DAO/ODBC basic explanation 1

[amberH]

Hi all,
I'm wondering if someone can help me out here.
I'm looking for a simple (for dummies) explanation of DAO/ODBC drivers...and what they are.
I've done a lot of database work, and can copy other code until I get the desired results, but when I run into problems, I don't really have a clue what I've done.
Now I'm working on getting data into and Excel spreadsheet from Access, and I don't even know where to begin...I thought a better understanding of what an ODBC driver is, and how it works, and why you need to use it in the first place would be a good start.
If someone could even point me in the direction of an article etc. I would appreciate it very much!
Thanks,
amber

 

[cmmrfrds]

DAO is a Microsoft Library that is used to manipulate data objects in Microsoft Access and the underlying Jet database engine.

When using a Microsoft product, such as, Access or Excel an ODBC driver is typically used to get data from a non Microsoft product like Oracle or dbase or many others. Although you can use ODBC to get data from the Microsoft products it is usually not necessary since there are direct Microsoft drivers. When in Excel you can connect directly to an Access database or conversely from Access directly to Excel.

There is another Microsoft product called OLE-DB and is used with the ADO library. This product can connect to a wide variety of data sources and is more broad in application than DAO and ODBC. It can treat file directories and other structures as recordsets and gives most of the same funcationality as DAO for an Access database.

Bottom line, the Access to Excel connection should not need ODBC. Do an internet search on the keywords DAO and ODBC and you will find lots of explanations.