INFO: Understanding Microsoft's Oracle ODBC Driver Versions

ID: Q190475

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft ODBC for Oracle (Build 2.73.7269), version 2.0
Microsoft ODBC for Oracle (Build 2.73.7283.03), version 2.0
Microsoft ODBC Driver for Oracle (Build 2.06325), version 1.0
Microsoft ODBC for Oracle (Build 2.573.2927), version 2.5
Microsoft ODBC for Oracle (Build 2.573.3513), version 2.5
Microsoft ODBC for Oracle (Build 2.573.3711), version 2.5
Microsoft ODBC for Oracle (Build 2.573.4202), version 2.5

SUMMARY

Microsoft has released several different versions of the Microsoft Oracle ODBC driver. This article describes each version and explains the versioning.

MORE INFORMATION

The following is a list of all the Microsoft Oracle versions that have been released since Microsoft started working on the driver.


   Version        Build Number    When and Where it Became Available
   -------------------------------------------------------------------

   1.0            2.00.6235       Visual C++ 4.2 & Visual Basic 5.0
                                  Enterprise Edition

   2.0            2.73.7269       Visual Studio 97 & MDAC 1.5a

   2.0 updated    2.73.7283.01    IIS 4.0

   2.0 updated    2.73.7283.03    MDAC 1.5b & 1.5c

   2.0 updated    2.73.7356       ODBC 3.5 SDK

   2.5            2.573.2927      Visual Studio 6.0 & Data Access SDK 2.0
                                  (Also part of MDAC 2.0)

   2.5 updated    2.573.3513      MDAC 2.1 with SQL Server 7.0 & SQL 
                                  Server 6.5 SP5

   2.5 updated    2.573.3711      MDAC 2.1 GA, Office 2000, IE5a

   2.5 updated    2.573.4202      MDAC 2.1 SP2

Build 2.00.6235 was the first release of the Microsoft ODBC driver and it was named version 1. After the release of the first version, a new naming convention was adopted.

For example, 2.73.7283.03 is broken up into the following distinct components:


   2 = The version number.
   73 = The version of Oracle Server the driver is designed to work with.
   7283.03 = The build number of the driver.

With the 2.5 release (2.573.2973) and higher, the version information changes. This has lead to some confusion over 2.573 being less than 2.73, but each section of the build should be looked at individually not as a whole. The number 573 is larger than 73, hence it is a newer version. Also, the 2.5 indicates the version number in the latest driver.

REFERENCES

For information about how to contact INPRISE, Inc., refer to the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Additional query words: kbDSupport kbbeta BetaPublic kbDatabase kbDriver kbODBC kbOracle Visigenic MSORCL32.DLL GA

Keywords : kbDatabase kbDriver kbODBC kbOracle kbGrpMDAC kbDSupport kbbeta
Version : WINDOWS:1.0,2.0,2.5
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo