Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC

Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects (ADO)

ADO 2.5 Appendixes

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC

To an ADO or RDS programmer, an ideal world would be one in which every data source exposes an OLE DB interface, so that ADO could call directly into the data source. Although increasingly more database vendors are implementing OLE DB interfaces, some data sources are not yet exposed this way. However, virtually all DBMS systems in use today can be accessed through ODBC.

ODBC drivers are available for every major DBMS in use today, including Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access (Microsoft Jet database engine), and Microsoft FoxPro, in addition to non-Microsoft database products such as Oracle.

The Microsoft ODBC Provider, however, allows ADO to connect to any ODBC data source. The provider is free-threaded and Unicode enabled.

The provider supports transactions, although different DBMS engines offer different types of transaction support. For example, Microsoft Access supports nested transactions up to five levels deep.

This is the default provider for ADO, and all provider-dependent ADO properties and methods are supported.

Connection String Parameters

To connect to this provider, set the Provider= argument of the ConnectionString property to:

MSDASQL

Reading the Provider property will return this string as well.

Typical Connection String

A typical connection string for this provider is:

"Provider=MSDASQL;DSN=dsnName;UID=userName;PWD=userPassword;"

The string consists of these keywords:

Keyword Description
Provider Specifies the OLE DB Provider for ODBC.
DSN Specifies the data source name.
UID Specifies the user name.
PWD Specifies the user password.
URL Specifies the URL of a file or directory published in a Web folder.

Because this is the default provider for ADO, if you omit the Provider= parameter from the connection string, ADO will attempt to establish a connection to this provider.

The provider does not support any specific connection parameters in addition to those defined by ADO. However, the provider will pass any non-ADO connection parameters to the ODBC driver manager.

Because you can omit the Provider parameter, you can therefore compose an ADO connection string that is identical to an ODBC connection string for the same data source. Use the same parameter names (DRIVER=, DATABASE=, DSN=, and so on), values, and syntax as you would when composing an ODBC connection string. You can connect with or without a predefined data source name (DSN) or FileDSN.

Syntax with a DSN or FileDSN:

"[Provider=MSDASQL;] { DSN=name | FileDSN=filename } ; 
[DATABASE=database;] UID=user; PWD=password"

Syntax without a DSN (DSN-less connection):

"[Provider=MSDASQL;] DRIVER=driver; SERVER=server; 
DATABASE=database; UID=user; PWD=password"

If you use a DSN or FileDSN, it must be defined through the ODBC Data Source Administrator in the Windows Control Panel. In Microsoft Windows 2000, the ODBC Administrator is located under Administrative Tools. In previous versions of Windows, the ODBC Administrator icon is named 32-bit ODBC or simply ODBC.

As an alternative to setting a DSN, you can specify the ODBC driver (DRIVER=), such as "SQL Server;" the server name (SERVER=); and the database name (DATABASE=).

You can also specify a user account name (UID=), and the password for the user account (PWD=) in the ODBC-specific parameters or in the standard ADO-defined user and password parameters.

Although a DSN definition already specifies a database, you can specify a database parameter in addition to a DSN to connect to a different database. It is a good idea to always include the database parameter when you use a DSN. This will ensure that you connect to the proper database in the event that another user changed the default database parameter since you last checked the DSN definition.

Provider-Specific Connection Properties

The OLE DB provider for ODBC adds several properties to the Properties collection of the Connection object. The following table lists these properties with the corresponding OLE DB property name in parentheses.

