ODBC (pronounced as separate letters) is the acronym for Open Database Connectivity. ODBC is a standard database access method, which was developed by the SQL Access Group in 1992.
ODBC is to relational data what OPC is for real-time data.
The goal of ODBC is to make it possible for a software application to access data from any database, regardless of which database management system (DBMS) is handling the data. ODBC manages this by inserting a middle layer, called a database driver (akin to an OPC Server), between an application and the DBMS. The purpose of this layer is to translate the application's data queries into commands that the DBMS understands. For this to work, both the application and the database driver must be ODBC-compliant. That is, the application must be capable of issuing ODBC commands and the DBMS must be capable of responding to them.
Like OPC, ODBC is a function library which provides a common API (Application Programming Interface) for ODBC compliant database management systems.
ODBC drivers are available for most database management systems (DBMS) including Microsoft SQL, Microsoft Access, Oracle, Informix, Sybase, MySQL, etc.
OPC Client and Server applications are available to exchange data between OPC and ODBC compliant systems. This enables users to archive automation data in a database or retrieve data from a database as if it is a real-time data source.
See also: Database, SQL