<standard, database> (ODBC) A standard for accessing
different database systems. There are interfaces for
Visual Basic, Visual C++, SQL and the ODBC driver pack
contains drivers for the Access, Paradox, dBase, Text,
Excel and Btrieve databases.
An application can submit statements to ODBC using the ODBC
flavor of SQL. ODBC then translates these to whatever flavor
the database understands.
ODBC 1.0 was released in September 1992.
ODBC is based on Call-Level Interface and was defined by the
SQL Access Group. Microsoft was one member of the group
and was the first company to release a commercial product
based on its work (under Microsoft Windows) but ODBC is not
a Microsoft standard (as many people believe).
ODBC drivers and development tools are available now for
Microsoft Windows, Unix, OS/2, and Macintosh.
[On-line document?]
["Unix Review", Aug 1995].
(1996-05-27)
Nearby terms:
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