Conclusion

ODBC and OLE DB each provide a rich application programming interface for the database developer. OLE and the component object model present the ODBC developer with an entirely new way of writing. The ODBC developer, familiar with procedural programming, must become comfortable with the world of OLE objects and the interface negotiation required to manipulate those objects.

In addition, OLE DB often presents a new implementation of familiar development concepts like tabular data structures. The ODBC developer will need to rethink application structure to make effective use of OLE DB's sessions, property sets, rowsets, and accessors.

Becoming comfortable with OLE objects is a first step toward successful OLE application development. In this paper, tasks typically executed by an ODBC application are implemented through OLE DB object creation and manipulation. The information presented builds on the ODBC database developer's existing knowledge to smooth the introduction to this new and different technology.

Finding More Information

For more information about OLE DB and ODBC, see the following publications:

Brockschmidt, Kraig. Inside OLE. Microsoft Press, 1995.

Geiger, Kyle. Inside ODBC. Microsoft Press, 1995.

Microsoft ODBC 3.0 Programmer's Reference and SDK Guide. Microsoft Press, 1997.

Microsoft OLE 2 Programmer's Reference. Volume 1. Microsoft Press, 1994.

Microsoft OLE DB Programmer's Reference. Version 1.1, 1996.