* ODBC Data Provider
<ul>
	<li>Exists in namespace System.Data.Odbc and assembly System.Data
	
	<li>Works on Windows and Linux. Should have no problems working on UNIX too.
	
	<li>Works on Windows via the native Windows odbc32.dll
	
	<li>Works on Linux via:
	
	<ul>
		<li><a href="http://www.unixodbc.org/">unixODBC</a> which has 
			commercial support 
			from <a href="http://www.easysoft.com/">Easysoft</a></li>
			
		<li><a href="http://www.iodbc.org/">iODBC</a> which has 
		    a commercial support 
		    from <a href="http://oplweb.openlinksw.com:8080/download/">OpenLink Software</a></li>
	</ul>
	
	<li>List of unixODBC <a href="http://www.unixodbc.org/drivers.html">drivers</a>
	
	<li>List of <a href="http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Ken_North/odbcvend.htm">ODBC Vendors</a>
	
	<li>ODBC can connect to various databases which has an ODBC driver installed:
	<ul> 
		  <li><a href="http://www.mysql.com/">MySQL</a> 
		  <li><a href="http://www.postgresql.org/">PostgreSQL</a>
		  <li><a href="http://www.oracle.com/">Oracle</a>
		  <li><a href="http://www.borland.com/products/downloads/download_interbase.html">Interbase</a>
		  <li><a href="http://www.sybase.com/downloads">Sybase</a> and
		  <li><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/sql/default.asp">Microsoft SQL Server</a> (
		  via <a href="http://www.freetds.org/">FreeTDS</a> on UNIX)
		  <li><a href="http://www-3.ibm.com/software/data/db2/">IBM DB2 Universal Database</a>
		  <li><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/office/access/default.asp">MS Access</a> 
		  (via <a href="http://mdbtools.sourceforge.net/">MDB Tools</a> on UNIX)
	</ul>
		
	<li>ODBC Provider created by Brian Ritchie.</li>
	
	<li>Does not support trusted connections</li>
</ul>
	
** Current Status

<ul>
	<li>Can Connect on:
	<ul>
		<li>Windows via native Windows odbc32.dll</a></li>
		<li>Linux via:
		<ul>
			<li>unixODBC's libodbc.so</li>
			<li>iODBC's libiodbc.so</li>
		</ul>
		</li>
	</ul>
	</li>
	
	<li>Various databases have been tested using their
	   ODBC drivers: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, IBM DB2, and Microsoft SQL Server</li>
	   
	<li>Can execute non-query commands via ExecuteNonQuery of a OdbcCommand</li>
	
	<li>Can execute aggreates and retrieve a single row single column result via
	ExecuteScalar of a OdbcCommand</li>
	
	<li>Can execute queries via ExecuteReader of a OdbcCommand and 
	retrieve results using an OdbcDataReader</li>
	
	<li>Can get a DataTable containing schema info via GetSchemaTable() in a OdbcDataReader</li>
	
	<li>Can Fill a DataTable in a DataSet via an OdbcDataAdapter</li>
</ul>
	
** Action Plan

<ul>
	
	<li>Fixing bugs
	
	<li>Testing with other setups
</ul>

** Testing ODBC provider

<p>Test Mono's ODBC provider System.Data.Odbc with the MySQL ODBC driver MyODBC

<p><ul>
	<li>Take a look at OdbcTest.cs in mcs/class/System.Data/Test</li>

	<li>Here is a ConnectionString format if you have a DSN setup: 
<pre>
"DSN=dataSetName;UID=username;PWD=password"
</pre>
	</li>
	<li>Here is a ConnectionString format if you do not have DSN (have not
	gotten this to work):
<pre>
"DRIVER={SQL Server};SERVER=(local);UID=sa;PWD=;DATABASE=pubs"
</pre>
	</li>
	<li>C# Example:
<pre>
 using System;
 using System.Data;
 using System.Data.Odbc;
 
 public class Test 
 {
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
		// have an ODBC DSN setup named MYSQLDSN
		// that accesses a MySQL database via
		// MyODBC driver for ODBC with a
		// hostname of localhost and database test
       string connectionString = 
          "DSN=MYSQLDSN;" +
          "UID=mysql;" +
          "PWD=;";
       IDbConnection dbcon;
       dbcon = new OdbcConnection(connectionString);
       IDbCommand dbcmd = dbcon.CreateCommand();
       // requires a table to be created named employee
       // with columns firstname and lastname
       // such as,
       //        CREATE TABLE employee (
       //           firstname varchar(32),
       //           lastname varchar(32));
       string sql = 
           "SELECT firstname, lastname " +
           "FROM employee";
       dbcmd.ConnectionString = sql;
       IDataReader reader = dbcmd.ExecuteReader();
       while(reader.Read()) {
            string FirstName = reader["firstname"];
            string LastName = reader["lastname"];
            Console.WriteLine("Name: " + 
                FirstName + " " + LastName);
       }
       // clean up
       reader.Close();
       reader = null;
       dbcmd.Dispose();
       dbcmd = null;
       dbcon.Close();
       dbcon = null;
    }
 }
</pre>
	</li>
	<li>Building C# Example:
	<ul>
		<li>Save the example to a file, such as, TestExample.cs</li>
		<li>Build on Linux:
<pre>
	mcs TestExample.cs -r System.Data.dll
</pre>
		</li>
		<li>Build on Windows via Cygwin:
<pre>
	mono C:/cygwin/home/MyHome/mono/install/bin/mcs.exe \
	     TestExample.cs \
	     -lib:C:/cygwin/home/MyHome/mono/install/lib \
	     -r System.Data.dll
</pre>
		</li>
	</ul>
	</li>
	<li>Running the Example:
<pre>
mono TestExample.exe
</pre>
	</li>
	
</ul>