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Types of Drivers

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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.