<s>
In	O
computing	O
,	O
Open	B-Application
Database	I-Application
Connectivity	I-Application
(	O
ODBC	B-Application
)	O
is	O
a	O
standard	O
application	B-Application
programming	I-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
API	B-Application
)	O
for	O
accessing	O
database	B-Application
management	I-Application
systems	I-Application
(	O
DBMS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
designers	O
of	O
ODBC	B-Application
aimed	O
to	O
make	O
it	O
independent	O
of	O
database	B-Application
systems	I-Application
and	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
application	O
written	O
using	O
ODBC	B-Application
can	O
be	O
ported	O
to	O
other	O
platforms	O
,	O
both	O
on	O
the	O
client	O
and	O
server	O
side	O
,	O
with	O
few	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
data	O
access	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ODBC	B-Application
accomplishes	O
DBMS	O
independence	O
by	O
using	O
an	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	B-Application
as	O
a	O
translation	O
layer	O
between	O
the	O
application	O
and	O
the	O
DBMS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
application	O
uses	O
ODBC	B-Application
functions	O
through	O
an	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	B-Application
manager	O
with	O
which	O
it	O
is	O
linked	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
driver	B-Application
passes	O
the	O
query	B-Language
to	O
the	O
DBMS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	B-Application
can	O
be	O
thought	O
of	O
as	O
analogous	O
to	O
a	O
printer	B-Application
driver	I-Application
or	O
other	O
driver	B-Application
,	O
providing	O
a	O
standard	O
set	O
of	O
functions	O
for	O
the	O
application	O
to	O
use	O
,	O
and	O
implementing	O
DBMS-specific	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
application	O
that	O
can	O
use	O
ODBC	B-Application
is	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
"	O
ODBC-compliant	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
ODBC-compliant	O
application	O
can	O
access	O
any	O
DBMS	O
for	O
which	O
a	O
driver	B-Application
is	O
installed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Drivers	O
exist	O
for	O
all	O
major	O
DBMSs	O
,	O
many	O
other	O
data	O
sources	O
like	O
address	B-Operating_System
book	I-Operating_System
systems	O
and	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
,	O
and	O
even	O
for	O
text	O
or	O
comma-separated	O
values	O
(	O
CSV	O
)	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ODBC	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
developed	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
and	O
Simba	O
Technologies	O
during	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
,	O
and	O
became	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
the	O
Call	O
Level	O
Interface	O
(	O
CLI	O
)	O
standardized	O
by	O
SQL	B-Language
Access	I-Language
Group	I-Language
in	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
and	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
field	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ODBC	B-Application
retained	O
several	O
features	O
that	O
were	O
removed	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
CLI	O
effort	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Full	O
ODBC	B-Application
was	O
later	O
ported	O
back	O
to	O
those	O
platforms	O
,	O
and	O
became	O
a	O
de	O
facto	O
standard	O
considerably	O
better	O
known	O
than	O
CLI	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CLI	O
remains	O
similar	O
to	O
ODBC	B-Application
,	O
and	O
applications	O
can	O
be	O
ported	O
from	O
one	O
platform	O
to	O
the	O
other	O
with	O
few	O
changes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
introduction	O
of	O
the	O
mainframe-based	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
during	O
the	O
1970s	O
led	O
to	O
a	O
proliferation	O
of	O
data	O
access	O
methods	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
best-known	O
examples	O
are	O
SQL	B-Language
from	O
IBM	O
and	O
QUEL	B-Language
from	O
the	O
Ingres	B-Application
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
introduction	O
of	O
SQL	B-Language
aimed	O
to	O
solve	O
the	O
problem	O
of	O
language	O
standardization	O
,	O
although	O
substantial	O
differences	O
in	O
implementation	O
remained	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
SQL	B-Language
language	I-Language
had	O
only	O
rudimentary	O
programming	O
features	O
,	O
users	O
often	O
wanted	O
to	O
use	O
SQL	B-Language
within	O
a	O
program	O
written	O
in	O
another	O
language	O
,	O
say	O
Fortran	B-Application
or	O
C	B-Language
.	O
This	O
led	O
to	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
Embedded	B-Language
SQL	I-Language
,	O
which	O
allowed	O
SQL	B-Language
code	O
to	O
be	O
embedded	O
within	O
another	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
a	O
SQL	B-Language
statement	O
like	O
SELECT	O
*	O
FROM	O
city	O
could	O
be	O
inserted	O
as	O
text	O
within	O
C	B-Language
source	O
code	O
,	O
and	O
during	O
compiling	B-Language
it	O
would	O
be	O
converted	O
into	O
a	O
custom	O
format	O
that	O
directly	O
called	O
a	O
function	O
within	O
a	O
library	B-Library
that	O
would	O
pass	O
the	O
statement	O
into	O
