Re: ODBC: Is there something called text/csv database?

"Public Interest" <test_at_test.com> wrote:

: As I open "driver" for ODBC, there is something called "Microsoft Text
: Driver (*.txt; *.csv)"
:
: Ok, I understand that a .csv is, but I don't understand how ODBC will run
: SQL on a .csv.

You shouldn't care. It's the ODBC server's problem.

: Perl has something called DBI which means it is database independent. Can I
: assume that ODBC/DBI is an interface to MySQL, Access, and CSV?

Close. Mentioning "ODBC/DBI" in one breath like that suggests that the two are related. They are not. Perl's DBI class and the ODBC server are two separate layers between your Perl program and the physical data, and are in no way interchangeable.

You will need to obtain the DBD::ODBC module from CPAN before the DBI class can do anything with the ODBC server.

: Then will DBI act the same regardless what it connects to (Text, CSV,
: MySQL). If so then there is no difference between any database systems.

As much as Perl is concerned, there are no differences. The point of DBI is to remove the burden of worrying about how all the underlying layers of machinery accomplish the task. You tell the appropriate DBI object what to do, it tells ODBC, and the rest is left for the server to worry about.

: If not so, if I
: use the driver for text database, what limitations will I have?

It will be very much slower than the other choices.

: Such as can I specify "integer, string, binary" etc for each field.

The format of the text file is determined by using a schema.ini file. Details of its creation and contents are squirrelled away in one of the ODBC help files.

: Can I get a reference for all commands I can use for each database driver
: under ODBC/PerlDBI?

ODBC help files are included with the ODBC installation. Documentation for Perl's DBI class is included in the DBI.pm module: type "perldoc DBI" at a command prompt. Received on Sat Dec 20 2003 - 03:26:15 CET