APE provides the following four data access methods.
ADO is a universal data access method that provides a consistent interface to any OLE DB data provider. ADO is the recommended data access solution for modeling (and eventually building) new applications.
RDO is specifically designed to access remote ODBC relational data sources. If your APE test must model an existing RDO application, this choice will work for you. On the other hand, if you are testing design options for a new application, you should consider using ADO.
DAO is an older data access technology and is more difficult to implement than either ADO or RDO. If your application design has a specific requirement for DAO, then the DAO connection option will work for you. If you are using APE to model a new application design, you should consider the design, coding, and performance benefits provided by ADO.
The ODBC API is a widely available interface for relational data. While it can be difficult to write ODBC code, it is fast and provides a common way to access different relational database engines. If your APE test must model an existing ODBC data access scenario, then this choice will work for you. If you are designing a new application, you should consider using ADO.
For More Information For more information on data access technologies and a discussion of which methods you should use for your application, see Choosing the Right Data Access Technology.