🚀 go-pugleaf

"Sudesh" <sudeshc@vfemail.net> wrote in message 
news:47bdc08c@newsgroups.borland.com...

>> You may need to download and install some ADO (OLE DB) drivers for the PC 
>> depending on what DBMS you are attempting to connect to.
>
> Could you please elaborate this more? (I have earlier used Paradox which 
> is > i think obsolete now??)
>
> What all DBMS can be used and corresponding requirements at the end user.

ADO uses the OLEDB drivers that have been installed on a system to access a 
DBMS.  All Windows installations have some pre-installed drivers.  Jet 
(Access) for example comes standard.  There are also some stock Microsoft 
drivers to access ODBC datasources, MS SQLServer, and a poor Oracle driver 
implementation (it's there, but don't use it).

If you want to access an Oracle database you will need to download Oracle's 
OLEDB driver and install it on the system.  There are similar drivers for 
other DBMS like FoxPro, and many others.  I believe there is no Paradox 
native OLEDB driver.  To access Paradox you will need to install the ODBC 
driver and use the stock "Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers" 
option.

ODBC was the precursor to ADO.  It was the first attempt to allow Windows 
applications to access any database from a common architecture.  Chances are 
if the database you are connecting to is really old then it will have an 
ODBC driver and therefore can be used via ADO through the above mentioned 
OLEDB driver.

Your end-users will need to install whatever drivers they need to access the 
databases that your programs will connect to.  If you design your program to 
connect to any DBMS then you can leave it up to them to download the 
appropriate OLEDB drivers.  They will just need to be able to configure 
their connection(s) in your app.  If you only work with one or two DBMS then 
you can provide a link for your users to grab the latest OLEDB drivers or 
install them as part of your product's installation.  As I said before 
though, I shy away from installing drivers for my users.

Clayton