Question on Level Two preparation

[mmwdmr]

I am preparing for the Level 2 CRCP exam and I'm looking for clarification on a couple of points.

In the section about Setting Up and Configuring Data Sources, the material says that Oracle, SQL Server and Microsoft Access are native connections. But then the example given for setting up an ODBC connection uses Oracle. Does this mean you can get to Oracle either way - natively and through ODBC? When would you do it one way vs. the other?

My second question has to do with the section on Validating Data, specifically the area of null values. The materials say that if the database supports null values, you can use the IsNull function to "reference the null values that get created as the result of a failed lookup while joining." What does "failed lookup while joining" mean and how does that process create null values?

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[MajorMel]

Hi mmwdmr,

In answer to your first question, yes, you can connect natively to those databases, as well as with an ODBC. Most databases come with an ODBC (which is a microsoft standard for database connection), which is why a lot of companies use that connection method to get to their databases. Using a native driver can sometimes be faster (if you have one). I'm not altogether knowledgable on native drivers, so if you need more info on that, you might want to do a search on Google.

As for the second question, I have no idea really by their statement of 'Failed lookup while joining', but I can tell you this... you wouldn't need to know that for the CRCP exams. All you probably need to take from that bit of info is the knowledge of the IsNull() function and how it works.

Hope this helps!

 

[mmwdmr]

Thanks much MajorMel!