the	O
SQL	B-Language
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Results	O
returned	O
from	O
the	O
statements	O
would	O
be	O
interpreted	O
back	O
into	O
C	B-Language
data	O
formats	O
like	O
char	O
*	O
using	O
similar	O
library	B-Library
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
several	O
problems	O
with	O
the	O
Embedded	B-Language
SQL	I-Language
approach	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
the	O
different	O
varieties	O
of	O
SQL	B-Language
,	O
the	O
Embedded	B-Language
SQLs	I-Language
that	O
used	O
them	O
varied	O
widely	O
,	O
not	O
only	O
from	O
platform	O
to	O
platform	O
,	O
but	O
even	O
across	O
languages	O
on	O
one	O
platform	O
–	O
a	O
system	O
that	O
allowed	O
calls	O
into	O
IBM	B-Application
Db2	I-Application
would	O
look	O
very	O
different	O
from	O
one	O
that	O
called	O
into	O
their	O
own	O
SQL/DS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
key	O
problem	O
to	O
the	O
Embedded	B-Language
SQL	I-Language
concept	O
was	O
that	O
the	O
SQL	B-Language
code	O
could	O
only	O
be	O
changed	O
in	O
the	O
program	O
's	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
even	O
small	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
query	B-Language
required	O
considerable	O
programmer	O
effort	O
to	O
modify	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SQL	B-Language
market	O
referred	O
to	O
this	O
as	O
static	O
SQL	B-Language
,	O
versus	O
dynamic	O
SQL	B-Language
which	O
could	O
be	O
changed	O
at	O
any	O
time	O
,	O
like	O
the	O
command-line	B-Application
interfaces	I-Application
that	O
shipped	O
with	O
almost	O
all	O
SQL	B-Language
systems	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
programming	B-Application
interface	I-Application
that	O
left	O
the	O
SQL	B-Language
as	O
plain	O
text	O
until	O
it	O
was	O
called	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dynamic	O
SQL	B-Language
systems	O
became	O
a	O
major	O
focus	O
for	O
SQL	B-Language
vendors	O
during	O
the	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Older	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
databases	B-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
newer	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
based	O
systems	O
that	O
were	O
based	O
on	O
them	O
,	O
generally	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
a	O
SQL-like	O
command	O
processor	O
between	O
the	O
user	O
and	O
the	O
database	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
,	O
the	O
data	O
was	O
accessed	O
directly	O
by	O
the	O
program	O
–	O
a	O
programming	B-Library
library	I-Library
in	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
large	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
systems	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
interface	I-Application
or	O
interactive	O
forms	O
system	O
in	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
dBASE	B-Application
and	O
similar	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
from	O
dBASE	B-Application
could	O
not	O
generally	O
be	O
accessed	O
directly	O
by	O
other	O
programs	O
running	O
on	O
the	O
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Those	O
programs	O
may	O
be	O
given	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
access	O
this	O
data	O
,	O
often	O
through	O
libraries	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
would	O
not	O
work	O
with	O
any	O
other	O
database	O
engine	O
,	O
or	O
even	O
different	O
databases	B-Application
in	O
the	O
same	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
the	O
mid-1980s	O
the	O
rapid	O
improvement	O
in	O
microcomputers	B-Architecture
,	O
and	O
especially	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
the	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
and	O
data-rich	O
application	B-Application
programs	I-Application
like	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
led	O
to	O
an	O
increasing	O
interest	O
in	O
using	O
personal	O
computers	O
as	O
the	O
client-side	B-Operating_System
platform	O
of	O
choice	O
in	O
client	B-Operating_System
–	I-Operating_System
server	I-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Under	O
this	O
model	O
,	O
large	O
mainframes	B-Architecture
and	O
minicomputers	B-Architecture
would	O
be	O
used	O
primarily	O
to	O
serve	O
up	O
data	O
over	O
local	B-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
networks	I-General_Concept
to	O
microcomputers	B-Architecture
that	O
would	O
interpret	O
,	O
display	O
and	O
manipulate	O
that	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
this	O
model	O
to	O
work	O
,	O
a	O
data	O
access	O
standard	O
was	O
a	O
requirement	O
–	O
in	O
the	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
field	O
it	O
was	O
highly	O
likely	O
that	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
computers	O
in	O
a	O
shop	O
were	O
from	O
one	O
vendor	O
and	O
clients	O
were	O
computer	B-General_Concept
terminals	I-General_Concept
talking	O
directly	O
to	O
them	O
,	O
but	O
in	O
the	O
micro	O
field	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
such	O
standardization	O
and	O
any	O
client	O
might	O
access	O
any	O
server	O
using	O
any	O
networking	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
these	O
