22.1. MySQL Connector/ODBC

The MySQL Connector/ODBC is the name for the family of MySQL ODBC drivers (previously called MyODBC drivers) that provide access to a MySQL database using the industry standard Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) API. This reference covers Connector/ODBC 5.2, which includes the functionality of the Unicode driver and the ANSI driver, which formerly were split between Connector/ODBC 5.1 and Connector/ODBC 3.51.

MySQL Connector/ODBC provides both driver-manager based and native interfaces to the MySQL database, with full support for MySQL functionality, including stored procedures, transactions and, with Connector/ODBC 5.1 and higher, full Unicode compliance.

For more information on the ODBC API standard and how to use it, refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/110093.

The application development section of the ODBC API reference assumes a good working knowledge of C, general DBMS, and a familiarity with MySQL. For more information about MySQL functionality and its syntax, refer to http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.

Typically, you need to install Connector/ODBC only on Windows machines. For Unix and Mac OS X, you can use the native MySQL network or named pipes to communicate with your MySQL database. You may need Connector/ODBC for Unix or Mac OS X if you have an application that requires an ODBC interface to communicate with the database. Applications that require ODBC to communicate with MySQL include ColdFusion, Microsoft Office, and Filemaker Pro.

For release notes detailing the changes in each release of Connector/ODBC, see MySQL Connector/ODBC Release Notes.

Key connector/ODBC topics include: