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  • #1

    ODBC question

    I currently use Bullet as my database engine (DBF) but I have
    been think about using ODBC in the near future for a project.
    My question is this - Do the ODBC drivers include the full
    DB engines for say Access or Foxpro or do they interface installed
    databases through registry information. The thought being
    that both a driver and database would have to be installed on
    a machine to use ODBC.

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    Tags: None
  • #2
    If a database (such as a Microsoft Access MDB file or a FoxPro file) exists on a computer, then all you would need to access it would be the ODBC subsystem, including the appropriate driver. It is not usually necessary to install a DBMS software package (such as Microsoft Access or FoxPro).

    However, some databases cannot exist without their DBMS software. For example, a SQL Server database does not exist as a "file" or even a "directory", it is treated as "an area on the hard drive" and it must be managed by SQL Server. The same is true of Oracle. Without the DBMS software the database can't exist in the first place.

    Also, some non-Microsoft ODBC Drivers do rely on the corresponding DBMS software. I can't remember which one it is, but a fairly major database (bTrieve?) implements its ODBC drivers by making hidden calls to the DBMS software. But if that is the case, the DBMS software must be present on the same system as the database, or it would not be possible for any software at all to access the database.

    So the bottom line is that it depends on which database you are talking about. But it is almost never necessary for you to install a DBMS package. Either you don't need it, or it already exists.

    HTH.

    -- Eric Pearson, Perfect Sync Software


    ------------------
    Perfect Sync Development Tools
    Perfect Sync Web Site
    Contact Us: mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>



    [This message has been edited by Eric Pearson (edited October 04, 2001).]
    "Not my circus, not my monkeys."

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    • #3
      Thank you.

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      Comment

      • #4
        Also, some non-Microsoft ODBC Drivers do rely on the corresponding DBMS software. I can't remember which one it is, but a fairly major database (bTrieve?) implements its ODBC drivers by making hidden calls to the DBMS software. But if that is the case, the DBMS software must be present on the same system as the database, or it would not be possible for any software at all to access the database.
        The Microsoft Driver manager relies on DBMS software.

        I know this because I was trying to set up an ODBC data source (through 'Control Panel/32-bit ODBC data sources') which would use the installed Oracle ODBC Driver, the "create" button was active so I could create a database, but then the driver manager gave me a nasty message that it could not create the database because the Oracle Client DLL was not installed.

        So, it's not just non-Microsoft software that relies on the DBMS software being in place.

        MCM


        Michael Mattias
        Tal Systems Inc. (retired)
        Racine WI USA
        [email protected]
        http://www.talsystems.com

        Comment

        • #5
          Sorry I wasn't clear. By "non-Microsoft ODBC drivers" I meant "ODBC drivers for non-Microsoft databases" (such as Oracle) not "ODBC drivers supplied by companies other than Microsoft".

          The Microsoft ODBC Driver Manager talks to ODBC drivers, period. The Driver Manager talks to the ODBC drivers, which may or may not need the DBMS software to be present.

          Another possible point of confusion... The "ODBC Driver Manager" is not the same thing as the ODBC Data Source Administrator program that can be found on the Windows Control Panel. The ODBC Driver Manager is a driver-level subsystem that does not have a user interface. ODBC-compliant programs talk to the ODBC Driver Manager, which then talks to the appropriate ODBC driver, which then talks to the database.

          The original point remains: It is almost never necessary to install a DBMS system in order to use ODBC. It may be necessary to install a DBMS in order to create/maintain a database, in which case there's no point in installing it, because it is already installed.

          -- Eric

          P.S. James, you are probably already aware of this, but my company distributes SQL Tools, which is a complete ODBC-based system for the PowerBASIC For Windows compilers.

          ------------------
          Perfect Sync Development Tools
          Perfect Sync Web Site
          Contact Us: mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>



          [This message has been edited by Eric Pearson (edited October 04, 2001).]
          "Not my circus, not my monkeys."

          Comment

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