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Microsoft
Universal Data Access is Microsoft’s
strategic interoperability architecture for providing access to
information across the enterprise. From the desktop, to departmental
servers, to mainframes, Universal Data Access provides the means for
high performance client/server and Web-based applications to
interoperate across the enterprise on private networks or across the
world via the Internet.
Today, companies building enterprise solutions face a number of
challenges as they seek to gain maximum business advantage from the data
and information distributed throughout their corporations. Through ODBC,
OLE DB and ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), Universal Data Access provides
high-performance access to a variety of information sources, including
relational and non-relational sources, and an easy-to-use programming
interface that is tool- and language-independent. These technologies
enable corporations to integrate diverse data sources, create
easy-to-maintain solutions, and use their choice of tools, applications,
and platform services.
Universal Data Access does not require companies to move data into a
single data store, which is expensive and time-consuming, nor does it
require that they commit to a single vendor’s products. Universal Data
Access is based on open industry specifications with broad industry
support, and works with all major established database platforms.
Universal Data Access is an evolutionary step from today’s standard
interfaces, including ODBC, RDO, and DAO; and extends the functionality
of these well-known and well-tested technologies. ODBC is not being
replaced, but rather subsumed within OLE-DB.
OLE DB
Universal Data Access is based on the ability of OLE DB to access remote
logic and data of all types, and it relies on ADO to provide the
programming model that application developers will use.
OLE
DB is Microsoft’s strategic low-level interface to all kinds of data
throughout the enterprise. OLE DB is an open specification designed to
build on the success of ODBC by providing an open standard for accessing
all kinds of data. OLE DB is designed for relational and non-relational
information sources, including mainframes hierarchical databases; email
and file system stores; text, graphical, and geographical data; custom
business objects; and more.
OLE DB includes ODBC to enable continued support for the broad range of
ODBC functions. OLE DB is a set of COM (Component Object Model)
interfaces that provide applications with uniform access to data stored
in diverse information sources, regardless of location.
ActiveX Data Objects
ADO is Microsoft’s strategic, high-level interface to all kinds of data.
ADO provides consistent, high-performance access to data, whether you’re
creating a front-end database client or middle-tier business object
using an application, tool, language, or even an Internet browser. ADO
is the single data interface you need to know for 1- to n-tier
client/server and Web-based data-driven solution development.
ADO is designed as an easy-to-use application level interface to
Microsoft’s newest and most powerful data access paradigm, OLE DB. OLE
DB provides high-performance access to any data source, including
relational and non-relational databases, email and file systems, text
and graphics, custom business objects, and more. ADO is implemented with
a small footprint, minimal network traffic in key Internet scenarios,
and a minimal number of layers between the front-end and data source—all
to provide a lightweight, high-performance interface. ADO is easy to use
because it is called using a familiar metaphor – the Automation
interface, available from just about any tool and language on the market
today. And since ADO was designed to combine the best features of, and
eventually replace RDO and DAO, it uses similar conventions with
simplified semantics to make it easy to learn for today’s developers.
Since ADO is a COM-based component, any application or language capable
of working with COM objects can use it. ADO is built around a set of
"core" functions that all data sources are expected to implement. ADO is
not specifically designed for relational or ISAM databases — but as an
object interface to any data source. ADO serves much the same purpose as
DAO and RDO, that is, to give you an easy-to-use object model for
accessing data. ADO allows you to access data via OLE DB and therefore
is a way to programmatically work with all types of data.
For more detailed information on Microsoft Universal Data Access,
OLE-DB, ADO, and ODBC, see the Microsoft web site
http://www.microsoft.com/data/.
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