ADO: ActiveX Data Objects

Summary

This chapter introduced ActiveX Data Objects, along with the closely related evolution of Microsoft data-access technologies. You also learned when to use ADO, the newest of these technologies. Following is a list of some key items, pointed out in this chapter:

• ADO offers access to virtually any data source on any platform by being a data consumer of OLE DB. OLE DB is an industry standard promoted by Microsoft for exposing data, regardless of its source or format, in a uniform way. With the power of OLE DB, used via ADO, you gain access to any data source that provides an OLE DB interface.

• ADO offers ease of use when writing data access applications. Since ADO was created with a similar design to DAO (Data Access Objects), developers are familiar with the object architecture. And since the development interface is consistent, you can develop for any OLE DB data source with ADO using the same syntax.

• ADO offers language-independence and thus offers developers a choice of languages. With any language, including Visual Basic, VBScript, VBA, Visual C++, Java, and JavaScript, the development interface remains the same, which allows developers to focus on the ADO technology, not the implementation.

Throughout the rest of this book, you will learn how to use ADO with any development language. You will learn every object, collection, property, and method of ADO and how you can use each of them to access the power of OLE DB in your applications.