were	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
related	O
,	O
designed	O
to	O
allow	O
programs	O
running	O
on	O
those	O
machines	O
to	O
translate	O
between	O
the	O
variety	O
of	O
SQL	B-Language
's	O
and	O
provide	O
a	O
single	O
common	O
interface	O
which	O
could	O
then	O
be	O
called	O
by	O
other	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
or	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
solutions	O
included	O
IBM	O
's	O
Distributed	O
Relational	B-Application
Database	I-Application
Architecture	O
(	O
DRDA	B-Language
)	O
and	O
Apple	O
Computer	O
's	O
Data	B-Operating_System
Access	I-Operating_System
Language	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Much	O
more	O
common	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
were	O
systems	O
that	O
ran	O
entirely	O
on	O
microcomputers	B-Architecture
,	O
including	O
a	O
complete	O
protocol	B-Protocol
stack	I-Protocol
that	O
included	O
any	O
required	O
networking	O
or	O
file	O
translation	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
early	O
examples	O
of	O
such	O
a	O
system	O
was	O
Lotus	O
Development	O
's	O
DataLens	B-Application
,	O
initially	O
known	O
as	O
Blueprint	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Blueprint	O
,	O
developed	O
for	O
1-2-3	O
,	O
supported	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
data	O
sources	O
,	O
including	O
SQL/DS	B-Application
,	O
DB2	B-Application
,	O
FOCUS	O
and	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
similar	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
systems	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
systems	O
like	O
dBase	B-Application
and	O
the	O
early	O
Microsoft/Ashton	O
-Tate	O
efforts	O
that	O
would	O
eventually	O
develop	O
into	O
Microsoft	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
Server	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
the	O
later	O
ODBC	B-Application
,	O
Blueprint	O
was	O
a	O
purely	O
code-based	O
system	O
,	O
lacking	O
anything	O
approximating	O
a	O
command	O
language	O
like	O
SQL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
,	O
programmers	O
used	O
data	B-General_Concept
structures	I-General_Concept
to	O
store	O
the	O
query	B-Language
information	O
,	O
constructing	O
a	O
query	B-Language
by	O
linking	O
many	O
of	O
these	O
structures	O
together	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lotus	O
referred	O
to	O
these	O
compound	O
structures	O
as	O
query	B-Language
trees	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
,	O
an	O
industry	O
team	O
including	O
members	O
from	O
Sybase	B-Application
(	O
Tom	O
Haggin	O
)	O
,	O
Tandem	O
Computers	O
(	O
Jim	O
Gray	O
&	O
Rao	O
Yendluri	O
)	O
and	O
Microsoft	O
(	O
Kyle	O
Geiger	O
)	O
were	O
working	O
on	O
a	O
standardized	O
dynamic	O
SQL	B-Language
concept	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Much	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
Sybase	B-Application
's	O
DB-Library	O
system	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
Sybase-specific	O
sections	O
removed	O
and	O
several	O
additions	O
to	O
support	O
other	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DB-Library	O
was	O
aided	O
by	O
an	O
industry-wide	O
move	O
from	O
library	B-Library
systems	O
that	O
were	O
tightly	O
linked	O
to	O
a	O
specific	O
language	O
,	O
to	O
library	B-Library
systems	O
that	O
were	O
provided	O
by	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
and	O
required	O
the	O
languages	O
on	O
that	O
platform	O
to	O
conform	O
to	O
its	O
standards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
meant	O
that	O
a	O
single	O
library	B-Library
could	O
be	O
used	O
with	O
(	O
potentially	O
)	O
any	O
programming	O
language	O
on	O
a	O
given	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
draft	O
of	O
the	O
Microsoft	O
Data	O
Access	O
API	B-Application
was	O
published	O
in	O
April	O
1989	O
,	O
about	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
as	O
Lotus	O
 '	O
announcement	O
of	O
Blueprint	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
spite	O
of	O
Blueprint	O
's	O
great	O
lead	O
–	O
it	O
was	O
running	O
when	O
MSDA	O
was	O
still	O
a	O
paper	O
project	O
–	O
Lotus	O
eventually	O
joined	O
the	O
MSDA	O
efforts	O
as	O
it	O
became	O
clear	O
that	O
SQL	B-Language
would	O
become	O
the	O
de	O
facto	O
database	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
considerable	O
industry	O
input	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
summer	O
of	O
1989	O
the	O
standard	O
became	O
SQL	B-Language
Connectivity	O
(	O
SQLC	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1988	O
several	O
vendors	O
,	O
mostly	O
from	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
and	O
database	O
communities	O
,	O
formed	O
the	O
SQL	B-Language
Access	I-Language
Group	I-Language
(	O
SAG	O
)	O
in	O
an	O
effort	O
to	O
produce	O
a	O
single	O
basic	O
standard	O
for	O
the	O
SQL	B-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
first	O
meeting	O
there	O
was	O
considerable	O
debate	O
over	O
whether	O
or	O
not	O
the	O
effort	O
should	O
work	O
solely	O
on	O
the	O
SQL	B-Language
language	I-Language
itself	O
,	O
or	O
attempt	O
a	O
wider	O
standardization	O
which	O
included	O
a	O
dynamic	O
SQL	O
