UNIFACE CommUNIque

ODBC Driver Released

The ODBC driver for UNIFACE 6.1 d5 has been released. This driver will enable UNIFACE customers to access popular database management systems and file management systems in the desktop and workgroup environments. This is done by supporting the Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC) function calls. The driver is developed by Prolog Ltd., a company that combines an extensive knowledge of UNIFACE with a long record of building database drivers.

Benefits of the ODBC Driver

The ODBC driver provides seamless and transparent interoperability to several data sources. Users can concentrate on the application without having to bother about connecting and accessing databases. This will lead to higher productivity and flexibility, and to reduction of the learning curve. ODBC is a generic and widely accepted industry standard.

With the UNIFACE ODBC driver, available on MS-Windows 3.1/3.11, you only need one driver to access multiple data sources. Both SQL databases and non-SQL databases can be accessed through this one driver. Lastly, the ODBC driver adds support for DBMSs we currently do not support with our own drivers.

What is ODBC

ODBC defines a set of function calls for integration with DBMS engines. It builds on a call-level interface (CLI) specification developed by the SQL Access Group (SAG). This is a consortium consisting of more than 40 prominent companies in the database and systems industry (Apple, Borland, CA, DEC, HP, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, Sybase, Sun and others). Microsoft first used the SAG CLI specification as a basis and designed ODBC to be a superset with additional functionality, and then developed a core set of ODBC drivers that allow applications to access multiple databases using a single ODBC call. ODBC defines a set of function calls, and it describes error codes and datatypes. The benefit of ODBC is that an application can send and receive data and fire SQL calls without customizing the application for DBMS-specific API code.

An application makes database calls in ODBC format. ODBC drivers, one for every DBMS, translate the ODBC call into calls appropriate to the selected DBM' engine. Requests are processed and results are returned by the DBMS via a reversed route.

There are four components necessary:

1.The ODBC-compliant application;

2.The ODBC driver-manager;

3.The ODBC database driver; and

4.The database engine.