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List:       dbi-dev
Subject:    Re: Array Binding (an ODBC example)
From:       martin () easysoft ! com
Date:       2001-08-10 15:42:16
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On 10-Aug-2001 Tim Bunce wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 10, 2001 at 09:44:48AM -0400, Jeff Urlwin wrote:
>> I don't mind keeping the iODBC in there.  I remember trying to build
>> UnixODBC, at one point, and it was slow and painful.  iODBC was light and
>> fast to build.  I think kick starting users, given the number of people who
>> actually read the docs that come with everything, is better than pointing
>> them to multiple places.  I would prefer something like:
>> 
>>      We have included the iODBC driver, as it is fast to build and works with
>> DBD::ODBC.  However, your mileage may vary.  You may wish to use unixODBC,
>> which can be found at http://www.unixodbc.org.  [Insert more comments here]
> 
> Is the iODBC being bundled upto date?

No. The current version according to www.iodbc.org is ODBC 3.0.5 and the tar
file in the DBD::ODBC distribution is libiodbc-2.50.3.tar.gz.

unixodbc attempts to duplicate the entire ODBC setup for Windows so the
unixODBC package includes a driver manager, some ODBC drivers, command line and
GUI ODBC configuration. The average guy using DBD::ODBC and only wanting the
unixODBC driver manager can simplify the configure to something like:

./configure --sysconfdir=/etc
  --enable-threads=no --enable-gui=no --enable-drivers=no

in which case it takes a fraction of the time to build and you do not need to
worry about QT.

> How does it compare in functionailty with UnixODBC? (I'd rather not
> have DBD::ODBC be limited in functionality for the life of the
> installation just because people took the easier option at build time.)

I don't use iODBC myself but I believe the main difference likely to be of
greatest relevance to Perl users is that unixODBC has UNICODE support. In
addition, unixODBC is already included with some UNIX distributions - Nick could
probably enlarge on this.

> Have you tried building UnixODBC recently? (I've never tried so I can't
> comment.)

I have personally built it on:

Solaris/Intel
Solaris/Sparc
Linux/Intel
Linux/alpha
FreeBSD/Intel
AIX/RS6000
SCO OpenServer/Intel
SCO Unixware/Intel
HP-UX/PA-RISC
Tru64/alpha
Sinix/MIPS

Using the above configure line on these platforms it was as simple as

./configure xxx
make
make install

and took 4 minutes to configure/build and install.

Personally, I don't much mind whether iODBC or unixODBC or xxxdrivermanager is
included with DBD::ODBC as I will always use the one I want to use anyway. I
would however be worried if DBD::ODBC ended up with reduced functionality or
workarounds due to issues in the distributed driver manager.

Anyone reading this should be aware I work for Easysoft and with Nick Gorham
who wrote the majority of unixODBC - I thought I should mention this before
being accused of hiding any bias I might have.

Martin
--
Martin J. Evans
Easysoft Ltd, UK
Development

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