OpenOffice.org BASIC Guide - OpenOffice.org wiki

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10 Databases
OpenOffice.org has an integrated database interface (independent of any systems) called Star Database
Connectivity (SDBC). The objective of developing this interface was to provide access to as many different data
sources as possible.
To make this possible, data sources are accessed by drivers. The sources from which the drivers take their data is
irrelevant to a SDBC user. Some drivers access file-based databases and take the data directly from them. Others
use standard interfaces such as JDBC or ODBC. There are, however, also special drivers which access the MAPI
address book, LDAP directories or OpenOffice.org spreadsheets as data sources.
Since the drivers are based on UNO components, other drivers can be developed and therefore open up new data
sources. You will find details about this in the OpenOffice.org Developer's Guide.
Note – VBA : In terms of its concept, SDBC is comparable with the ADO and DAO libraries available in
VBA. It permits high level access to databases, regardless of the underlying database backends.
SQL: a Query Language
The SQL language is provided as a query language for users of SDBC. To compare the differences between
different SQL dialects, the SDBC components from OpenOffice.org have their own SQL parser. This uses the
query window to check the SQL commands typed and corrects simple syntax errors, such as those associated with
uppercase and lowercase characters.
If a driver permits access to a data source that does not support SQL, then it must independently convert the
transferred SQL commands to the native access needed.
Types of Database Access
The database interface from OpenOffice.org is available in the OpenOffice.org Writer and OpenOffice.org Calc
applications, as well as in the database forms.
In OpenOffice.org Writer, standard letters can be created with the assistance of SDBC data sources and these can
then be printed out. You can also move data from the database window into text documents using the drag-anddrop
function.
If you move a database table into a spreadsheet, OpenOffice.org creates a table area which can be updated at the
click of the mouse if the original data has been modified. Conversely, spreadsheet data can be moved to a
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