Re: Need Info: Oracle and VB

John Cronan <jcronan_at_comcat.com> wrote in article <342E9760.7B55_at_comcat.com>...
> I need some help finding resources on accessing Oracle data from Visual
> Basic (v5.0). Can anyone point me in the right direction?
>
> John
> --
> Ethics(n): A set of ideas ostensibly governing human
> behavior which is inversely proportional to the
> quantity of money at stake.
>

I use Oracle for OLE, and it works either one of two ways. One way is by hand, you dim the
database, recordset, etc. Open it up and push, pull data as needed. Quite simple, and though the
examples and documentation are rather skimpy; it is VERY easy to get rolling. Just have a quick
peek at the example code and off you go. I literally pulled my first hunk of data from an Oracle
table via code in a matter of minutes (like 5 or so). It works a lot like using a
code based ODBC connection, or a JET like code based call from Access, and if you've
done this before with ODBC or JET (Access) in a VB or VB for Office app, then you already
know the concept, just change the function names, and fix the parameter list a bit.
You can download a trial version of the OLDER version from Oracle's Web site to give the
"code" method a try. The older trial version does not support local data controls on a VB form
in 32 bit mode, only code access. But, you can give a whirl to see if it meets your needs.

The newest version of Oracle Objects for OLE(ONLY comes in Oracle Programmer 2000 - $995).
It also has the ability to put a data control right on the VB5 form. You can then attach your
VB objects to the data controls as if they were MSRDC objects, or other of the like. I have found
that some 3rd party data controls like the Oracle Data Control, and some don't. The TrueDBGrid
folk's newest grid control (a very nice one at that), works very well with OOO (Oracle Objects for OLE).
I did get a 3rd party list box control that didn't get along with the Oracle Data Control on the form,
but I can't remeber the name of the List Box Control (I stuck it back in the company software lib).

The BIG difference that I noticed with the Oracle interface was the speed. You don't have the big
delay in getting your connection setup that an ODBC connection always seems to take. It also
has a MUCH faster data pull than ODBC. I really like it better than any other way that I have
used to get Oracle data into a VB application.

On another note, I have used the Oracle answer to Microsoft Basic (is it Developer 2000?),
and I really hate the development environment. The produced form DID have repeater's though.
That was a BIG plus; this allowed one to make nice repeating forms / subforms like in Access.

But, the development environment was so "ONE-OH-ISH" that I hated to use it.
Once you've used the Microsoft Development Environments it makes using the Oracle
product seem like 1993 all over again.

John V. Joubert

jjoubert_at_worldnet.att.com
jjoubert_at_jchance.com Received on Sat Oct 11 1997 - 00:00:00 CDT