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Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)
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- Note: The following is an excerpt from the official Microsoft Open Database Connectivity site. It is provided here as a convenience and is not authoritative. Refer to the original document as the authoritative reference.
| Title | Microsoft Open Database Connectivity |
| Acronym | ODBC |
| Version | 3.8 |
| Operating Systems | |
| Downloads | https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/connect/odbc/download-odbc-driver-for-sql-server?view=sql-server-ver15 |
| NOTE | Each DBMS supplies its own download of an ODBC Driver that is specific to the DBMS. |
| Supported Languages | |
| License | Microsoft Developer Services Agreement |
| Reference | https://cdn.simba.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ODBC_specification.pdf |
Introduction
Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a widely accepted Application Programming Interface (API) for database access. It 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.
ODBC is designed for maximum interoperability - that is, the ability of a single application to access different database management systems (DBMSs) with the same source code. Database applications call functions in the ODBC interface, which are implemented in database-specific modules called drivers. The use of drivers isolates applications from database-specific calls in the same way that printer drivers isolate word processing programs from printer-specific commands. Because drivers are loaded at run time, a user only has to add a new driver to access a new DBMS; it is not necessary to recompile or relink the application.
