About Other Heterogeneous Subscribers

Drivers for other ODBC Subscriber types must conform to the Microsoft® SQL  Server™ replication requirements for generic ODBC Subscribers. The ODBC driver:

• Must be ODBC Level-1 compliant.
• Must be 32-bit, thread-safe, and for the processor architecture (Intel or Alpha) on which the distribution process run.
• Must be transaction capable.
• Must support the Data Definition Language (DDL).
• Cannot be read-only.

ODBC Driver and OLE DB Provider Support

ODBC drivers and OLE DB providers for various heterogeneous data sources are included on the SQL Server compact disc. For information about a complete list of the ODBC drivers and OLE DB providers, see Driver Support for Heterogeneous Data Sources.

Replicating Using OLE DB Interfaces

SQL Server replication can use OLE DB interfaces to execute SQL statements at Subscribers using the ICommand interface. OLE DB providers must support these objects for transactional replication:

• DataSource object
• Session object
• Command object
• Rowset object
• Error object

DataSource Object Interfaces

The following interfaces are required to connect to a data source:

• IDBInitialize
• IDBCreateSession
• IDBProperties

If the provider supports the IDBInfo interface, SQL Server uses the interface to retrieve information such as the quoted identifier character, maximum SQL statement length, and maximum number of characters in table and column names.

Session Object Interfaces

The following interfaces are required:

• IDBCreateCommand
• ITransaction
• ITransactionLocal
• IDBSchemaRowset

Command Object Interfaces

The following interfaces are required:

• ICommand
• ICommandProperties
• ICommandText
• ICommandPrepare
• IColumnsInfo
• IAccessor
• ICommandWithParameters

IAccessor is necessary to create parameter accessors. If the provider supports IColumnRowset, SQL Server uses that interface to determine whether a column is an identity column.

Rowset Object Interfaces

The following interfaces are required:

• IRowset
• IAccessor
• IColumnsInfo

An application should open a rowset on a replicated table that is created in the subscribing database. IColumnsInfo and IAccessor are needed to access data in the rowset.

Error Object Interfaces

Use the following interfaces to manage errors:

• IErrorRecords
• IErrorInfo

Use ISQLErrorInfo if it is supported by the OLE DB provider.

For more information about the OLE DB provider, see the documentation supplied with your OLE DB provider.

Note The primary source of information regarding the use of OLE DB is the OLE DB Programmer’s Reference Version 2.0 available with the OLE DB Software Development Kit (SDK).