Is Interoperability Achievable with ODBC?

Christoph Steindl
Johannes Kepler University Linz
Institute for Practical Computer Science
Altenbergerstraße 69, A-4040 Linz
steindl@ssw.uni-linz.ac.at

Abstract

Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a call level interface to databases. In contrast to Embedded SQL and PL/SQL, programs using ODBC are meant to be database independent. This is achieved by an additional layer between the application and the database. In this paper we regard interoperability not as the question if it is at all possible to work with different database management systems but how easy and convenient it is. We will show that there are some deficiencies in the design of ODBC which reduce the degree of interoperability but also that these can be remedied with moderate effort.

Paper at CON'96, Eger, Hungary, November 1996.
Published in Schriftenreihe der Österreichische Computer Gesellschaft, Band 95 (pp. 129-136), ISBN 3-486-24059-5, Verlag R. Oldenbourg München, 1996.
You can download the full paper in postscript or click here to browse the slides of the presentation online.