language-embedding	O
system	O
as	O
well	O
,	O
what	O
they	O
called	O
a	O
Call	O
Level	O
Interface	O
(	O
CLI	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
SQLC	O
"	O
gang	O
of	O
four	O
"	O
,	O
MS	O
,	O
Tandem	O
,	O
DEC	O
and	O
Sybase	B-Application
,	O
brought	O
an	O
updated	O
version	O
of	O
SQLC	O
to	O
the	O
next	O
SAG	O
meeting	O
in	O
June	O
1990	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SAG	O
responded	O
by	O
opening	O
the	O
standard	O
effort	O
to	O
any	O
competing	O
design	O
,	O
but	O
of	O
the	O
many	O
proposals	O
,	O
only	O
Oracle	B-Application
Corp	I-Application
had	O
a	O
system	O
that	O
presented	O
serious	O
competition	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
end	O
,	O
SQLC	O
won	O
the	O
votes	O
and	O
became	O
the	O
draft	O
standard	O
,	O
but	O
only	O
after	O
large	O
portions	O
of	O
the	O
API	B-Application
were	O
removed	O
–	O
the	O
standards	O
document	O
was	O
trimmed	O
from	O
120	O
pages	O
to	O
50	O
during	O
this	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1995	O
SQL/CLI	O
became	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
international	O
SQL	B-Language
standard	O
,	O
ISO/IEC	O
9075-3	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SAG	O
itself	O
was	O
taken	O
over	O
by	O
the	O
X/Open	O
group	O
in	O
1996	O
,	O
and	O
,	O
over	O
time	O
,	O
became	O
part	O
of	O
The	B-Application
Open	I-Application
Group	I-Application
's	O
Common	O
Application	O
Environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
included	O
features	O
like	O
scrollable	O
cursors	B-Language
,	O
and	O
metadata	O
information	O
queries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
commands	O
in	O
the	O
API	B-Application
were	O
split	O
into	O
groups	O
;	O
the	O
Core	O
group	O
was	O
identical	O
to	O
the	O
CLI	O
,	O
the	O
Level	O
1	O
extensions	O
were	O
commands	O
that	O
would	O
be	O
easy	O
to	O
implement	O
in	O
drivers	O
,	O
while	O
Level	O
2	O
commands	O
contained	O
the	O
more	O
advanced	O
features	O
like	O
cursors	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
proposed	O
standard	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
December	O
1991	O
,	O
and	O
industry	O
input	O
was	O
gathered	O
and	O
worked	O
into	O
the	O
system	O
through	O
1992	O
,	O
resulting	O
in	O
yet	O
another	O
name	O
change	O
to	O
ODBC	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
this	O
time	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
was	O
in	O
the	O
midst	O
of	O
developing	O
their	O
Jet	B-Application
database	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jet	B-Application
combined	O
three	O
primary	O
subsystems	O
;	O
an	O
ISAM-based	O
database	O
engine	O
(	O
also	O
named	O
Jet	B-Application
,	O
confusingly	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
C-based	O
interface	O
allowing	O
applications	O
to	O
access	O
that	O
data	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
selection	O
of	O
driver	B-Application
dynamic-link	O
libraries	O
(	O
DLL	O
)	O
that	O
allowed	O
the	O
same	O
C	B-Language
interface	O
to	O
redirect	O
input	O
and	O
output	O
to	O
other	O
ISAM-based	O
databases	B-Application
,	O
like	O
Paradox	B-Application
and	O
xBase	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jet	B-Application
allowed	O
using	O
one	O
set	O
of	O
calls	O
to	O
access	O
common	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
databases	B-Application
in	O
a	O
fashion	O
similar	O
to	O
Blueprint	O
,	O
by	O
then	O
renamed	O
DataLens	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
Jet	B-Application
did	O
not	O
use	O
SQL	B-Language
;	O
like	O
DataLens	B-Application
,	O
the	O
interface	O
was	O
in	O
C	B-Language
and	O
consisted	O
of	O
data	B-General_Concept
structures	I-General_Concept
and	O
function	O
calls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SAG	O
standardization	O
efforts	O
presented	O
an	O
opportunity	O
for	O
Microsoft	O
to	O
adapt	O
their	O
Jet	B-Application
system	O
to	O
the	O
new	O
CLI	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
would	O
not	O
only	O
make	O
Windows	O
a	O
premier	O
platform	O
for	O
CLI	O
development	O
,	O
but	O
also	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
use	O
SQL	B-Language
to	O
access	O
both	O
Jet	B-Application
and	O
other	O
databases	B-Application
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
What	O
was	O
missing	O
was	O
the	O
SQL	B-Language
parser	O
that	O
could	O
convert	O
those	O
calls	O
from	O
their	O
text	O
form	O
into	O
the	O
C-interface	O
used	O
in	O
Jet	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
solve	O
this	O
,	O
MS	O
partnered	O
with	O
PageAhead	O
Software	O
to	O
use	O
their	O
existing	O
query	B-Language
processor	O
,	O
SIMBA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SIMBA	O
was	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
parser	O
above	O
Jet	B-Application
's	O
C	B-Language
library	B-Library
,	O
turning	O
Jet	B-Application
into	O
an	O
SQL	B-Language
database	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
And	O
because	O
Jet	B-Application
could	O
forward	O
those	O
C-based	O
calls	O
to	O
other	O
databases	B-Application
,	O
this	O
also	O
allowed	O
SIMBA	O
to	O
query	B-Language
other	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
