MDAC 2.5 SDK - OLE DB Programmer's Reference
Chapter 21: OLE DB for OLAP Concepts


 

Differences in Delimit Characters

The previous examples used square brackets ([ ]) as delimit characters, which is a common implementation. However, it is possible to use other delimit characters as well. A consumer cannot rely on any particular delimit character when working with multiple data stores but should check for a provider's delimit characters. This ensures interoperability.

The OLE DB method IDBInfo::GetLiteralInfo allows consumers to interrogate providers to determine their delimit characters. The consumer should use DBLITERAL = DBLITERAL_QUOTE. In the returned DBLITERALINFO structure, the pwszLiteralValue column contains the delimit characters.

If the column contains just one character, the same character is used at both ends of the delimited identifier. A common example is the double quotation mark ("), which is used as follows: "USA"."New Jersey"."New Albany". If the pwszLiteralValue column contains two characters, the first character begins the delimited identifier and the second character terminates it; the double bracket characters are an example of this.