DataServer components

The DataServer is a set of software components that allows OpenEdge and WebSpeed applications to access data in the data source. The DataServer enables access by translating ABL and WebSpeed code into calls appropriate to the data source. The application can thus manipulate the data as though it were OpenEdge-based data.

Table 1. DataServer architecture components
Component	Description
DataServer for MS SQL Server (Windows platforms only)	An OpenEdge software module that allows you to use ABL or WebSpeed Speedscript.
ODBC Driver Manager (Windows platforms only)	A software module that manages the connection between an application and ODBC drivers. It is implemented in Windows by default as a Microsoft-supplied dynamic link library (DLL) module.
Schema holder	A repository for foreign data definitions.
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 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 MS SQL Server 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 utilities for MS SQL Server	A set of utilities that allows you to perform certain tasks related to the MS SQL Server DataServer. You access them from either the Data Administration or the Data Dictionary.

As shown in the figure above, the components for the self-service DataServer for MS SQL Server are organized similarly to the client-server configuration except that the DataServer is embedded in the client rather than executing separately. With a client-server configuration, the components can be deployed so that the DataServer resides on the same machine as the client (loop back), on the server for efficiency and close proximity to the database, or distributed to a separate third tier.

The ODBC driver manager must reside on the same machine as the DataServer "server." To ODBC, the "server" half of a client-server configuration, or the self-service DataServer appears as an ODBC client. 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 MS SQL Server database.