included	O
drivers	O
for	O
Excel	B-Application
to	O
turn	O
its	O
spreadsheet	O
documents	O
into	O
SQL-accessible	O
database	O
tables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ODBC	B-Application
1.0	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
September	O
1992	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
there	O
was	O
little	O
direct	O
support	O
for	O
SQL	B-Language
databases	I-Language
(	O
versus	O
ISAM	B-Application
)	O
,	O
and	O
early	O
drivers	O
were	O
noted	O
for	O
poor	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
this	O
was	O
unavoidable	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
path	O
that	O
the	O
calls	O
took	O
through	O
the	O
Jet-based	O
stack	O
;	O
ODBC	B-Application
calls	O
to	O
SQL	B-Language
databases	I-Language
were	O
first	O
converted	O
from	O
Simba	O
Technologies	O
's	O
SQL	B-Language
dialect	O
to	O
Jet	B-Application
's	O
internal	O
C-based	O
format	O
,	O
then	O
passed	O
to	O
a	O
driver	B-Application
for	O
conversion	O
back	O
into	O
SQL	B-Language
calls	O
for	O
the	O
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Digital	O
Equipment	O
and	O
Oracle	B-General_Concept
both	O
contracted	O
Simba	O
Technologies	O
to	O
develop	O
drivers	O
for	O
their	O
databases	B-Application
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Circa	O
1993	O
,	O
OpenLink	O
Software	O
shipped	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
independently	O
developed	O
third-party	O
ODBC	B-Application
drivers	O
,	O
for	O
the	O
PROGRESS	B-Application
DBMS	I-Application
,	O
and	O
soon	O
followed	O
with	O
their	O
UDBC	O
(	O
a	O
cross-platform	O
API	B-Application
equivalent	O
of	O
ODBC	B-Application
and	O
the	O
SAG/CLI	O
)	O
SDK	O
and	O
associated	O
drivers	O
for	O
PROGRESS	O
,	O
Sybase	B-Application
,	O
Oracle	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
other	O
DBMS	O
,	O
for	O
use	O
on	O
Unix-like	O
OS	O
(	O
AIX	B-Application
,	O
HP-UX	B-Application
,	O
Solaris	B-Application
,	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
)	O
,	O
VMS	B-Operating_System
,	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
,	O
OS/2	B-Application
,	O
and	O
other	O
OS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
then	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
had	O
already	O
granted	O
Visigenic	O
Software	O
a	O
source	O
code	O
license	O
to	O
develop	O
ODBC	B-Application
on	O
non-Windows	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visigenic	O
ported	O
ODBC	B-Application
to	O
the	O
classic	B-Application
Mac	I-Application
OS	I-Application
,	O
and	O
a	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
Unix	B-Application
platforms	O
,	O
where	O
ODBC	B-Application
quickly	O
became	O
the	O
de	O
facto	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
two	O
systems	O
remain	O
similar	O
,	O
and	O
many	O
applications	O
can	O
be	O
ported	O
from	O
ODBC	B-Application
to	O
CLI	O
with	O
few	O
or	O
no	O
changes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
time	O
,	O
database	O
vendors	O
took	O
over	O
the	O
driver	B-Application
interfaces	O
and	O
provided	O
direct	O
links	O
to	O
their	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Skipping	O
the	O
intermediate	O
conversions	O
to	O
and	O
from	O
Jet	B-Application
or	O
similar	O
wrappers	O
often	O
resulted	O
in	O
higher	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
by	O
then	O
Microsoft	O
had	O
changed	O
focus	O
to	O
their	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
concept	O
(	O
recently	O
reinstated	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
provided	O
direct	O
access	O
to	O
a	O
wider	O
variety	O
of	O
data	O
sources	O
from	O
address	B-Operating_System
books	I-Operating_System
to	O
text	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
new	O
systems	O
followed	O
which	O
further	O
turned	O
their	O
attention	O
from	O
ODBC	B-Application
,	O
including	O
ActiveX	B-Library
Data	I-Library
Objects	I-Library
(	O
ADO	O
)	O
and	O
ADO.net,	O
which	O
interacted	O
more	O
or	O
less	O
with	O
ODBC	B-Application
over	O
their	O
lifetimes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
Microsoft	O
turned	O
its	O
attention	O
away	O
from	O
working	O
directly	O
on	O
ODBC	B-Application
,	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
field	O
was	O
increasingly	O
embracing	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
propelled	O
by	O
two	O
changes	O
within	O
the	O
market	O
,	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interfaces	I-Application
(	O
GUIs	B-Application
)	O
like	O
GNOME	B-Application
that	O
provided	O
a	O
need	O
to	O
access	O
these	O
sources	O
in	O
non-text	O
form	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
emergence	O
of	O
open	B-Application
software	I-Application
database	B-Application
systems	I-Application
like	O
PostgreSQL	B-Application
and	O
MySQL	B-Application
,	O
initially	O
under	O
Unix	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
later	O
adoption	O
of	O
ODBC	B-Application
by	O
Apple	O
for	O
using	O
the	O
standard	O
Unix-side	O
iODBC	B-Language
package	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
10.2	I-Operating_System
(	O
Jaguar	B-Operating_System
)	O
(	O
which	O
OpenLink	O
Software	O
