INF: Determining Which ODBC Drivers to Ship
PSS ID Number: Q112822
Article last modified on 04-06-1994

2.50

WINDOWS


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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Foundation Classes for Windows, version 2.5
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SUMMARY
=======

When shipping an application that uses the Microsoft Foundation Classes
(MFC) database classes, such as CRecordset or CRecordView, it is necessary
to redistribute some files provided by Visual C++ with your application.
The REDISTRB.WRI file found in the \MSVC\REDIST subdirectory on the Visual
C++ CD explains the main issues associated with determining which files to
include.

With respect to the files required due to the application's use of the
database classes, the "ODBC API Programmer's Reference" in the Visual C++
Books Online is referenced as a resource for identifying ODBC-related
files. Specifically, Part 4 of this reference discusses the tools provided
by Visual C++ to facilitate the installation of the ODBC-related files.
However, Part 4 provides only general techniques and examples of the
process; it does not make clear the specific files required by each
particular driver for ODBC support. These files may be determined using the
driver help files (.HLP) provided with Visual C++.

To find a list of which drivers to ship for a particular type of data
source (that is, Microsoft FoxPro, Microsoft Access, and so forth), use one
of the following methods:

Method 1
--------

1. Run the ODBC Administrator program (usually in the Control Panel or the
   Microsoft ODBC Group of Program Manager).

2. Highlight your data source by single-clicking it.

3. Single-click the Setup button to view the Setup dialog box.

4. Single-click the Help button to view the driver help file for that data
   source.

5. Single-click the Contents button near the top-left corner to navigate to
   the main Help panel.

6. Single-click "Overview" (the highlighted hyperlink) to view all of the
   associated files (.DLLs).

Method 2
--------

1. Use File Manager to list the DRV*.HLP files in the \MSVC\REDIST
   subdirectory on the Visual C++ CD (which may also have been installed to
   the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM or WINNT\SYSTEM subdirectory of your machine).

2. Run the help file viewer by double-clicking the help file for the driver
   you are interested in. For example, the help file for the Microsoft
   Access ODBC driver is called DRVACCSS.HLP.

3. Single-click the "Overview" hyperlink to view all of the associated
   files (.DLLs).

The Overview panel lists the files that must be shipped with the
application in order to support the MFC database classes. In addition, one
other file must be included in most cases: ODBCCURS.DLL. The ODBCCURS.DLL
file is the ODBC Cursor Library. This library gives Level 1 drivers the
capability of forward and backward scrolling, and also provides the
capability of supporting snapshots. (For more information regarding the
ODBC Cursor Library, see the Visual C++ Books Online).

Additional reference words: 2.50 Open Database Connectivity
KBCategory: Prg
KBSubCategory: MfcDataBase

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Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1994.
