SimbaLib ODBC SDK is a Software Development Kit for developing fully-featured, optimized ODBC Drivers on top of any SQL-enabled data source. The Development Guide within SimbaLib ODBC SDK provides you with comprehensive information to rapidly develop a read-only driver, which can then be extended to include additional functionality and optimizations. SimbaLib ODBC SDK simplifies the process of exposing query parsing, query execution and data retrieval facilities of your SQL-enabled data source.
Once you have built your ODBC Driver, you can also easily and quickly add JDBC, OLE DB, and ADO.NET connectivity.
ODBC stands for Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). It is an open standard Application Programming Interface (API) for accessing a database, and it is the most widely accepted standard in the industry for data connectivity. ODBC is a C language interface that allows developers to access a wide variety of data sources.
In 1992, Microsoft contracted Simba to build the world's first ODBC Driver, SIMBA.DLL, and standards-based data access was born. By using ODBC statements in a program, you can access files in a number of different, common databases. In addition to the ODBC software, a separate module or driver is needed for each database to be accessed.
ODBC-enabled applications access ODBC Drivers through the Driver Manager. (Windows has a default Driver Manager; however, the Unix platforms require the installation of a third party Driver Manager, such as iODBC.) An instance of the Driver Manager is created for each ODBC-enabled application. The application will specify to the Driver Manager which ODBC Driver to use when establishing a connection. The Driver Manager will then load the appropriate ODBC Driver. Once the ODBC Driver is loaded, the Driver Manager will map all incoming requests to appropriate functions that are exported by the ODBC Driver.
To interact with a Driver Manager, ODBC-enabled applications will request the following three ODBC handles:
- SQL_HANDLE_ENV
Represents an environment handle. Every instance of an ODBC Driver will be associated with a single environment handle.
- SQL_HANDLE_DBC
Represents a connection handle. Connections are created using one of the following three ODBC methods: SQLConnect(), SQLBrowseConnect(), SQLDriverConnect(). Every connection handle is associated with its parent environment handle.
- SQL_HANDLE_STMT
Represents a statement handle. Every statement that is to be executed via ODBC will be associated with its own statement handle. Every statement handle is associated with its parent connection handle.
The Driver Manager interacts with an ODBC Driver in much the same way. The Driver Manager will request the handles for the environment, connection and statement. All calls made from the ODBC-enabled application to the Driver Manager require the Driver Manager allocated handle and will be implemented as follows:
- Map incoming Driver Manager allocated handle to an instance representing the handle.
- Call the ODBC Driver associated with the instance using the ODBC Driver associated handle.
MDAC stands for Microsoft Data Access Components. It contains a group of data access APIs, which are shipped with the Windows operating system itself. MDAC includes interfaces for ODBC, OLE DB and ADO.
The Data Store Interface (DSI) is a component within SimbaLib and contains a set of interfaces, which bridge the gap between you and your data source. The Data Store Interface (DSI) is a C++ interface that performs the necessary low level data access services. The DSII is the implementation you can write as a customer, or contract Simba to write for you, and is the key to SimbaLib ODBC SDK's data access foundation.
SimbaLib ODBC SDK ships with a number of static libraries. You can link these libraries into the Data Store Interface Implementation (DSII) that you create to communicate to your underlying SQL enabled database.
Note: If your data source is not SQL-enabled, or you need a powerful SQL Engine, Simba's SimbaEngine ODBC SDK can help. Learn more about SimbaEngine SDK.
The ODBC version 3.52 specification provides three levels of SQL grammar conformance: Minimum, Core and Extended. Each higher level provides a more fully implemented data definition and data manipulation language support. The level of supported SQL grammar is dependent on your SQL-enabled data source. At the very least, your SQL-enabled data source must conform to the minimum SQL grammar defined by the ODBC version 3.52 specification.
SimbaLib ODBC SDK gives you the choice of deciding the level of functionality you wish to implement. You can start with a simple read-only driver, quickly move to a full read-write driver and then implement many additional customization options.
Yes, there are tools available to help you test your driver. You can find further information in the SimbaLib Development Guide available with the evaluation version of SimbaLib ODBC SDK. For information regarding an evaluation version, please visit the evaluation page.
For more information about SimbaLib ODBC SDK, contact us.