Property Name Description
Accessible Procedures
(KAGPROP_ACCESSIBLEPROCEDURES)
Indicates whether the user has access to stored procedures.
Accessible Tables
(KAGPROP_ACCESSIBLETABLES)
Indicates whether the user has permission to execute SELECT statements against the database tables.
Active Statements
(KAGPROP_ACTIVESTATEMENTS)
Indicates the number of handles an ODBC driver can support on a connection.
Driver Name
(KAGPROP_DRIVERNAME)
Indicates the file name of the ODBC driver.
Driver ODBC Version
(KAGPROP_DRIVERODBCVER)
Indicates the version of ODBC that this driver supports.
File Usage
(KAGPROP_FILEUSAGE)
Indicates how the driver treats a file in a data source; as a table or as a catalog.
Like Escape Clause
(KAGPROP_LIKEESCAPECLAUSE)
Indicates whether the driver supports the definition and use of an escape character for the percent character (%) and underline character (_) in the LIKE predicate of a WHERE clause.
Max Columns in Group By
(KAGPROP_MAXCOLUMNSINGROUPBY)
Indicates the maximum number of columns that can be listed in the GROUP BY clause of a SELECT statement.
Max Columns in Index
(KAGPROP_MAXCOLUMNSININDEX)
Indicates the maximum number of columns that can be included in an index.
Max Columns in Order By
(KAGPROP_MAXCOLUMNSINORDERBY)
Indicates the maximum number of columns that can be listed in the ORDER BY clause of a SELECT statement.
Max Columns in Select
(KAGPROP_MAXCOLUMNSINSELECT)
Indicates the maximum number of columns that can be listed in the SELECT portion of a SELECT statement.
Max Columns in Table
(KAGPROP_MAXCOLUMNSINTABLE)
Indicates the maximum number of columns allowed in a table.
Numeric Functions
(KAGPROP_NUMERICFUNCTIONS)
Indicates which numeric functions are supported by the ODBC driver. For a listing of function names and the associated values used in this bitmask, see Appendix E: Scalar Functions in the ODBC documentation.
Outer Join Capabilities
(KAGPROP_OJCAPABILITY)
Indicates the types of OUTER JOINs supported by the provider.
Outer Joins
(KAGPROP_OUTERJOINS)
Indicates whether the provider supports OUTER JOINs.
Special Characters
(KAGPROP_SPECIALCHARACTERS)
Indicates which characters have special meaning for the ODBC driver.
Stored Procedures
(KAGPROP_PROCEDURES)
Indicates whether stored procedures are available for use with this ODBC driver.
String Functions
(KAGPROP_STRINGFUNCTIONS)
Indicates which string functions are supported by the ODBC driver. For a listing of function names and the associated values used in this bitmask, see Appendix E: Scalar Functions in the ODBC documentation.
System Functions
(KAGPROP_SYSTEMFUNCTIONS)
Indicates which system functions are supported by the ODBC driver. For a listing of function names and the associated values used in this bitmask, see Appendix E: Scalar Functions in the ODBC documentation.
Time/Date Functions
(KAGPROP_TIMEDATEFUNCTIONS)
Indicates which time and date functions are supported by the ODBC driver. For a listing of function names and the associated values used in this bitmask, see Appendix E: Scalar Functions in the ODBC documentation.
SQL Grammar Support
(KAGPROP_ODBCSQLCONFORMANCE)
Indicates the SQL grammar that the ODBC driver supports.

Provider-Specific Recordset and Command Properties

The OLE DB provider for ODBC adds several properties to the Properties collection of the Recordset and Command objects. The following table lists these properties with the corresponding OLE DB property name in parentheses.

Property Name Description
Query Based Updates/Deletes/Inserts
(KAGPROP_QUERYBASEDUPDATES)
Indicates whether updates, deletions, and insertions can be performed using SQL queries.
ODBC Concurrency Type
(KAGPROP_CONCURRENCY)
Indicates the method used to reduce potential problems caused by two users attempting to access the same data from the data source simultaneously.
BLOB accessibility on Forward-Only cursor
(KAGPROP_BLOBSONFOCURSOR)
Indicates whether BLOB Fields can be accessed when using a forward-only cursor.
Include SQL_FLOAT, SQL_DOUBLE, and SQL_REAL in QBU WHERE clauses
(KAGPROP_INCLUDENONEXACT)
Indicates whether SQL_FLOAT, SQL_DOUBLE, and SQL_REAL values can be included in a QBU WHERE clause.
Position on the last row after insert
(KAGPROP_POSITIONONNEWROW)
Indicates that after a new record has been inserted in a table, the last row in the table will be come the current row.
IRowsetChangeExtInfo
(KAGPROP_IROWSETCHANGEEXTINFO)
Indicates whether the IRowsetChange interface provides extended information support.
ODBC Cursor Type
(KAGPROP_CURSOR)
Indicates the type of cursor used by the Recordset.
Generate a Rowset that can be marshaled
(KAGPROP_MARSHALLABLE)
Indicates that the ODBC driver generates a recordset that can be marshaled

Command Text

How you use the Command object largely depends on the data source, and what type of query or command statement it will accept.

