What Is ODBC and How to Use ODBC to Access SQL Data

What is ODBC?

In computing, Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a standard application programming interface (API) for accessing database management systems (DBMS). The designers of ODBC aimed to make it independent of database systems and operating systems.[citation needed] An application written using ODBC can be ported to other platforms, both on the client and server side, with few changes to the data access code.

ODBC Overview

ODBC has become the de-facto standard for standards-based data access in both relational and non-relational database management systems (DBMS). The ODBC standard enables maximum interoperability thereby enabling application developers to write a single application to access data sources from different vendors. ODBC is based on the Call-Level Interface (CLI) specifications from Open Group and ISO/IEC for database APIs and uses Structured Query Language (SQL) as its database access language.

How to Use ODBC to Access SQL Data

Windows 7 64-bit

1. Click Start > Computer
2. Browse to the C: drive
3. Open the Windows folder
4. Open the SysWOW64 folder
5. Double-click on the odbcad32.exe file to open the ODBC Data Sources Administrator window
6. Select the System DSN tab
7. Click Add
8. Select SQL Server and click Finish
9. Complete the DSN Configuration wizard (see example screen shots below)

Windows 7 32-bit

1. Click Start > Computer
2. Browse to the C: drive
3. Open the Windows folder
4. Open the System32 folder
5. Double-click on the odbcad32.exe file to open the ODBC Data Sources Administrator window
6. Select the System DSN tab
7. Click Add
8. Select SQL Server and click Finish
9. Complete the DSN Configuration wizard (see example screen shots below)

Windows XP

1. Click Start and select Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools
2. Double-click Data Sources (ODBC) to open the ODBC Data Source Administrator.
3. Select the System DSN tab
4. Click Add
5. Select SQL Server and click Finish
6. Complete the DSN Configuration wizard (see example screen shots below)

In Summary

It is important to understand that ODBC is designed to expose database capabilities, not supplement them. Thus, application writers should not expect that using ODBC will suddenly transform a simple database into a fully featured relational database engine. Nor are driver writers expected to implement functionality not found in the underlying database. An exception to this is that developers who write drivers that directly access file data (such as data in an Xbase file) are required to write a database engine that supports at least minimal SQL functionality. Another exception is that the ODBC component of the Windows SDK, formerly included in the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) SDK, provides a cursor library that simulates scrollable cursors for drivers that implement a certain level of functionality.

Applications that use ODBC are responsible for any cross-database functionality. For example, ODBC is not a heterogeneous join engine, nor is it a distributed transaction processor. However, because it is DBMS-independent, it can be used to build such cross-database tools.