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Q178852: INFO: OLE DB Provider for ODBC Now an ODBC 3.5 and Higher Core C

Article: Q178852
Product(s): Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)
Version(s): WINDOWS:1.5,2.0,2.1,2.5,3.5,3.51
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbDatabase kbDriver kbMDAC kbODBC kbOLEDB kbProvider kbGrpDSMDAC kbDSupport kbMDAC210SP
Last Modified: 12-JUN-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Open Database Connectivity, versions 3.5, 3.51 
- Microsoft OLE DB, versions 1.5, 2.0, 2.1, 2.5 
- Microsoft Data Access Components version 2.5 
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SUMMARY
=======

With the release of ODBC 3.5, the OLE DB Provider for ODBC is now a required
core component of ODBC.

MORE INFORMATION
================

OLE DB provides support for both traditional relational data sources and
non-relational data stores. OLE DB implicitly uses UNICODE strings. With version
3.5, ODBC now offers UNICODE support.

The 1.1 version of the OLE DB Provider for ODBC was written to specific UNICODE
specifications within ODBC 3.0. Because these specifications have changed in
ODBC 3.5, you must have version 1.5 of the OLE DB Provider for ODBC when using
ODBC 3.5. The OLE DB Provider for ODBC version in later releases should match
the MDAC release they shipped with, for example, 2.1 with MDAC 2.1. The OLE DB
Provider for ODBC should not be changed from the version which shipped with it's
parent MDAC package, since the entire package is tested as a suite, and
mismatched components may cause unpredictable behavior.


If you install or redistribute ODBC 3.5 onto a computer with OLE DB 1.1 and ODBC
3.0, you will have problems with any OLE DB application on that computer that
uses the OLE DB Provider for ODBC, unless you also install the OLE DB Provider
for ODBC, version 1.5. Version 1.1 of the ODBC Provider will not work with ODBC
3.5 because it relies on ODBC 3.0 code that is no longer present in ODBC 3.5.

While applications based on ODBC 3.5 can run without the presence of the OLE DB
Provider for ODBC, distributing ODBC 3.5 without including the provider means
installation of your application could cause problems with pre-existing
OLE-DB-based applications that use that provider.

This article deals with redistribution of Microsoft Data Access Components
(MDAC), which includes ODBC, OLE DB, ADO, RDS, the MDAC Standalone, MDAC
Redistribution and the Data Access SDK. The "Redistributing Microsoft Data
Access Components" whitepaper presents a comprehensive overview of this subject,
including referencing the content in this article. This whitepaper is located
at:

  http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/techart/msdn_redistmdac.htm

Additional query words: ActiveX Data Object ADO objects

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Keywords          : kbDatabase kbDriver kbMDAC kbODBC kbOLEDB kbProvider kbGrpDSMDAC kbDSupport kbMDAC210SP2 kbMDAC250 
Technology        : kbAudDeveloper kbODBCSearch kbOLEDBSearch kbMDACSearch kbMDAC250 kbOLEDB150 kbOLEDB200 kbOLEDB210 kbOLEDB250 kbODBC350 kbODBC351
Version           : WINDOWS:1.5,2.0,2.1,2.5,3.5,3.51
Issue type        : kbinfo

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