had	O
been	O
independently	O
providing	O
for	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	O
10.0	O
and	O
even	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
9	O
since	O
2001	O
)	O
further	O
cemented	O
ODBC	B-Application
as	O
the	O
standard	O
for	O
cross-platform	O
data	O
access	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
used	O
the	O
ODBC	B-Application
system	O
as	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
their	O
own	O
open	O
standard	O
,	O
Java	B-Language
Database	I-Language
Connectivity	I-Language
(	O
JDBC	B-Language
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
most	O
ways	O
,	O
JDBC	B-Language
can	O
be	O
considered	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
ODBC	B-Application
for	O
the	O
programming	O
language	O
Java	B-Language
instead	O
of	O
C	B-Language
.	O
JDBC-to-ODBC	O
bridges	O
allow	O
Java-based	O
programs	O
to	O
access	O
data	O
sources	O
through	O
ODBC	B-Application
drivers	O
on	O
platforms	O
lacking	O
a	O
native	O
JDBC	B-Application
driver	I-Application
,	O
although	O
these	O
are	O
now	O
relatively	O
rare	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Inversely	O
,	O
ODBC-to-JDBC	O
bridges	O
allow	O
C-based	O
programs	O
to	O
access	O
data	O
sources	O
through	O
JDBC	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
on	O
platforms	O
or	O
from	O
databases	B-Application
lacking	O
suitable	O
ODBC	B-Application
drivers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ODBC	B-Application
remains	O
in	O
wide	O
use	O
today	O
,	O
with	O
drivers	O
available	O
for	O
most	O
platforms	O
and	O
most	O
databases	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
not	O
uncommon	O
to	O
find	O
ODBC	B-Application
drivers	O
for	O
database	O
engines	O
that	O
are	O
meant	O
to	O
be	O
embedded	O
,	O
like	O
SQLite	B-Language
,	O
as	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
allow	O
existing	O
tools	O
to	O
act	O
as	O
front-ends	O
to	O
these	O
engines	O
for	O
testing	O
and	O
debugging	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
rise	O
of	O
thin	B-Device
client	I-Device
computing	O
using	O
HTML	B-Language
as	O
an	O
intermediate	O
format	O
has	O
reduced	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
ODBC	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
web	O
development	O
platforms	O
contain	O
direct	O
links	O
to	O
target	O
databases	B-Application
–	O
MySQL	B-Application
being	O
very	O
common	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
these	O
scenarios	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
no	O
direct	O
client-side	B-Operating_System
access	O
nor	O
multiple	O
client	O
software	O
systems	O
to	O
support	O
;	O
everything	O
goes	O
through	O
the	O
programmer-supplied	O
HTML	B-Language
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
virtualization	O
that	O
ODBC	B-Application
offers	O
is	O
no	O
longer	O
a	O
strong	O
requirement	O
,	O
and	O
development	O
of	O
ODBC	B-Application
is	O
no	O
longer	O
as	O
active	O
as	O
it	O
once	O
was	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
But	O
while	O
ODBC	B-Application
is	O
no	O
longer	O
a	O
strong	O
requirement	O
for	O
client-server	B-Operating_System
programming	I-Operating_System
,	O
it	O
is	O
now	O
more	O
important	O
for	O
access	O
,	O
virtualization	O
,	O
and	O
integration	O
in	O
analytics	O
and	O
data	O
science	O
scenarios	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
new	O
requirements	O
are	O
reflected	O
in	O
new	O
ODBC	B-Application
4.0	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
semi-structured	O
and	O
hierarchical	O
data	O
,	O
web	O
authentication	O
and	O
performance	O
improvement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1.0	O
(	O
1993-08	O
)	O
:	O
Used	O
the	O
SIMBA	O
query	B-Language
processor	O
produced	O
by	O
PageAhead	O
Software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2.0	O
(	O
1994-12	O
)	O
:	O
Used	O
with	O
ODBC	B-Application
2.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
3.0	O
(	O
1995-10	O
)	O
:	O
Supports	O
Windows	O
95	O
and	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
Workstation	I-Device
or	O
NT	B-Device
Server	I-Device
3.51	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Only	O
32-bit	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
were	O
included	O
in	O
this	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Microsoft	O
Access	O
driver	B-Application
was	O
released	O
in	O
an	O
RISC	O
version	O
for	O
use	O
on	O
Alpha	O
platforms	O
for	O
Windows	O
95/98	O
and	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
3.51	O
and	O
later	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
4.0	O
(	O
late	O
1998	O
)	O
:	O
Support	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Jet	I-Application
Engine	O
Unicode	O
format	O
along	O
with	O
compatibility	O
for	O
ANSI	O
format	O
of	O
earlier	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ODBC	B-Application
is	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
device	B-Application
driver	I-Application
model	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
driver	B-Application
encapsulates	O
the	O
logic	O
needed	O
to	O
convert	O
a	O
standard	O
set	O
of	O
commands	O
and	O
functions	O
into	O
the	O
