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<img SRC="unixODBC.gif" height=32 width=32>unixODBC
 
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<center>PROGRAMMER MANUAL
 Peter Harvey
 19.DEC.01</center>

Introduction
Welcome to the unixODBC&nbsp;Programmer
Manual. This manual is a starting point for a programmer who is interested
in developing an application which *uses* ODBC. This manual does not address
Driver development or any other development which is internal to the ODBC&nbsp;sub-system.
Why Use ODBC?
ODBC&nbsp;provides a portable Application
Programmers Interface (API) with which to access data. This means that
your data access code will recompile without changes on all popular platforms.
In practice; portability is sometimes hampered by incomplete drivers. However;
the core ODBC functionality (the most used functionality) is always supported
any working driver. Other advantages to developing with ODBC&nbsp;include;
<ul>
<li>
most popular API of its kind</li>

<li>
most mature API of its kind</li>

<li>
skills more reusable/easily found</li>

<li>
hundreds, if not thousands, of applications
use it</li>

<li>
availible on all majour platforms</li>

<li>
easy to change data storage solution/vendor
(ah; freedom)</li>

<li>
easy to upscale data storage (developer and
end-user)</li>

<li>
arguably the most complete API of its kind</li>

<li>
many books on the subject</li>

<li>
greater support base</li>
</ul>
Languages Supported
ODBC&nbsp;is based upon a C API. C++ programmers
will find a number of C++ class libraries for using the ODBC&nbsp;API.
These are wrappers - using the C&nbsp;API&nbsp;internally but can provide
a much nicer way to use ODBC for C++ programmers.
Any language which can call a C API should
be able to use the ODBC&nbsp;API and most languages, such as PHP and Perl,
provide an interface to work with ODBC but these are not covered in this
manual.
Architecture
Client Libraries
These are client libraries which are specific
to the particular database being used. These, often, provide a C API of
their own which is used by Driver developers. In some cases these exist
inside of the Driver itself or are staticly linked into the Driver. Any
Client Libraries required by a Driver will be a part of the installation
of your Driver or will simply be a requirement for the installation of
your Driver. Sometimes Client Libraries must be configured before any ODBC&nbsp;configuration.
Driver
Driver Manager
The Driver Manager acts as a gateway to
the ODBC&nbsp;drivers. The main advantage to having a Driver Manager is
that the end-user can configure the Driver Manager to use a different Driver
than the one original conceived of by the programmer.
It as virtualy identical functions declarations
as a Driver which means that one *could* create an application
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