ODBC provides a specific syntax for calling stored procedures. For the CommandText property of a Command object, the CommandText argument to the Execute method on a Connection object, or the Source argument to the Open method on a Recordset object, passes in a string with this syntax:

"{ [ ? = ] call procedure [ ( ? [, ? [ ,  ]] ) ] }"

Each ? references an object in the Parameters collection. The first ? references Parameters(0), the next ? references Parameters(1), and so on.

The parameter references are optional and depend on the structure of the stored procedure. If you want to call a stored procedure that defines no parameters, your string would look like this:

"{ call procedure }"

If you have two query parameters, your string would look like this:

"{ call procedure ( ?, ? ) }"

If the stored procedure will return a value, the return value is treated as another parameter. If you have no query parameters but you do have a return value, your string would look like this:

"{ ? = call procedure }"

Finally, if you have a return value and two query parameters, your string would look like this:

"{ ? = call procedure ( ?, ? ) }"

Recordset Behavior

The following tables list the standard ADO methods and properties available on a Recordset object opened with this provider.

For more detailed information about Recordset behavior for your provider configuration, run the Supports method and enumerate the Properties collection of the Recordset to determine whether provider-specific dynamic properties are present.

Availability of standard ADO Recordset properties:

Property ForwardOnly Dynamic Keyset Static
AbsolutePage not available not available read/write read/write
AbsolutePosition not available not available read/write read/write
ActiveConnection read/write read/write read/write read/write
BOF read-only read-only read-only read-only
Bookmark not available not available read/write read/write
CacheSize read/write read/write read/write read/write
CursorLocation read/write read/write read/write read/write
CursorType read/write read/write read/write read/write
EditMode read-only read-only read-only read-only
Filter read/write read/write read/write read/write
LockType read/write read/write read/write read/write
MarshalOptions read/write read/write read/write read/write
MaxRecords read/write read/write read/write read/write
PageCount read/write not available read-only read-only
PageSize read/write read/write read/write read/write
RecordCount read/write not available read-only read-only
Source read/write read/write read/write read/write
State read-only read-only read-only read-only
Status read-only read-only read-only read-only

The AbsolutePosition and AbsolutePage properties are write-only when ADO is used with version 1.0 of the Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC.

Availability of standard ADO Recordset methods:

Method ForwardOnly Dynamic Keyset Static
AddNew Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cancel Yes Yes Yes Yes
CancelBatch Yes Yes Yes Yes
CancelUpdate Yes Yes Yes Yes
Clone No No Yes Yes
Close Yes Yes Yes Yes
Delete Yes Yes Yes Yes
GetRows Yes Yes Yes Yes
Move Yes Yes Yes Yes
MoveFirst Yes Yes Yes Yes
MoveLast No Yes Yes Yes
MoveNext Yes Yes Yes Yes
MovePrevious No Yes Yes Yes
NextRecordset* Yes Yes Yes Yes
Open Yes Yes Yes Yes
Requery Yes Yes Yes Yes
Resync No No Yes Yes
Supports Yes Yes Yes Yes
Update Yes Yes Yes Yes
UpdateBatch Yes Yes Yes Yes

*Not supported for Microsoft Access databases.

Dynamic Properties

The Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC inserts several dynamic properties into the Properties collection of the unopened Connection, Recordset, and Command objects.

The tables below are a cross-index of the ADO and OLE DB names for each dynamic property. The OLE DB Programmer's Reference refers to an ADO property name by the term, "Description." You can find more information about these properties in the OLE DB Programmer's Reference. Search for the OLE DB property name in the Index or see Appendix C: OLE DB Properties.

