OLE DB

OLE DB (Object Linking and Embedding, Database, sometimes written as OLEDB or OLE-DB) is an API designed by Microsoft for accessing data from a variety of sources in an uniform manner. It is a set of interfaces implemented using the Component Object Model (COM); it is otherwise unrelated to OLE. It was designed as a higher-level replacement for, and successor to, ODBC, extending its feature set to support a wider variety of non-relational databases, such as object databases and spreadsheets that do not necessarily implement SQL.

OLE DB separates the data store from the application that needs access to it through a set of abstractions that include the datasource, session, command, and rowsets. This was done because different applications need access to different types and sources of data, and do not necessarily want to know how to access functionality with technology-specific methods. OLE DB is conceptually divided into consumers and providers. The consumers are the applications that need access to the data, and the providers are the software components that implement the interface and thereby provides the data to the consumer. OLE DB is part of the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) stack. MDAC is a group of Microsoft technologies that interact together as a framework that allows programmers a uniform and comprehensive way of developing applications for accessing almost any data store.

Microsoft's 'Denali' release of SQL server will be the last to include an OLE DB provider for SQL Server, but support will continue for 7 years.^[1] According to a related Microsoft FAQ,^[2] "Providers like ADO.Net which can run on top of OLE DB will not support OLE DB once the latter is deprecated", but the same answer in the FAQ states that the original post relates only to the OLE DB provider for SQL Server, so the position of OLE DB itself remains unclear.

References

1. ^ Microsoft SQLNCli team blog: Microsoft is Aligning with ODBC for Native Relational Data Access
2. ^ SQL Server Forums - SQL Server Data Access: Microsoft is Aligning with ODBC for Native Relational Data Access

See also

• OLE DB provider
• OLE DB consumer