Query ODBC text data using schema.ini and SkipLines, and is the Text Driver still in active development?

Question

We are working on several applications in medical research and we often use the Text Driver to query, import and export data provided through text file datasets.

A couple of times now we ran into the issue that for certain text datasets, that the data doesn't start on the very first line, and each time we have to add a custom work-around (powershell, C# etc). So a SkipLines feature or something similar would be very useful. I have seen others asking for this feature as well.

Previously I've asked about this on GitHub and also feedback.azure.com but there has been no follow up since then. @David Engel Such a SkipLines seems like a feature that would be relatively easy to add and which would help a lot of people, "low hanging fruit" so to speak.

Looking at the ODBC Text File documentation it says "We're no longer updating this content regularly. Check the Microsoft Product Lifecycle for information about how this product, service, technology, or API is supported."

But the Microsoft Product Lifecycle link doesn't provide any info, as far as I can see.

It is unclear to me what this means. Will the Text Driver at some point not be supported anymore? Is it going to be phased out? Or will the text file functionality be supported through some different product?

So in short my question is:

• Is the ODBC Text Driver still in active development or not?
• Is the Text Driver open source or not? (I couldn't find any github repository)
• If it is, is it possible to add a SkipLines feature?