OLE-DB vs ODBC

streatley · Post by **streatley** » Mon 03 Oct 2011 16:12

I see that Microsoft have stated that the next release of SQL Server (Denali) will be the last to use/support OLE-DB - they will be supporting ODBC.

Does this mean that the dBExpress SQL Server Drivers will become redundant or that they will be changed to access via ODBC.

I guess what I'm saying is, will there be a easy way for us to utilise ODBC via dBExpress for accessing SQL Server that doesn't involve us in major code changes?

Regards
Anton

AndreyZ · Post by **AndreyZ** » Tue 04 Oct 2011 14:39

If there is no OLEDB in future SQL Server versions, dbExpress driver for SQL Server will work through SQL Native Client provider. To use SQL Native Client provider, you should set the TSQLConnection.VendorLib property to sqlncli.dll .

streatley · Post by **streatley** » Tue 04 Oct 2011 22:28

As I understand it the SQL Native Client, from SQL Server 2005 onwards, is a stand alone data access API that is used for both OLE-DB and ODBC. It combines the SQL OLE-DB provider and the SQL ODBC driver in one DLL. Are you saying that when OLE-DB is depricated (Denali will the last version of SQL Server to use OLE-DB) using the SQL Native Client will mean that we are in essence using ODBC?

Regards
Anton

AndreyZ · Post by **AndreyZ** » Wed 05 Oct 2011 14:55

This question does not concern our dbExpress driver for SQL Server. SQL Native Client is developed by Microsoft. For more information about changes in SQL Native Client, please contact the Microsoft support.

streatley · Post by **streatley** » Wed 05 Oct 2011 16:30

I appreciate what you're saying and I have already contacted Microsoft about the SQL Native Client.

However the SQL Native Client contains OLE DB, ODBC and ADO connectivity. If I'm choosing to use the vendor (MS) lib that you suggest is there any functionality that exists within your dBExpress component that allows us to select which option is used (OLE DB ODBC ADO)? This question is not related to the functionality of the venor lib but what functionality exists within your component to control it.

Regards
Anton

AndreyZ · Post by **AndreyZ** » Thu 06 Oct 2011 15:03

It's impossible to distinguish the functionality that SQL Native Client inherits from other providers. Our dbExpress driver for SQL Server fully supports SQL Native Client, but there are no options that allow choosing the exact functionality from the particular provider SQL Native Client is based on.