The difference between ODBC and Connector.NET is like the difference between any two automobiles. Both are data access libraries but their interfaces (the objects, methods, and properties exposed by a program or library) are totally different, just as any two cars perform the same basic function (transportation) but can have two totally different sets of controls (manual/automatic transmission, power/manual steering, etc...)

ODBC is actually a Micro$oft specification that attempts to homogenize all databases to "appear" the same. That is the actual purpose of an ODBC driver, to translate the unique and individual access methods of each database into a specific set of common objects, methods, and properties. Any library that can sit on top of a database that allows you to use the ODBC interface to use that database could be an ODBC driver (assuming you meet the other MS requirements,too).

The Connector.NET library is a completely separate library that also translates the interaction with a MySQL server to a set of objects, methods, and properties. However, because the Connector.NET library is not coded to a fixed specification (like ODBC) its developer is free to use whatever object names, method names, and property names he wants. Usually a library for a language like .NET is written as a wrapper to an interface (usually distributed as a DLL) written by the DB manufacturer (frequently written in C or C++ and very "low-level"). These "wrapper" libraries will usually expose interfaces similar to the underlying library provided by the manufacturer but they need to translate between differences in variable storage and language-specific data types. This is also true for the Connector.NET library. However, that is not the only .NET library out there.

Did that make any sense? I can explain it in other ways if you like but that's what came to me first.

Shawn Green Database Administrator Unimin Corporation - Spruce Pine

"Jorge Bastos" <mysq...@decimal.pt> wrote on 01/12/2005 03:06:27 PM: