Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)

Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a set of database access APIs that connect to the database, prepare, and then run SQL statements on the database. An application that uses an ODBC driver can access non-uniform data sources, such as spreadsheets and comma-delimited files.

The Oracle ODBC driver conforms to ODBC 3.51 specifications. It supports all core APIs and a subset of Level 1 and Level 2 functions. Microsoft supplies the Driver manager component for the Windows platform.

Like OCI, OCCI, and JDBC, ODBC is part of the Oracle Instant Client installation.