Oracle 5.0 Reference Manual page 1761

Because most data access work is done with SQL, the primary tasks for applications that use ODBC
are submitting SQL statements and retrieving any results generated by those statements.
• Driver manager:
The Driver Manager is a library that manages communication between application and driver or
drivers. It performs the following tasks:
• Resolves Data Source Names (DSN). The DSN is a configuration string that identifies a given
database driver, database, database host and optionally authentication information that enables an
ODBC application to connect to a database using a standardized reference.
Because the database connectivity information is identified by the DSN, any ODBC compliant
application can connect to the data source using the same DSN reference. This eliminates the
need to separately configure each application that needs access to a given database; instead you
instruct the application to use a pre-configured DSN.
• Loading and unloading of the driver required to access a specific database as defined within the
DSN. For example, if you have configured a DSN that connects to a MySQL database then the
driver manager will load the Connector/ODBC driver to enable the ODBC API to communicate with
the MySQL host.
• Processes ODBC function calls or passes them to the driver for processing.
• Connector/ODBC Driver:
The Connector/ODBC driver is a library that implements the functions supported by the ODBC API.
It processes ODBC function calls, submits SQL requests to MySQL server, and returns results
back to the application. If necessary, the driver modifies an application's request so that the request
conforms to syntax supported by MySQL.
• DSN Configuration:
The ODBC configuration file stores the driver and database information required to connect to
the server. It is used by the Driver Manager to determine which driver to be loaded according to
the definition in the DSN. The driver uses this to read connection parameters based on the DSN
specified. For more information,
• MySQL Server:
The MySQL database where the information is stored. The database is used as the source of the
data (during queries) and the destination for data (during inserts and updates).
20.1.2.1.2. ODBC Driver Managers
An ODBC Driver Manager is a library that manages communication between the ODBC-aware
application and any drivers. Its main functionality includes:
• Resolving Data Source Names (DSN).
• Driver loading and unloading.
• Processing ODBC function calls or passing them to the driver.
Both Windows and Mac OS X include ODBC driver managers with the operating system. Most
ODBC Driver Manager implementations also include an administration application that makes the
configuration of DSN and drivers easier. Examples and information on these managers, including Unix
ODBC driver managers, are listed below:
• Microsoft Windows ODBC Driver Manager (odbc32.dll), http://support.microsoft.com/kb/110093.
Connector/ODBC Introduction
Section 20.1.4, "Configuring
1741
Connector/ODBC".