Note: This information is intended for UltraDev 1 users.

The ODBC, OLE-DB, and JDBC interfaces are implemented by database drivers (or "data providers" in OLE-DB). When your Web application communicates with your database, it does so through the intermediary of a driver.

A database driver is a piece of software. Some drivers have two parts: a server component and a client component. The two components form a sort of bridge between the server hosting the database and the client running the application. One such driver is the RmiJDBC driver that ships with UltraDev. For more information on this driver, see Connecting to a server database from a Macintosh.

Drivers are written by database vendors such as Microsoft and Oracle, and by a variety of third-party software vendors. Most database drivers implement the ODBC and JDBC interfaces. New drivers (or "providers") are slowly appearing implementing the OLE-DB interface.

In Windows 95 or 98, a selection of Microsoft ODBC drivers is installed in the background when you install Microsoft Office 2000 or when you install Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.1 or 2.5. The drivers installed support the following databases: Access databases, SQL Server databases, and dBASE databases.

Note: You can download MDAC 2.1 or 2.5 from Microsoft's Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/data/download.htm. MDAC 2.1 is installed on your system when you install Office 2000.

To find out which drivers are installed on your Windows system, do the following:

	In Windows 95, 98, or NT, choose Start > Settings > Control Panel, and double-click the ODBC Data Sources icon. (Depending on your system, the icon could also be called ODBC or 32bit ODBC.) Next, click the Drivers tab.
	In Windows 2000, choose Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Data Sources, then click the Drivers tab.

A list of ODBC drivers installed on the Windows system appears.

Because the Macintosh is rarely used as a database platform, few ODBC drivers exist for it. Macintosh users typically develop their Web applications locally in UltraDev using a JDBC driver to communicate with a database on another platform. When the time comes to deploy their applications, Macintosh users upload their completed application files to a server.

Some common JDBC drivers include the Oracle Thin driver, Sun's JDBC-ODBC Bridge drive (which is not appropriate for Macintosh design-time connections), and the JDBC Driver for DB2. For more information on JDBC drivers and their vendors, see the searchable database of JDBC drivers on Sun's Web site at http://industry.java.sun.com/products/jdbc/drivers.

Note: The RmiJdbc driver included on UltraDev's CD is appropriate only for design-time connections, not run-time ones. For more information on these two kinds of connections, see Understanding UltraDev run-time and design-time connections.

JDBC drivers are platform-independent and so are well suited for the Macintosh. Like Java applets, JDBC drivers are run by a Java virtual machine rather than directly by the computer's operating system. As long as the computer has the appropriate Java virtual machine, UltraDev and your JSP applications can communicate with databases using JDBC drivers.

On the Macintosh, the Java virtual machine required to run JDBC drivers is the Mac OS Runtime for Java (MRJ) version 2.2. The MRJ installer file is located on the UltraDev CD or you can download it form Apple's Web site at http://www.apple.com/java.

In Windows, the Java virtual machine required to run JDBC drivers is installed with UltraDev.