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OpenEdge Data Management: DataServer for ODBC
Introduction : DataServer components
 

DataServer components

The DataServer is a set of software components that allows OpenEdge and WebSpeed applications to access data in a supported ODBC data source. The DataServer enables access by translating standard OpenEdge ABL and WebSpeed code into calls appropriate to the ODBC data source. The application can thus manipulate the data from all supported ODBC data sources as though it were OpenEdge-based data.
The DataServer consists of the components described in the following table.
Table 1. DataServer Components
Component
Description
DataServer for ODBC(Windows platforms only)
An OpenEdge software module that allows you to use OpenEdge or WebSpeed with a supported ODBC data source.
ODBC Driver Manager(Windows platforms only)
A software module that manages the connection between an application and ODBC drivers. It is implemented on Windows by default as a Microsoft-supplied dynamic link library (DLL) module.
Schema holder
A repository for data definitions for one or more ODBC data sources.
ODBC driver(Windows platforms only)
A software module that implements the ODBC Application Programming Interface (API) specification. The driver interfaces between the ODBC Driver Manager and the associated data source. A separate ODBC Driver is required for each data source.
ODBC data source(Windows platforms only)
A name that identifies a specific set of data and how to obtain it. You must register a supported database as an ODBC data source.
ODBC Administrator(Windows platforms only)
A Microsoft program for registering and configuring data sources. You register a data source by providing information that the ODBC driver needs through the ODBC Administrator. Note that this registration method is used only in Windows platforms.
DataServer ODBC utilities
A set of utilities that allows you to perform certain tasks related to the DataServer. You access them from Data Administration.
The following figure illustrates how the DataServer components are organized.
Figure 1. Architecture for DataServer for ODBC
As shown in the above figure, in self-service mode, the components for the DataServer for ODBC are organized similarly to the client-server mode except that the DataServer is embedded in the client rather than executing separately.
In either case, an OpenEdge or WebSpeed application uses the DataServer to work with the ODBC Driver Manager, which accesses the desired ODBC driver. The driver then accesses the relevant ODBC data-source manager, which in turn accesses the data in the associated ODBC data source. Note that there is a separate ODBC driver for each supported data source.
Some of the DataServer components are linked with elements of the standard OpenEdge architecture, as described in DataServer components.
In this section: 
* DataServer for ODBC logic
* The schema holder
* Security