ODBC

ODBC is not a database. ODBC stands for Open Database Connectivity and is a standard interface for accessing databases. Most database engines have their own ODBC driver to allow for standardized access to their database.

It is generally independent from database systems and operating systems, so in theory an application running on one database and accessing it via ODBC should be able to run on another ODBC-enabled database with no changes. Of course, that is rarely the case, but ODBC does significantly simplify work with different database systems.

Standardized access, of course, brings its downsides. Each database has its own strength and deviates from the standard (more or less) to take advantage of its unique capabilities. Using ODBC generally means using the lowest common denominator in features.

If you use a costly database system, you generally want to use it to its fullest. Using ODBC can limit performance because the ODBC driver has to translate all database calls and results between native database structures and the standardized ODBC format.

All our products fully support ODBC. However, for cases where we support your database directly (natively), it is recommended to use our direct database engine instead of ODBC.

We work very hard to support the specific characteristics of each database and provide the best possible performance and stability. The ODBC layer introduces an additional layer where issues may occur, and not all ODBC drivers offer the same level of quality.