MDAC 2.5 SDK - ODBC Programmer's Reference
Chapter 7: Catalog Functions

Ordinary Arguments

When a catalog function string argument is an ordinary argument, it is treated as a literal string. An ordinary argument accepts neither a string search pattern nor a list of values. The case of an ordinary argument is significant, and quote characters in the string are taken literally. These arguments are treated as ordinary arguments if the SQL_ATTR_METADATA_ID statement attribute is set to SQL_FALSE; they are treated as identifier arguments instead if this attribute is set to SQL_TRUE.

If an ordinary argument is set to a null pointer and the argument is a required argument, the function returns SQL_ERROR and SQLSTATE HY009 (Invalid use of null pointer). If an ordinary argument is set to a null pointer and the argument is not a required argument, the argument's behavior is driver-dependent. The required arguments are listed in the following table.