This file discusses unixODBC driver manager available as part of
the unixODBC project.

The Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge (OOB) does not require a driver manager
at the client end although there are many advantages to using one:

o ability to pick a DSN and have the correct ODBC driver
  dynamically loaded for you.
o ability to work with multiple ODBC drivers.
o support for DSN-less connections.
o support and conversions between ODBC 2 applications and ODBC 3 drivers
  and vice versa.
o one central place for all your ODBC driver and data source
  configuration.
o automatic installation of OOB Client ODBC Driver and data source

The unixODBC driver manager is Open Source (LGPL) and was developed by
Nick Gorham (an Easysoft developer). It is available as part of the
unixODBC project being jointly developed by a number of people and
headed by Nick Gorham. For more information on unixODBC see
http://www.unixodbc.org.

If you have multiple ODBC drivers you probably need a Driver Manager.
There are currently two driver managers available as Open Source for
UNIX, unixODBC (http://www.unixodbc.org) and iODBC. If you want/need
to use a driver manager then Easysoft recommend the unixODBC driver
manager. There are a number of reasons for this:

[1] The unixODBC project started by Peter Harvey is now maintained by
    Nick Gorham who is an Easysoft developer. This means there is much
    greater experience with unixODBC within Easysoft and we will be
    able to provide better support for OOB running under unixODBC. It
    also means that if you find a problem in unixODBC it is much
    easier for us to facilitate a fix.

[2] Easysoft test all their ODBC drivers with unixODBC and although
    they may work with iODBC it is more difficult for us to support
    it as we are less familiar with it.

[3] The unixODBC package contains much more than a driver manager.
    The aim of the unixODBC project is to provide all the ODBC
    functionality available on Windows for UNIX operating systems. The
    unixODBC package may be built with the QT libraries to allow GUI
    configuration of DSNs and drivers. It also contains the GUI
    DataManager program which may be used to explore your ODBC data.
    OOB contains the code and a shared object which is used by
    unixODBC's GUI ODBCConfig utility to add/delete and configure OOB
    DSNs.

[4] The OOB installation for UNIX can automatically install itself
    using the unixODBC installer program to run under unixODBC.

[5] The OOB installation can automatically configure a demo data source
    in unixODBC for OOB.

[6] Many (if not most) applications and interfaces know about unixODBC.
