To provide database management services, Microsoft Jet uses a variety of components, each designed to perform a specific group of functions. These components, implemented as dynamic-link libraries (DLLs), constitute the Jet database engine as a whole. These DLLs work together to provide all the services supplied by the Jet database engine. The Microsoft Jet DLLs can be grouped into the following component groups.
| DLL group | Description |
| Microsoft Jet DLLs | Responsible for storing data in the database file and for providing query and security services. |
| DAO DLLs | Responsible for providing the programming interface to the Jet database engine. |
| External ISAM DLLs | Responsible for providing access to external (non-native) data (for example, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Exchange, HTML, FoxPro, Borland dBASE and Paradox, and Lotus 1-2-3). |
| Replication DLLs | Responsible for creating and synchronizing full or partial database replicas at multiple locations. |
| Visual Basic for Applications DLLs | Visual Basic for Applications isn’t a component of Microsoft Jet, but provides the expression service to evaluate functions in SQL statements. |
| ODBC DLL | In addition to the components discussed above, Microsoft Jet uses the ODBC Driver Manager DLL to provide access to ODBC data sources. |
The following diagram represents an overview of how the various Microsoft Jet components fit together.
Figure 1.1 The structure of Microsoft Jet
See Also For information on the specific files that make up each component, see Appendix E, Microsoft Jet Components.