Connection Dynamic Properties

The following properties are added to the Connection object's Properties collection.

ADO Property Name OLE DB Property Name
Active Sessions DBPROP_ACTIVESESSIONS
Asynchable Abort DBPROP_ASYNCTXNABORT
Asynchable Commit DBPROP_ASYNCTNXCOMMIT
Autocommit Isolation Levels DBPROP_SESS_AUTOCOMMITISOLEVELS
Catalog Location DBPROP_CATALOGLOCATION
Catalog Term DBPROP_CATALOGTERM
Column Definition DBPROP_COLUMNDEFINITION
Connect Timeout DBPROP_INIT_TIMEOUT
Current Catalog DBPROP_CURRENTCATALOG
Data Source DBPROP_INIT_DATASOURCE
Data Source Name DBPROP_DATASOURCENAME
Data Source Object Threading Model DBPROP_DSOTHREADMODEL
DBMS Name DBPROP_DBMSNAME
DBMS Version DBPROP_DBMSVER
Extended Properties DBPROP_INIT_PROVIDERSTRING
GROUP BY Support DBPROP_GROUPBY
Heterogeneous Table Support DBPROP_HETEROGENEOUSTABLES
Identifier Case Sensitivity DBPROP_IDENTIFIERCASE
Initial Catalog DBPROP_INIT_CATALOG
Isolation Levels DBPROP_SUPPORTEDTXNISOLEVELS
Isolation Retention DBPROP_SUPPORTEDTXNISORETAIN
Locale Identifier DBPROP_INIT_LCID
Location DBPROP_INIT_LOCATION
Maximum Index Size DBPROP_MAXINDEXSIZE
Maximum Row Size DBPROP_MAXROWSIZE
Maximum Row Size Includes BLOB DBPROP_MAXROWSIZEINCLUDESBLOB
Maximum Tables in SELECT DBPROP_MAXTABLESINSELECT
Mode DBPROP_INIT_MODE
Multiple Parameter Sets DBPROP_MULTIPLEPARAMSETS
Multiple Results DBPROP_MULTIPLERESULTS
Multiple Storage Objects DBPROP_MULTIPLESTORAGEOBJECTS
Multi-Table Update DBPROP_MULTITABLEUPDATE
NULL Collation Order DBPROP_NULLCOLLATION
NULL Concatenation Behavior DBPROP_CONCATNULLBEHAVIOR
OLE DB Services DBPROP_INIT_OLEDBSERVICES
OLE DB Version DBPROP_PROVIDEROLEDBVER
OLE Object Support DBPROP_OLEOBJECTS
Open Rowset Support DBPROP_OPENROWSETSUPPORT
ORDER BY Columns in Select List DBPROP_ORDERBYCOLUMNSINSELECT
Output Parameter Availability DBPROP_OUTPUTPARAMETERAVAILABILITY
Password DBPROP_AUTH_PASSWORD
Pass By Ref Accessors DBPROP_BYREFACCESSORS
Persist Security Info DBPROP_AUTH_PERSIST_SENSITIVE_AUTHINFO
Persistent ID Type DBPROP_PERSISTENTIDTYPE
Prepare Abort Behavior DBPROP_PREPAREABORTBEHAVIOR
Prepare Commit Behavior DBPROP_PREPARECOMMITBEHAVIOR
Procedure Term DBPROP_PROCEDURETERM
Prompt DBPROP_INIT_PROMPT
Provider Friendly Name DBPROP_PROVIDERFRIENDLYNAME
Provider Name DBPROP_PROVIDERFILENAME
Provider Version DBPROP_PROVIDERVER
Read-Only Data Source DBPROP_DATASOURCEREADONLY
Rowset Conversions on Command DBPROP_ROWSETCONVERSIONSONCOMMAND
Schema Term DBPROP_SCHEMATERM
Schema Usage DBPROP_SCHEMAUSAGE
SQL Support DBPROP_SQLSUPPORT
Structured Storage DBPROP_STRUCTUREDSTORAGE
Subquery Support DBPROP_SUBQUERIES
Table Term DBPROP_TABLETERM
Transaction DDL DBPROP_SUPPORTEDTXNDDL
User ID DBPROP_AUTH_USERID
User Name DBPROP_USERNAME
Window Handle DBPROP_INIT_HWND

Recordset Dynamic Properties

The following properties are added to the Recordset object's Properties collection.

