Oracle Provider for OLE DB in Oracle9i[中英方对照]-未完

官方网站上的一篇E文，有空看看。准备花点时间，把它译一下。

Features Overview
特性一览

October 2001
2001年10月

Product Summary
产品综述

The Oracle Provider for OLE DB gives Windows developers high performance and efficient access to Oracle databases. Developers can use the Oracle OLE DB provider from any COM client, such as Visual Basic, Internet Information Server (IIS), and COM+/Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), via Microsoft's ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). Programmers can use the Oracle provider directly through C/C++.
Oracle的OLE DB提供程序（方便起见，下文中简称：OPOD，译者自己起不，不是标准规范的叫法）让Windows开发者可以高性能、高效率地访问Oracle数据库。使用任何支持COM的客户端开发者都可以使用OPOD，例如：VB、IIS、COM+/MTS、或者ADO，当然，也可以使用C/C++直接访问ORACLE提供程序。

Because the Oracle OLE DB provider uses the latest Oracle9i technology, Oracle OLE DB offers data access optimizations and access to Oracle-specific database features, such as support for LOBs, PL/SQL stored procedures, and REF CURSORs. All these Oracle features and data access optimizations are generally not available in other third-party Oracle OLE DB providers. By adhering closely to the latest Microsoft OLE DB specification, the Oracle provider allows ADO developers to take full advantage of OLE DB without having to sacrifice use of Oracle database server functionality.
因为OPOD使用了最新的Oracle9技术，优化了数据访问，还可以使用一些ORACLE特有的特性，如：支持LOB字段、PL/SQL存储过程以及引用光标；这些特性在其它的第三方的OPOD是没有的。紧跟微软的OLE DB的最新接口规范，使得开发者使用OLE DB的所有优点，而没有Oracle功能上的任何损失。

Oracle9i, Oracle8i, and Oracle8 database servers can all be used in conjunction with the Oracle9i OLE DB client software. The latest features in the Oracle9i OLE DB provider are highlighted in this paper.
Oracle9i, Oracle8i, and Oracle8版本的数据库都可以使用Oracle9i版本的OPOD，其最新的特性在本文重点介绍。

Components
组件

The Oracle Provider for OLE DB is designed to improve data access performance and reliability for ADO developers. It uses direct Oracle Call Interface (OCI) connections, rather than utilizing ODBC as a bridge to OCI. The figure below demonstrates typical data access using ADO/OLE DB and the ADO/OLE DB-ODBC Bridge.
OPOD设计用来为ADO开发者提高数据访问性能及可靠性。OPOD直接使用的OCI接口连接，没有使用ODBC桥接到OCI，下图为直连及桥接两种连接方式的示意图。

By using the provider, application developers keep the number of intermediaries data must travel through to a minimum. This allows data to go through the most direct path possible with OLE DB. At the same time, the Oracle OLE DB provider has been optimized because it uses Oracle9i OCI calls to maximize performance and expose the latest database features. In general, other third-party OLE DB providers written for Oracle may use older OCI calls, which can limit data access performance and feature set.
Oracle's OLE DB provider has been built to handle the high-volume, high-load of Internet application environments. The Oracle Provider for OLE DB leverages Oracle's proven Internet infrastructure to ensure a highly reliable, fast-performing and secure data access.

Features

The Oracle Provider for OLE DB supports the following features:

Scrollable and updateable rowsets
ANSI SQL supported by Oracle and the ODBC SQL syntax
OS authentication, which allows Oracle to authorize users via the operating system's security mechanisms
Several schema rowsets
Updateable rowsets created using joins (available with the client cursor engine)
Transactions support
Local transactions supporting the ITransactionLocal interface
Distributed transactions through COM+/Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS)
Database links support
Unicode support
ADOX support
The Oracle Provider for OLE DB also supports the following Oracle-specific features:
PL/SQL stored procedures/functions
Stored procedures/functions returning a rowset or multiple rowsets
LOB parameters with PL/SQL stored procedures/functions
LOBs (LONG, LONG RAW, BLOB, CLOB, NCLOB, and BFILE)
Binding NCHAR parameters with SQL statements
Oracle Password Expiration feature
New Features in Oracle9i

Full Unicode Support

As more applications become Internet-accessible, the need to support customers around the world becomes necessary. Applications must support these customers in their native languages without making the software development process cumbersome.
In Oracle9i, the Oracle OLE DB provider adds full UCS2 Unicode support to help Windows developers support their users globally. Developers can use Unicode in their ADO/OLE DB applications transparently, requiring no application code changes.

