Programmers using Microsoft® Visual C++® to retrieve data with ADO must tediously convert data returned as a VARIANT data type into a C++ data type, then store the converted data in a class or structure. The process of retrieving C++ data through a VARIANT data type is cumbersome and diminishes performance.
Version 2.0 of ADO provides an interface that supports retrieving data into native C/C++ data types without going through a VARIANT. In addition, preprocessor macros that simplify using the interface are provided.
The result is a tool that is flexible, easier to use, and has great performance.
ADO Without Extensions
A common C/C++ client scenario is to bind a record in a Recordset to a C/C++ struct/class containing native C/C++ types. When going through VARIANTs, this involves writing conversion code from VARIANT to C/C++ native types. The ADO VC++ Extensions are targeted at making this scenario much easier for the VC++ programmer.
See Example: ADO Without Extensions as an example of how fetching data through VARIANTs is cumbersome in C or C++.