Using ODBC and OLE DB drivers

First, what do the acronyms mean?

• Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)
• Object Linking and Embedding Database (OLE DB)

You may already know what these are, and we will not go into the details of how these drivers work on the inside, but in general terms, we can think of them as query translators that enable communication between an application (such as QlikView) and the DBMS. Since they have been in use for a long time, almost all major DBMS vendors provide access via ODBC and/or OLE DB drivers.

Installing the drivers

When you use a printer, it requires you to install a driver on your computer so that the documents you send to print can be received and printed properly. The same is true with DBMS drivers. You need to install the corresponding driver on the machine you will be sending queries from in order for them to be accurately translated and properly processed by the DBMS, which will, in turn, respond to it by sending the requested set of data.

Note

Some common drivers...