What is ODBC?

ODBC is an interface that allows applications to access data in Database Management Systems (DBMS) using Structured Query Language (SQL).

ODBC relies on you adding database drivers (ODBC drivers) to link the application to your choice of DBMS. An ODBC driver is a dynamic link library (*.dll) that applications can use to interface with a data source. Different database management systems (DBMS), like Oracle, can require different drivers.

Once the correct drivers are installed, the process of connecting to an external DBMS is generally straightforward. Most of the problems that people experience with ODBC are due to incorrect installation of the ODBC drivers. 

The following ODBC functions are provided:

• ODBC  Import data from an external data source into the application. 
• ODBC  Export data from the application to an external data source. 
• ODBC Link  Link to an external data source using ODBC. The data is accessible to the application. You can not edit the data or modify the table structure, however, you can control which fields are imported and their names, types, length and precision. This is the ideal approach when you want to ensure you will always be dealing with a current data set.
• Microsoft Access  Import data directly from a Microsoft Access database using ODBC.
• Microsoft Access Link  Link to a Microsoft Access table using ODBC. This function is the same as ODBC Link with the exception that it is faster.
• ODBC Connection Timeout If a persistent timeout error occurs when working with an ODBC connection, the timeout value can be increased.