Let me see if I have this straight...

In order to access a MS SQL Server 6.0 DB in Delphi 2 (32 bit
environment) you need:
- The BDE
- SQL Links Vx.x (whatever is working well with SQL 6.0)
- SQL Server DB-Lib

Is this right???  (someone please say no)

If it is... Talk about overhead overkill.  

There has to be a better way (so could someone suggest it).  

Why did this get so complicated in 32 bit environments?  In Delphi 1
(the ancient 16 bit world) you could use the SYBASE drivers and nothing
else.  Now, we have to use SQL links, the BDE, and pay a per-seat charge
for every app distributed on our network for SQL 6.0???

Greg
(The learning never stops, and neither does the frustration)
--
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------------+
| Greg Postlewait Consulting      | Portland Oregon Delphi User's
Group   |
| http://www.teleport.com/~gpost/ |
http://www.teleport.com/~gpost/delphi |
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------------+

Greg,

You are correct that you would need to distribute the above files.
However, that has not changed from v1 to v2.

However, you don't need to install the entire BDE, only the DLL's that
you use.  In the case above, the minimum that you would need is:

IDAPI32.DLL (BDE Core DLL)
SQLMSS32.DLL (MS-SQL Driver)

You may also need the following (depends on what you do):

IDSQL32.DLL (Local SQL queries, including live queries)
IDBAT32.DLL (Batch move operations)

As far as DB-Lib, Microsoft does require that you purchase that for
every user.  That has not changed from 16-bit to 32-bit either.

Sorry to clear up the confusion...

Mike

Hi Greg,

Unfortunately yes.

Uh-Huh.

ODBCExpress->SQL Server ODBC Driver.  In any event you have to have
DB-Lib around, but we cut out the BDE/SQL links route and offer
serious performance improvements. ODBCExpress is a native VCL
implementation (not a set of DLLs) which interfaces directly to
the ODBC API.

Never a truer word was said! <g>

Regards,

Rob
--
Rob McGillivray
Software Development Manager
DataSoft - "Voted Top Development House in South Africa - 1994"
ODBCExpress: the top ODBC data access tool for Delphi, http://www.odbcexpress.com

I thought that ODBC didn't require a special client driver???

Greg
--
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------------+
| Greg Postlewait Consulting      | Portland Oregon Delphi User's
Group   |
| http://www.teleport.com/~gpost/ |
http://www.teleport.com/~gpost/delphi |
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------------+

In article <32919C14.6...@teleport.com>, gp...@teleport.com says...

We are using MSSQL 6.0 and ODBC with the BDE...pretty much ok except for the
problem with reading text fields from the server into TDBMemo's.  As soon as we
get the first distribution of our app out the door at the first of the year, I
am going to try bypassing the BDE and using ODBC directly...

CatYak

Hi Greg,

Not so. ODBC is the industry-standard *generic* database interface.  The
architecture looks something like this:

      App          - Delphi, or tool of the month
       !
      ODBC         - Microsoft supplied
       !
   ODBC Driver     - usually database vendor supplied
       !
 Database Library  - from database vendor

Regards,

Rob
--
Rob McGillivray
Software Development Manager
DataSoft - "Voted Top Development House in South Africa - 1994"
ODBCExpress: the top ODBC data access tool for Delphi,
http://www.odbcexpress.com