The MySQL Connector/ODBC is the name for the family of MySQL ODBC drivers (previously called MyODBC drivers) that provide access to a MySQL database using the industry standard Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) API. This reference covers Connector/ODBC 3.51 and Connector/ODBC 5.1. Both releases provide an ODBC compliant interface to MySQL Server.

MySQL Connector/ODBC provides both driver-manager based and native interfaces to the MySQL database, which full support for MySQL functionality, including stored procedures, transactions and, with Connector/ODBC 5.1, full Unicode compliance.

For more information on the ODBC API standard and how to use it, refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/110093.

The application development part of this reference assumes a good working knowledge of C, general DBMS knowledge, and finally, but not least, familiarity with MySQL. For more information about MySQL functionality and its syntax, refer to http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.

Typically, you need to install Connector/ODBC only on Windows machines. For Unix and Mac OS X you can use the native MySQL network or named pipe to communicate with your MySQL database. You may need Connector/ODBC for Unix or Mac OS X if you have an application that requires an ODBC interface to communicate with the database. Applications that require ODBC to communicate with MySQL include ColdFusion, Microsoft Office, and Filemaker Pro.

Key topics: