ODBC Drivers for SQL Server and Open Data Services

Microsoft Open Data Services includes a set of Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) client drivers. These drivers allow ODBC client applications to establish direct connections to and exchange information with SQL Server databases and Open Data Services gateways. They are intended for use by client computers running database applications developed with the ODBC Software Development Kit.

The toolkit provides these drivers:

• ODBC client driver for SQL Server (SQLSRVR.DLL and SQLSRV32.DLL) which connects an ODBC client application (Win16 or Win32) to Microsoft SQL Server.
• ODBC client driver for Open Data Services gateways (ODSGATE.DLL and ODSGAT32.DLL) which is a version of the SQL Server driver designed specifically to connect an ODBC client application (Win16 or Win32) to Open Data Services gateway applications.

The ODBC driver for Open Data Services gateways works as part of a three-tier connectivity solution that includes a Windows- or Windows NT - based client, the Open Data Services gateway application, and a back-end data source (usually a relational DBMS). An Open Data Services developer can adapt the Open Data Services ODBC driver to match the characteristics of the back-end data source so that it presents the appropriate data formats and database capabilities information to ODBC client applications.

This appendix describes the architecture of the Open Data Services ODBC driver and its interaction with Open Data Services gateway applications. It addresses Open Data Services gateway developers who want to adapt the Open Data Services ODBC driver to their Open Data Services server gateway applications.

Open Data Services includes sample files for customizing the Open Data Services gateway ODBC driver. For more information about these files, see the README.TXT file provided in the C:\SQL60\OPENDS\SAMPLES\ODSODBC directory.