Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Open DataBase Connectivity
     
         (ODBC) A {standard} for accessing
        different {database} systems.  There are interfaces for
        {Visual Basic}, {Visual C++}, {SQL} and the ODBC driver pack
        contains drivers for the {Access}, {Paradox}, {dBase}, Text,
        {Excel} and {Btrieve} databases.
     
        An application can submit statements to ODBC using the ODBC
        flavor of SQL.  ODBC then translates these to whatever flavor
        the database understands.
     
        ODBC 1.0 was released in September 1992.
     
        ODBC is based on {Call-Level Interface} and was defined by the
        {SQL Access Group}.  {Microsoft} was one member of the group
        and was the first company to release a commercial product
        based on its work (under {Microsoft Windows}) but ODBC is not
        a Microsoft standard (as many people believe).
     
        ODBC drivers and development tools are available now for
        {Microsoft Windows}, {Unix}, {OS/2}, and {Macintosh}.
     
        [On-line document?]
     
        ["Unix Review", Aug 1995].
     
        (1996-05-27)