Enhanced Oracle Services for MTS

Many ADO/OLE DB users employ COM+/MTS for their transaction and object management. In previous releases, Oracle has integrated with COM+/MTS via the Oracle Services for MTS so that Windows users could use Microsoft's native transaction engine. With the Oracle9i release, the Oracle Services for MTS has been redesigned to remove the single point of failure and performance bottleneck present in the previous versions. The new Oracle OLE DB provider can use the redesigned Oracle Services for MTS without requiring Windows porgrammers to make modifications to their existing application code. Thus, ADO/OLE DB programs can now better handle high volume Internet application environments scalably and reliably.
For more information on the new Oracle Services for MTS architecture including upgrade information, visit the Oracle Services for MTS page.

Conclusion

The Oracle Provider for OLE DB provides high performance and reliable access to Oracle databases for ADO- or OLE DB-enabled applications. Current ADO and OLE DB programmers will able to easily migrate to the Oracle provider since it complies with the latest OLE DB and ADO specifications and allows access to Oracle-specific features. By using the Oracle9i Provider for OLE DB, Oracle users will find their applications more scalable and robust.

下载地址：http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/tech/windows/ole_db/htdocs/utilsoft.htm

以ODAC 9.2为例，安装说明及帮助为：

Oracle Data Access Software for Windows
Release 9.2.0.7.0
September 2005

Oracle's data access components offer high performance and efficient access to Oracle data from Microsoft Windows.

Download Includes:

a) Oracle Universal Installer (9.2.0.4.0)
b) Oracle Data Provider for .NET (9.2.0.7.00)
c) Oracle Client (9.2.0.1.0)
d) Oracle ODBC Driver (9.2.0.7.0)
e) Oracle Provider for OLE DB (9.2.0.7.0)
f) Oracle Objects for OLE (9.2.0.7.0)
g) Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server (9.2.0.7.0)

System Requirements
============================
The following items are required on a system to use this software:

- Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional, Windows Server 2003
- Access to an Oracle Database Server (Oracle8 or later)
- Oracle Client (9.2.0.1.0) or higher; Oracle Client (9.2.0.4.0) or higher is recommended
- Redistributable files provided with MDAC 2.1 or higher (www.microsoft.com/data/) if using the Oracle Provider for OLE DB
- Microsoft .NET Framework (msdn.microsoft.com/netframework) if using the Oracle Data Provider for .NET
- Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server (9.2.0.7.0 or higher). Required only for applications using Enterprise Services transactions or distributed transactions.

Instructions for Installing Oracle Data Access Software for Windows
======================================================
1. Although not required, it is recommended both Oracle9i Release 2 Client and Database (9.2.0.4.0 or higher) be installed. ODP.NET's XML DB functionality may not perform optimally without upgrading both the client and server to version 9.2.0.4 or higher. This patch is available from Oracle Metalink.

2. Download ODAC92070.exe onto a temporary folder.

3. Execute ODAC92070.exe to unzip its contents.

4. Run the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) in .\Disk1\setup.exe to install the software.

5. After installation of the OUI update is completed, install any required Oracle data access components, such as Oracle Data Provider for .NET and Oracle Objects for OLE. The installer requires each data access component to be installed one at a time.

6. After the installation, delete ODAC92070.exe and the temporary installation folders and files.

Please note: Do not download this file into the "Tmp" directory.

Common Install and Setup Issues
=================================
1. Consult the release notes first for any known issues or limitations.

2. Check to see if the Oracle data access components was properly downloaded by comparing the download size to the one listed on the download page.

3. If you have more than one Oracle Home installed on the same machine (e.g. Oracle8i client and Oracle9i Release 2 client), use the Oracle Home Selector to run your applications with Oracle9i Release 2 client.

Support and Bug Reports
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For any bugs and issues, please participate in our discussion group.