What Is an ODBC Driver
ODBC stands for Open DataBase Connectivity. ODBC provides a standardized set of rules for getting information to and from a database. An ODBC driver is a software interface that accepts ODBC standard queries and then passes them through to the specific application, modifying where necessary to account for application specific database structure and format. The functions of a driver are invisible to users and third party applications. From a third party perspective, a standardized ODBC query or update is presented to the database, and a standardized ODBC response is returned.
How Do I Benefit from My ODBC Driver?
Many software applications (such as Biblioscape) use databases to store and retrieve information. The database design is often specific to the application associated with the database. Before the introduction of ODBC, important information might only have been accessible through one application, or via export solutions. The immediate benefit of ODBC is that those applications that support the ODBC standards can access Biblioscape directly through ODBC. They can search and read the data in Biblioscape and even update records in Biblioscape without starting Biblioscape. With the ODBC driver, you can make the Biblioscape database part of a bigger solution in your organization.
More About the Driver
The Biblioscape ODBC driver is an ODBC 3 driver, and we've used it successfully with MDAC 2.7 and the following applications:
Crystal Reports 8.5
MS Query (and subsequently mail-merge in Word and external data in Excel) (Office 2000)
MS Access 2000
MS Visio 2000
BDE 5.01
ODBCExpress 5.06/7 (Delphi 5)
ADOExpress (Delphi 5 with update packs)
IIS5 ASP scripts
Visual Basic 6
Visual Studio .NET
| • | The driver can completely handle all updating of data via SQL statements and the SQLExecute or SQLExecDirect calls, including BLOB data. Parameters are also completely supported, including BLOB parameters. |
| • | The driver provides scrollable cursor support via SQLFetchScroll and SQLExtendedFetch. The only two types of scrollable cursors supported are Static and Dynamic. Keyset-Driven cursors are not supported. |
| • | The driver cannot perform positioned updates using the SQL syntax WHERE CURRENT OF and using the SQLSetCursorName and SQLGetCursorName calls. This functionality is not supported in the database engine. |
| • | Even though the driver supports parameter arrays, you still cannot request multiple result sets with the SQLMoreResults call. This is not supported by the database engine. You will, however, be able to execute multiple INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statements. |
How to Get it
You can purchase the ODBC driver for $99. Click here to purchase it online. A separate help file is included in ODBC installation.
How to use the ODBC driver
To use the ODBC driver, you have to install the driver first. After purchasing the driver, you can double click the installation file to install. Second, you need to set up an ODBC data source. The data source can point to a local database on your computer, or a remote database published by the BiblioRemote server. This makes it possible to access a remote Biblioscape database from other applications. If you need to integrate the Biblioscape database with other information, being able to access a remote data source is very important. Once the ODBC data source is set up, you can access and consume Biblioscape data inside another application. The following section shows you the steps to create a Biblioscape ODBC data source in detail.
| 1. | Open your Windows Control Panel by going to "Start | Control Panel". |
| 2. | In the Windows Control Panel, go to "System and Maintenance | Administrative Tools | Data Sources (ODBC)". |
| 3. | Under the "User DSN" tab, click the "Add..." button to add a new data source. |
| 4. | Select "DBISAM 3 ODBC Driver" and click "Finish". You can create a read-only data source by selecting the driver "DBISAM 3 ODBC Driver (Read-Only)".  |
| 5. | Now, we need to go through the data source configuration steps. First, give the data source a name. |
| 6. | You can chose to connect to a local database or a remote database published by the BiblioRemote server. If you chose a local database, you need to give the database path in the next step. If you chose to connect to a remote database, you need to provide the remote database connection parameters. |
| 7. | If you chose the local database, click the "Select" button and select your local Biblioscape database folder. If you chose a remote database, provide the connection parameters. If the remote database is on your LAN, chose Local Area Network. If the remote database is in another place, chose Internet. Enter the IP address and port number. Click here to learn more about connecting to a remote database. For Vista users, you need to have the port opened.  Next, you need to enter the "User Name" and "Password" for the remote database connection.  In this step, you need to select a database that is published on the BiblioRemote server.  |
| 8. | The following steps are shared by both local and remote database connections. You need to specify the record and table locking options. You can leave the number unchanged. |
| 9. | You can chose to let the ODBC driver write every change to your database immediately without caching. The advantage is: if your computer crashes, all your changes in the current session will not be lost. The disadvantage is: the database performance will be slower.  |
| 10. | You need to select a temporary folder for the ODBC driver. You can leave the default one unchanged.  |
| 11. | In the last step, you can provide a password in case your database is password protected. You can also leave it blank. Click the "Finish" button to create the ODBC data source. |