DataDirect Connect for ODBC – Release Highlights – Release 5.3, Service Pack 1

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DataDirect Connect for ODBC is the industry's leading suite of 32-bit ODBC drivers because each new release introduces support for "bleeding edge" features as well as the latest database functionality and platforms and processor architectures. In Release 5.3, DataDirect Connect for ODBC offers support for the following features, processor architectures, and new database functionality:

  • DataDirect Connect for ODBC, Release 5.3 and Connect64 for ODBC, Release 5.3 are being simultaneously released
  • New Operating System (OS) authentication support via Kerberos for the Oracle Wire Protocol driver
  • SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption support for the Oracle, DB2, and Sybase Wire Protocol drivers
  • Support for IPv6 – The U.S. government has mandated that federal agencies use IPv6 by June 2008. In Release 5.3, IPv6 is supported by the DB2, SQL Server, Informix, and Sybase Wire Protocol drivers.
  • New ODBC Administrator for the Linux platform, which allows you to create, modify, and remove standard and file data sources. Customers familiar with the Windows ODBC Administrator will find this tool easy and convenient to use.

Additional features available in Service Pack 1:

  • New MySQL Wire Protocol driver (see below for more detail)
  • SQL Server Wire Protocol performance enhancements
  • ODBC Driver Manager performance enhancements
  • New Database Support (e.g. Oracle 11g, DB2 V9.1 on z/OS, Informix 11)
  • New Platform Support (e.g. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, HP-UX 11iv3 on PA-RISC and Itanium)

A detailed list of what's new is included below, along with a summary of what's included for each database.

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What's New in Release 5.3

Operating System Authentication (aka Single Sign-On/Kerberos)

With this release, organizations using Oracle can now benefit from the authentication capability that is already supported in our Sybase, DB2, and SQL Server (Windows only) drivers.

Kerberos-based authentication allows organizations to create a Single Sign-On environment that bolsters security, eliminates the need for users to log in separately for each application, and reduces the costs associated with managing user accounts. DataDirect's OS authentication features allow the ODBC driver to integrate seamlessly into that environment. This includes comprehensive KDC support for both Active Directory and MIT.

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Encryption Support

SSL is an industry-standard protocol for sending encrypted data over database connections. SSL secures the integrity of your data by encrypting information and providing client/server authentication. With Release 5.3, DataDirect Connect for ODBC drivers support SSL to protect critical data that is transmitted between the database and the application, data that could otherwise be compromised. Support for data encryption and encryption algorithm is dependent on the database (refer to the database-specific section for more information).

Use the links below to see a detailed list of what's new for each Release 5.3 driver along with a summary of previous releases.

MySQL Wire Protocol Driver (included in Service Pack 1)

DataDirect Technologies extends its unparalleled breadth of database coverage to include MySQL:

  • Available on Linux, Unix, and Windows platforms (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • Supports MySQL Enterprise database version 5.0
  • Supports InnoDB, MyISAM, and Memory (HEAP) storage engines
  • Unmatched reliability
  • Performance Tuning Wizard to ensure maximum performance
  • Outstanding technical support available from DataDirect
  • Wire protocol ODBC driver with the standard functionality and high quality available in all DataDirect ODBC drivers
  • Complete compatibility with DataDirect ODBC Driver Manager
  • Database independent Connection Failover and Load Balancing support
  • Interoperability features to allow for ease of development / support for multi-database applications and environments (e.g. SQL Leveling)
  • Compliant with ODBC 3.52 specification, Level 1 (complete Core API and Level 2 features)
  • Problem-free support for the following:

Oracle Wire Protocol Driver

  • Support for Oracle 11g (included in Service Pack 1)
  • New Platform Support (e.g. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, HP-UX 11iv3 on PA-RISC and Itanium) (included in Service Pack 1)
  • OS Authentication via Kerberos on all platforms
  • Data encryption support
    • SSL on all platforms
    • DataDirect supports the ability to use the tnsnames.ora file to map connection information for each Oracle service to a logical alias. This capability has been enhanced to support encrypted data connections.

DB2 Wire Protocol Driver

  • OS Authentication via Kerberos on all platforms
  • Data encryption support
    • SSL on all platforms when connecting to DB2 on iSeries
    • Database-specific encryption for DB2 on Linux, UNIX, Windows, and z/OS
  • XML Data Type Support (for DB2 v9.1) – IBM, along with the other database vendors, has started to add support for a native XML data type that will allow you to store native XML data. A database table can now be created that contains one or more XML data type columns. Unfortunately, the data type implementation approaches used by the database vendors vary, making it difficult to develop interoperable database access code. In this release, DataDirect added support for XML data types in the DB2 Wire Protocol driver. The driver will map the DB2 XML data type to SQL_WLONGVARCHAR and support standard conversions. This approach is consistent with the mechanisms other DataDirect products use to interact and manage XML data across databases and APIs.
  • IPv6-formatted IP addresses can be used with the driver
  • New Platform Support (e.g. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, HP-UX 11iv3 on PA-RISC) (included in Service Pack 1)
  • Support for DB2 V9.1 on z/OS (included in Service Pack 1)
  • New database version feature support
    • DB2 on iSeries V5R4
      • 2 MB SQL statements – the driver will allow applications to use SQL statements up to 2 MB in length
      • 128 bit column names – the driver will handle column names up to 128 bits in length
      • Raise Error – the driver will correctly handle SQL statements or stored procedure calls that use the RAISE_ERROR syntax
      • New timestamp format – the driver will correctly handle the old timestamp format as well as the new timestamp format introduced with V5R4
    • DB2 v9.1 on Linux, UNIX, and Windows
      • XML data type – the driver will map the DB2 XML data type to SQL_WLONGVARCHAR and support standard conversions
      • Native XQuery statements – the driver will support the direct execution of XQuery expressions

SQL Server Wire Protocol Driver

  • New Platform Support (e.g. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, HP-UX 11iv3 on PA-RISC and Itanium) (included in Service Pack 1)
  • Performance enhancements (included in Service Pack 1)
  • Supports IPv6-formatted IP addresses when the driver is on UNIX and Linux platforms.

Sybase Wire Protocol Driver

  • New Platform Support (e.g. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, HP-UX 11iv3 on PA-RISC and Itanium) (included in Service Pack 1)
  • OS Authentication via Kerberos for all platforms
  • Data encryption support – SSL on all platforms
  • IPv6-formatted IP addresses can be used with the driver

Informix Wire Protocol Driver

  • Support for Informix 11 (included in Service Pack 1)
  • New Platform Support (e.g. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, HP-UX 11iv3 on PA-RISC and Itanium) (included in Service Pack 1)
  • Support for delimited identifiers – allows the use of mixed case characters in identifiers such as table and column names
  • IPv6-formatted IP addresses can be used with the driver

Teradata Driver

  • New Platform Support (e.g. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, HP-UX 11iv3 on PA-RISC) (included in Service Pack 1)
  • New database version support – Teradata V2R6.2

Text Files Driver

  • New Platform Support (e.g. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, HP-UX 11iv3 on PA-RISC) (included in Service Pack 1)
  • The driver is now capable of handling text files up to 15 GB in size

Click here for information on releases prior to 5.3.

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