ADO Property Name OLE DB Property Name
Access Order DBPROP_ACCESSORDER
Blocking Storage Objects DBPROP_BLOCKINGSTORAGEOBJECTS
Bookmark Type DBPROP_BOOKMARKTYPE
Bookmarkable DBPROP_IROWSETLOCATE
Change Inserted Rows DBPROP_CHANGEINSERTEDROWS
Column Privileges DBPROP_COLUMNRESTRICT
Column Set Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYCOLUMNSET
Delay Storage Object Updates DBPROP_DELAYSTORAGEOBJECTS
Fetch Backwards DBPROP_CANFETCHBACKWARDS
Hold Rows DBPROP_CANHOLDROWS
IAccessor DBPROP_IAccessor
IColumnsInfo DBPROP_IColumnsInfo
IColumnsRowset DBPROP_IColumnsRowset
IConnectionPointContainer DBPROP_IConnectionPointContainer
IConvertType DBPROP_IConvertType
Immobile Rows DBPROP_IMMOBILEROWS
IRowset DBPROP_IRowset
IRowsetChange DBPROP_IRowsetChange
IRowsetIdentity DBPROP_IRowsetIdentity
IRowsetInfo DBPROP_IRowsetInfo
IRowsetLocate DBPROP_IRowsetLocate
IRowsetResynch  
IRowsetUpdate DBPROP_IRowsetUpdate
ISequentialStream DBPROP_ISequentialStream
ISupportErrorInfo DBPROP_ISupportErrorInfo
Literal Bookmarks DBPROP_LITERALBOOKMARKS
Literal Row Identity DBPROP_LITERALIDENTITY
Maximum Open Rows DBPROP_MAXOPENROWS
Maximum Pending Rows DBPROP_MAXPENDINGROWS
Maximum Rows DBPROP_MAXROWS
Notification Granularity DBPROP_NOTIFICATIONGRANULARITY
Notification Phases DBPROP_NOTIFICATIONPHASES
Objects Transacted DBPROP_TRANSACTEDOBJECT
Own Changes Visible DBPROP_OWNUPDATEDELETE
Own Inserts Visible DBPROP_OWNINSERT
Preserve on Abort DBPROP_ABORTPRESERVE
Preserve on Commit DBPROP_COMMITPRESERVE
Quick Restart DBPROP_QUICKRESTART
Reentrant Events DBPROP_REENTRANTEVENTS
Remove Deleted Rows DBPROP_REMOVEDELETED
Report Multiple Changes DBPROP_REPORTMULTIPLECHANGES
Return Pending Inserts DBPROP_RETURNPENDINGINSERTS
Row Delete Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWDELETE
Row First Change Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWFIRSTCHANGE
Row Insert Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWINSERT
Row Privileges DBPROP_ROWRESTRICT
Row Resynchronization Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWRESYNCH
Row Threading Model DBPROP_ROWTHREADMODEL
Row Undo Change Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWUNDOCHANGE
Row Undo Delete Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWUNDODELETE
Row Undo Insert Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWUNDOINSERT
Row Update Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWUPDATE
Rowset Fetch Position Change Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWSETFETCHPOSISIONCHANGE
Rowset Release Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWSETRELEASE
Scroll Backwards DBPROP_CANSCROLLBACKWARDS
Skip Deleted Bookmarks DBPROP_BOOKMARKSKIPPED
Strong Row Identity DBPROP_STRONGITDENTITY
Unique Rows DBPROP_UNIQUEROWS
Updatability DBPROP_UPDATABILITY
Use Bookmarks DBPROP_BOOKMARKS

Command Dynamic Properties

The following properties are added to the Command object's Properties collection.

