Connector/Odbc Introduction - Oracle 5.0 Reference Manual

With MySQL Connector/ODBC 5.2 now offering both ANSI and Unicode drivers, you should expect
to upgrade relatively soon.
The manual for versions of Connector/ODBC older than 5.2 can be located in the corresponding binary
or source distribution. Please note that versions of Connector/ODBC earlier than the 3.51 revision were
not fully compliant with the ODBC specification.

20.1.2. Connector/ODBC Introduction

ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) provides a way for client programs to access a wide range of
databases or data sources. ODBC is a standardized API that enables connections to SQL database
servers. It was developed according to the specifications of the SQL Access Group and defines a
set of function calls, error codes, and data types that can be used to develop database-independent
applications. ODBC usually is used when database independence or simultaneous access to different
data sources is required.
For more information about ODBC, refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/110093.
20.1.2.1. General Information About ODBC and Connector/ODBC
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 X/Open and ISO/IEC
for database APIs and uses Structured Query Language (SQL) as its database access language.
A survey of ODBC functions supported by Connector/ODBC is given at
ODBC API Reference". For general information about ODBC, see
kb/110093.
20.1.2.1.1. Connector/ODBC Architecture
The Connector/ODBC architecture is based on five components, as shown in the following diagram:
Connector/ODBC Introduction
Note
From this section onward, the primary focus of this guide is the Connector/
ODBC 5.2 driver.
Note
Version numbers for MySQL products are formatted as X.X.X. However,
Windows tools (Control Panel, properties display) may show the version
numbers as XX.XX.XX. For example, the official MySQL formatted version
number 5.0.9 may be displayed by Windows tools as 5.00.09. The two versions
are the same; only the number display format is different.
1739
Section 20.1.6.1, "Connector/
http://support.microsoft.com/