specific	O
calls	O
required	O
by	O
the	O
underlying	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
a	O
printer	B-Application
driver	I-Application
presents	O
a	O
standard	O
set	O
of	O
printing	O
commands	O
,	O
the	O
API	B-Application
,	O
to	O
applications	O
using	O
the	O
printing	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Calls	O
made	O
to	O
those	O
APIs	B-Application
are	O
converted	O
by	O
the	O
driver	B-Application
into	O
the	O
format	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
actual	O
hardware	O
,	O
say	O
PostScript	B-Language
or	O
PCL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
ODBC	B-Application
,	O
the	O
drivers	O
encapsulate	O
many	O
functions	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
broken	O
down	O
into	O
several	O
broad	O
categories	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
set	O
of	O
functions	O
is	O
primarily	O
concerned	O
with	O
finding	O
,	O
connecting	O
to	O
and	O
disconnecting	O
from	O
the	O
DBMS	O
that	O
driver	B-Application
talks	O
to	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
second	O
set	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
send	O
SQL	B-Language
commands	O
from	O
the	O
ODBC	B-Application
system	O
to	O
the	O
DBMS	O
,	O
converting	O
or	O
interpreting	O
any	O
commands	O
that	O
are	O
not	O
supported	O
internally	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
a	O
DBMS	O
that	O
does	O
not	O
support	O
cursors	B-Language
can	O
emulate	O
this	O
functionality	O
in	O
the	O
driver	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Finally	O
,	O
another	O
set	O
of	O
commands	O
,	O
mostly	O
used	O
internally	O
,	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
convert	O
data	O
from	O
the	O
DBMS	O
's	O
internal	O
formats	O
to	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
standardized	O
ODBC	B-Application
formats	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
C	B-Language
language	I-Language
formats	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	B-Application
enables	O
an	O
ODBC-compliant	O
application	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
data	O
source	O
,	O
normally	O
a	O
DBMS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
non-DBMS	O
drivers	O
exist	O
,	O
for	O
such	O
data	O
sources	O
as	O
CSV	O
files	O
,	O
by	O
implementing	O
a	O
small	O
DBMS	O
inside	O
the	O
driver	B-Application
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ODBC	B-Application
drivers	O
exist	O
for	O
most	O
DBMSs	O
,	O
including	O
Oracle	B-General_Concept
,	O
PostgreSQL	B-Application
,	O
MySQL	B-Application
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
Server	I-Application
(	O
but	O
not	O
for	O
the	O
Compact	B-Operating_System
aka	I-Operating_System
CE	I-Operating_System
edition	I-Operating_System
)	O
,	O
Sybase	B-Application
ASE	I-Application
,	O
SAP	B-Application
HANA	I-Application
and	O
IBM	B-Application
Db2	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
different	O
technologies	O
have	O
different	O
capabilities	O
,	O
most	O
ODBC	B-Application
drivers	O
do	O
not	O
implement	O
all	O
functionality	O
defined	O
in	O
the	O
ODBC	B-Application
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Device	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
are	O
normally	O
enumerated	O
,	O
set	O
up	O
and	O
managed	O
by	O
a	O
separate	O
Manager	O
layer	O
,	O
which	O
may	O
provide	O
additional	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
printing	O
systems	O
often	O
include	O
functionality	O
to	O
provide	O
spooling	B-Device
functionality	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
the	O
drivers	O
,	O
providing	O
print	O
spooling	B-Device
for	O
any	O
supported	O
printer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
ODBC	B-Application
the	O
Driver	B-Application
Manager	O
(	O
DM	O
)	O
provides	O
these	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
DM	O
can	O
enumerate	O
the	O
installed	O
drivers	O
and	O
present	O
this	O
as	O
a	O
list	O
,	O
often	O
in	O
a	O
GUI-based	O
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
But	O
more	O
important	O
to	O
the	O
operation	O
of	O
the	O
ODBC	B-Application
system	O
is	O
the	O
DM	O
's	O
concept	O
of	O
a	O
Data	O
Source	O
Name	O
(	O
DSN	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
the	O
same	O
MySQL	B-Application
driver	B-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
any	O
MySQL	B-Application
server	I-Application
,	O
but	O
the	O
connection	O
information	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
a	O
local	O
private	O
server	O
is	O
different	O
from	O
the	O
information	O
needed	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
an	O
internet-hosted	O
public	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
DSN	O
stores	O
this	O
information	O
in	O
a	O
standardized	O
format	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
DM	O
provides	O
this	O
to	O
the	O
driver	B-Application
during	O
connection	O
requests	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
an	O
ODBC	B-Application
application	O
attempts	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
the	O
DBMS	O
using	O
this	O
DSN	O
,	O
the	O
system	O
will	O
pause	O
and	O
ask	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
