ODBC Driver

ODBC (also known as Open Database Connectivity) helps you to access database management systems (DBMS) with ease.

ODBC Driver works as a translation layer between the platform that you use in order to develop applications and the DBMS. For instance, when you use Visual Studio and you want to connect to PostgreSQL, SQL Server or MySQL databases, you need to write the code that permits the connection between these apps. Still, even if the scripts might be correct, they won’t work unless an ODBC driver is installed on your computer and is configured properly.

After installing ODBC Driver, you are required to create a new data source. This action can be performed by accessing the Control Panel window and navigating to the Administrative Tools section. New data sources are created in the ODBC Data Sources control panel.

The ‘System DNS’ tab displays all the available data sources and enables you to add your owns as well. After selecting a driver for which you want to set up a data source (for example Microsoft Excel, Microsoft ODBC for Oracle or SQL Server) you can easily create a new ODBC data source.

Simply specify the name of the data source you want to refer to, then select the server or the database you want to connect to.

However, in case you have a 64bit version of Windows, you will need to run the 32bit ODBC Data Source Administrator panel. For example, Visual Studio requires you to import a 32bit ODBC driver, although you have a x64 operating system.

Considering all of the above, ODBC Driver is a steady solution specially intended for developers and programmers who need to connect their applications to a database or server, execute queries and extract data from tables.