Communicator 3000 MPE/iX Release 6.0 (Platform Software Release C.60.00) (30216-90269)

226 Chapter 10
Technical Articles
Introducing ODBCLink/SE
Introducing ODBCLink/SE
by Dawna Whitehead
M.B. Foster Associates Limited
Overview
ODBCLink/SE is a replacement for the HP PC API. It is an
implementation of Microsoft's Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)
interface that enables Microsoft Windows based applications and tools
to access IMAGE/SQL on the HP 3000 and ALLBASE/SQL on the HP
3000 and HP 9000, in a client/server environment. ODBCLink/SE is a
part of IMAGE/SQL and ALLBASE/SQL.
In this environment, application developers and end-users can take
advantage of the PC's graphical user interface (GUI) and processing
power, while relying on the security, integrity, and database
management capabilities of ALLBASE/SQL and IMAGE/SQL.
HP PC API with Gupta can co-exist with ODBCLink/SE, but it will no
longer be supported, and will not be distributed in MPE 6.0 and
subsequent releases.
ODBCLink/SE server runs under MPE/iX 5.0 or higher on the HP 3000
server, or under HP-UX Versions 9.x and 10.x on the HP 9000 Series
7xx and 8xx servers. The client side runs under Microsoft Windows 3.1
and 3.11, Windows95, or WindowsNT V3.51 and V4.0. Connection via
Winsock is available in both the 16-bit and the new 32-bit version.
The driver can be used in two ways: by direct calls from a Windows
program, such as Foxbase, or through an ODBC-compliant application,
such as Microsoft Access or Visual Basic.
The ODBC LongVarBinary data type is supported for binary large
objects (BLOBs), such as compressed photographs or document images.
ODBC Level 2 Compliance
ODBCLink/SE is 95 percent ODBC Level 2 compliant. These exceptions
are not supported:
• SQLBrowseConnect
• SQLExtendedFetch
• SQLSetPos
• SQLSetStmtOptions
• Scalar functions
• SQL_BIT, SQL_TINYINT, and SQL_BIGINT data types