODBC data, per database | Per database |
Keep in mind that the capabilities of ODBC drivers vary. See the ODBC Programmer’s Reference and the help file for your ODBC driver for more information. For information about using ODBC via DAO, see the article DAO External: Working with External Data Sources.