Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), developed by Microsoft, is the standard way to connect Windows applications to relational and non-relational databases. To submit a request to a database, ODBC-enabled applications use Structured Query Language (SQL).
There are two main ways to generate SQL commands from Windows applications:
1. By invoking MS Query and navigating through menus to submit a request. MS Query then generates SQL commands transparently.
2. By writing application-specific programs or macros. For instance, in Word for Windows, you can generate SQL commands by writing WordBasic programs or macros. In Excel, you can use Excel/Visual Basic. This approach provides more flexibility, but requires programming experience and is for advanced users only.
AcuODBC is designed to let Windows users read and write ACUCOBOL-GT's Vision files as well as relative files. Since neither Vision files nor relative files are relational, AcuODBC's job is to receive SQL requests from ODBC-enabled applications (like MS Word) and translate them into Vision or relative file I/O actions.
After AcuODBC translates the SQL into Vision I/O, it processes these requests for data and returns results to the driver manager, which passes them along to the calling Windows application.
If the data files reside on the same Windows computer as AcuODBC, AcuODBC works in what is considered a single-tier architecture. If the data files reside on a separate, server computer, AcuODBC works in a multiple-tier architecture.