Types of Drivers

ODBC drivers can be classified as follows:

• 32-bit ODBC 2.
  x Driver A 32-bit driver that:

  • Exports only ODBC 2.x functions.

  • Exhibits ODBC 2.x behavior for behavioral changes.

• ISO and Open Group-Compliant Driver A 32-bit driver that:

  • Exports all functions that are documented in the Open Group or ISO CLI documents. This will include some of functions that are deprecated in ODBC.

  • Exhibits ODBC 3.0 behavior for behavioral changes.

  • Does not necessarily go through the ODBC 3.0 Driver Manager.

• ODBC 3.0 Driver A 32-bit driver that:

  • Exports only functions that are in ODBC 3.0 minus deprecated functions.

  • Is capable of exhibiting ODBC 2.x behavior or ODBC 3.0 behavior with respect to behavioral changes, based on the SQL_ATTR_APP_ODBC_VERSION environment attribute.

• ODBC 3.5 (or later) ANSI Driver A 32-bit driver that:

  • Exports only functions that are in ODBC 3.5 minus deprecated functions.

  • Is capable of exhibiting ODBC 2.x behavior or ODBC 3.0 behavior, or ODBC 3.5 behavior with respect to behavioral changes, based on the SQL_ATTR_APP_ODBC_VERSION environment attribute.

• ODBC 3.5 (or later) Unicode Driver A 32-bit driver that:

  • Supports all the features of an ODBC 3.5 ANSI driver.

  • Exports Unicode versions of all ODBC string APIs.

  • Can store and process Unicode data on the data source.

Note

16-bit ODBC drivers will not work directly with the ODBC 3.x Driver Manager. However, it is possible for 16-bit drivers to work with the 2.0 ODBC Driver Manager, which subsequently thunks up to the 3.x Driver Manager.