<s>
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
(	O
Object	B-Operating_System
Linking	I-Operating_System
and	I-Operating_System
Embedding	I-Operating_System
,	O
Database	O
,	O
sometimes	O
written	O
as	O
OLEDB	B-Language
or	O
OLE-DB	B-Language
)	O
,	O
an	O
API	B-Application
designed	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
allows	O
accessing	O
data	O
from	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
sources	O
in	O
a	O
uniform	O
manner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
API	B-Application
provides	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
interfaces	O
implemented	O
using	O
the	O
Component	B-Application
Object	I-Application
Model	I-Application
(	O
COM	O
)	O
;	O
it	O
is	O
otherwise	O
unrelated	O
to	O
OLE	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
originally	O
intended	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
as	O
a	O
higher-level	O
replacement	O
for	O
,	O
and	O
successor	O
to	O
,	O
ODBC	B-Application
,	O
extending	O
its	O
feature	O
set	O
to	O
support	O
a	O
wider	O
variety	O
of	O
non-relational	O
databases	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
object	B-Application
databases	I-Application
and	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
that	O
do	O
not	O
necessarily	O
implement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
separates	O
the	O
data	O
store	O
from	O
the	O
application	O
that	O
needs	O
access	O
to	O
it	O
through	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
abstractions	O
that	O
include	O
the	O
datasource	O
,	O
session	O
,	O
command	O
,	O
and	O
rowsets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
is	O
conceptually	O
divided	O
into	O
consumers	O
and	O
providers	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
consumers	O
are	O
the	O
applications	O
that	O
need	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
data	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
providers	B-Language
are	O
the	O
software	O
components	O
that	O
implement	O
the	O
interface	O
and	O
thereby	O
provides	O
the	O
data	O
to	O
the	O
consumer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
is	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Library
Data	I-Library
Access	I-Library
Components	I-Library
(	O
MDAC	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
's	O
release	O
of	O
SQL	B-Application
Server	I-Application
2012	I-Application
(	O
internal	O
code	O
:	O
'	O
Denali	O
 '	O
)	O
is	O
the	O
last	O
to	O
include	O
an	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
provider	I-Language
for	O
SQL	O
Server	O
,	O
but	O
support	O
will	O
continue	O
for	O
7	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
a	O
related	O
Microsoft	O
FAQ	O
,	O
"	O
Providers	B-Language
like	O
ADO.NET	B-Device
which	O
can	O
run	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
will	O
not	O
support	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
once	O
the	O
latter	O
is	O
deprecated	B-General_Concept
"	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
same	O
answer	O
in	O
the	O
FAQ	O
states	O
that	O
the	O
original	O
post	O
relates	O
only	O
to	O
the	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
provider	I-Language
for	O
SQL	O
Server	O
,	O
so	O
the	O
position	O
of	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
itself	O
remains	O
unclear	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
same	O
FAQ	O
states	O
that	O
ODBC	B-Application
performs	O
better	O
than	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
in	O
most	O
cases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
during	O
subsequent	O
reviews	O
it	O
was	O
determined	O
that	O
deprecation	B-General_Concept
was	O
a	O
mistake	O
because	O
substantial	O
scenarios	O
within	O
SQL	O
Server	O
still	O
depend	O
on	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
and	O
changing	O
those	O
would	O
break	O
some	O
existing	O
customer	O
scenarios	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Oct	O
6	O
,	O
2017	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
that	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
was	O
undeprecated	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
to	O
maintain	O
dependencies	O
would	O
be	O
released	O
in	O
early	O
2018	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
provider	I-Language
is	O
a	O
software	O
component	O
that	O
enables	O
an	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
consumer	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
a	O
data	O
source	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
providers	I-Language
are	O
analogous	O
to	O
ODBC	B-Application
drivers	O
,	O
JDBC	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
,	O
and	O
ADO.NET	B-Device
data	I-Device
providers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
providers	I-Language
can	O
be	O
created	O
to	O
access	O
such	O
simple	O
data	O
stores	O
as	O
a	O
text	O
file	O
and	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
,	O
through	O
to	O
such	O
complex	O
databases	O
as	O
Oracle	B-General_Concept
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
Server	I-Application
,	O
Sybase	B-Application
ASE	I-Application
,	O
and	O
many	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
because	O
different	O
data	O
store	O
technologies	O
can	O
have	O
different	O
capabilities	O
,	O
every	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
provider	I-Language
cannot	O
implement	O
every	O
possible	O
interface	O
available	O
in	O
the	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
capabilities	O
that	O
are	O
available	O
are	O
implemented	O
through	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
COM	B-Application
objects	I-Application
;	O
an	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
provider	I-Language
will	O
map	O
the	O
data	O
store	O
technologies	O
functionality	O
to	O
a	O
particular	O
COM	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Providers	B-Language
may	O
augment	O
the	O
capabilities	O
of	O
a	O
data	O
store	O
;	O
these	O
capabilities	O
are	O
known	O
as	O
services	O
in	O
Microsoft	O
parlance	O
.	O
</s>
