Getting Started Professional

The term "Open Database Connectivity" (ODBC) describes a programming standard for database access which is accepted and supported by many producers of Database Management Systems (DBMSs). The Alaska Software ODBC Database Engine (ODBCDBE) encapsulates the ODBC programming interface and integrates it transparently into the Xbase++ programming language. This enables an Xbase++ programmer to develop database applications accessing different DBMSs with the same source code and without the necessity to recompile and relink the source code if the DBMS is changed. Based on the Alaska Software technology and the ODBC standard, the ODBCDBE grants a maximum level of interoperability between an application program and various DBMSs.

To successfully access different DBMSs from the same Xbase++ application, and to take maximum advantage of the ODBCDBE, requires some basic knowledge about the architecture of such database applications and the layers they consist of. This is subject of the following chapters.