provide	O
the	O
password	O
before	O
continuing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
of	O
this	O
is	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
driver	B-Application
and	O
the	O
DSNs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
bridge	O
is	O
a	O
special	O
kind	O
of	O
driver	B-Application
:	O
a	O
driver	B-Application
that	O
uses	O
another	O
driver-based	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
ODBC-JDBC	O
bridge	O
consists	O
of	O
an	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	B-Application
which	O
uses	O
the	O
services	O
of	O
a	O
JDBC	B-Application
driver	I-Application
to	O
connect	O
to	O
a	O
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
driver	B-Application
translates	O
ODBC	B-Application
function-calls	O
into	O
JDBC	B-Language
method-calls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programmers	O
usually	O
use	O
such	O
a	O
bridge	O
when	O
they	O
lack	O
an	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	B-Application
for	O
some	O
database	O
but	O
have	O
access	O
to	O
a	O
JDBC	B-Application
driver	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
JDBC-ODBC	B-Application
bridge	I-Application
consists	O
of	O
a	O
JDBC	B-Application
driver	I-Application
which	O
employs	O
an	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	B-Application
to	O
connect	O
to	O
a	O
target	O
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
driver	B-Application
translates	O
JDBC	B-Language
method	B-Language
calls	I-Language
into	O
ODBC	B-Application
function	O
calls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programmers	O
usually	O
use	O
such	O
a	O
bridge	O
when	O
a	O
given	O
database	O
lacks	O
a	O
JDBC	B-Application
driver	I-Application
,	O
but	O
is	O
accessible	O
through	O
an	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
included	O
one	O
such	O
bridge	O
in	O
the	O
JVM	B-Language
,	O
but	O
viewed	O
it	O
as	O
a	O
stop-gap	O
measure	O
while	O
few	O
JDBC	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
existed	O
(	O
The	O
built-in	O
JDBC-ODBC	B-Application
bridge	I-Application
was	O
dropped	O
from	O
the	O
JVM	B-Language
in	O
Java	B-Language
8	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
independent	O
data-access	O
vendors	O
deliver	O
JDBC-ODBC	B-Application
bridges	I-Application
which	O
support	O
current	O
standards	O
for	O
both	O
mechanisms	O
,	O
and	O
which	O
far	O
outperform	O
the	O
JVM	B-Language
built-in	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
OLE	O
DB-ODBC	O
bridge	O
consists	O
of	O
an	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
Provider	I-Language
which	O
uses	O
the	O
services	O
of	O
an	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	B-Application
to	O
connect	O
to	O
a	O
target	O
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
provider	O
translates	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
method	B-Language
calls	I-Language
into	O
ODBC	B-Application
function	O
calls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programmers	O
usually	O
use	O
such	O
a	O
bridge	O
when	O
a	O
given	O
database	O
lacks	O
an	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
provider	I-Language
,	O
but	O
is	O
accessible	O
through	O
an	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
ships	O
one	O
,	O
MSDASQL.DLL	O
,	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
MDAC	B-Library
system	O
component	O
bundle	O
,	O
together	O
with	O
other	O
database	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
,	O
to	O
simplify	O
development	O
in	O
COM-aware	O
languages	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Third	O
parties	O
have	O
also	O
developed	O
such	O
,	O
notably	O
OpenLink	O
Software	O
whose	O
64-bit	O
OLE	B-Language
DB	I-Language
Provider	I-Language
for	O
ODBC	B-Application
Data	O
Sources	O
filled	O
the	O
gap	O
when	O
Microsoft	O
initially	O
deprecated	O
this	O
bridge	O
for	O
their	O
64-bit	O
OS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
Microsoft	O
later	O
relented	O
,	O
and	O
64-bit	O
Windows	O
starting	O
with	O
Windows	B-Device
Server	I-Device
2008	I-Device
and	O
Windows	O
Vista	O
SP1	O
have	O
shipped	O
with	O
a	O
64-bit	O
version	O
of	O
MSDASQL	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
ADO.NET-ODBC	O
bridge	O
consists	O
of	O
an	O
ADO.NET	B-Device
Provider	I-Device
which	O
uses	O
the	O
services	O
of	O
an	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	B-Application
to	O
connect	O
to	O
a	O
target	O
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
provider	O
translates	O
ADO.NET	B-Device
method	B-Language
calls	I-Language
into	O
ODBC	B-Application
function	O
calls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programmers	O
usually	O
use	O
such	O
a	O
bridge	O
when	O
a	O
given	O
database	O
lacks	O
an	O
ADO.NET	B-Device
provider	I-Device
,	O
but	O
is	O
accessible	O
through	O
an	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
ships	O
one	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
MDAC	B-Library
system	O
component	O
bundle	O
,	O
together	O
with	O
other	O
database	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
,	O
to	O
simplify	O
development	O
in	O
C#	B-Application
.	O
</s>