ADO Property Name OLE DB Property Name
Access Order DBPROP_ACCESSORDER
Blocking Storage Objects DBPROP_BLOCKINGSTORAGEOBJECTS
Bookmark Type DBPROP_BOOKMARKTYPE
Bookmarkable DBPROP_IROWSETLOCATE
Change Inserted Rows DBPROP_CHANGEINSERTEDROWS
Column Privileges DBPROP_COLUMNRESTRICT
Column Set Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYCOLUMNSET
Delay Storage Object Updates DBPROP_DELAYSTORAGEOBJECTS
Fetch Backwards DBPROP_CANFETCHBACKWARDS
Hold Rows DBPROP_CANHOLDROWS
IAccessor DBPROP_IAccessor
IColumnsInfo DBPROP_IColumnsInfo
IColumnsRowset DBPROP_IColumnsRowset
IConnectionPointContainer DBPROP_IConnectionPointContainer
IConvertType DBPROP_IConvertType
Immobile Rows DBPROP_IMMOBILEROWS
IRowset DBPROP_IRowset
IRowsetChange DBPROP_IRowsetChange
IRowsetIdentity DBPROP_IRowsetIdentity
IRowsetInfo DBPROP_IRowsetInfo
IRowsetLocate DBPROP_IRowsetLocate
IRowsetResynch  
IRowsetUpdate DBPROP_IRowsetUpdate
ISequentialStream DBPROP_ISequentialStream
ISupportErrorInfo DBPROP_ISupportErrorInfo
Literal Bookmarks DBPROP_LITERALBOOKMARKS
Literal Row Identity DBPROP_LITERALIDENTITY
Maximum Open Rows DBPROP_MAXOPENROWS
Maximum Pending Rows DBPROP_MAXPENDINGROWS
Maximum Rows DBPROP_MAXROWS
Notification Granularity DBPROP_NOTIFICATIONGRANULARITY
Notification Phases DBPROP_NOTIFICATIONPHASES
Objects Transacted DBPROP_TRANSACTEDOBJECT
Own Changes Visible DBPROP_OWNUPDATEDELETE
Own Inserts Visible DBPROP_OWNINSERT
Preserve on Abort DBPROP_ABORTPRESERVE
Preserve on Commit DBPROP_COMMITPRESERVE
Quick Restart DBPROP_QUICKRESTART
Reentrant Events DBPROP_REENTRANTEVENTS
Remove Deleted Rows DBPROP_REMOVEDELETED
Report Multiple Changes DBPROP_REPORTMULTIPLECHANGES
Return Pending Inserts DBPROP_RETURNPENDINGINSERTS
Row Delete Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWDELETE
Row First Change Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWFIRSTCHANGE
Row Insert Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWINSERT
Row Privileges DBPROP_ROWRESTRICT
Row Resynchronization Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWRESYNCH
Row Threading Model DBPROP_ROWTHREADMODEL
Row Undo Change Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWUNDOCHANGE
Row Undo Delete Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWUNDODELETE
Row Undo Insert Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWUNDOINSERT
Row Update Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWUPDATE
Rowset Fetch Position Change Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWSETFETCHPOSITIONCHANGE
Rowset Release Notification DBPROP_NOTIFYROWSETRELEASE
Scroll Backwards DBPROP_CANSCROLLBACKWARDS
Skip Deleted Bookmarks DBPROP_BOOKMARKSKIP
Strong Row Identity DBPROP_STRONGIDENTITY
Updatability DBPROP_UPDATABILITY
Use Bookmarks DBPROP_BOOKMARKS

See Also   For details regarding specific implementation and functional information about the Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC, consult the documentation for OLE DB Provider for ODBC and the Microsoft OLE DB Programmer's Reference available in the MDAC SDK or visit the Universal Data Access Web site.

See Also

Command Object | CommandText Property | Connection Object | ConnectionString Property | Execute Method (ADO Command) | Open Method (ADO Recordset) | Parameters Collection | Properties Collection | Provider Property | Recordset Object | Supports Method

© 1998-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.