ASA Programming Guide
  Introduction to the Adaptive Server Anywhere .NET Data Provider

Adaptive Server Anywhere .NET data provider features

If you are using Visual Studio .NET on Windows NT/2000/XP, the following data providers are supported for accessing Adaptive Server Anywhere:

• iAnywhere.Data.AsaClient    uses the Adaptive Server Anywhere .NET data provider described in this book.

• System.Data.Oledb    is a general-purpose data provider for OLE DB data sources. It is part of the Microsoft .NET Framework. You can use System.Data.Oledb together with the Adaptive Server Anywhere OLE DB driver to access Adaptive Server Anywhere databases.

• System.Data.Odbc    is a general-purpose data provider for ODBC data sources. It is part of the Microsoft .NET Framework. You can use System.Data.Odbc together with the Adaptive Server Anywhere ODBC driver to access Adaptive Server Anywhere databases.

On Windows CE, only the Adaptive Server Anywhere .NET data provider is supported.

There are some key benefits to using the Adaptive Server Anywhere .NET data provider:

• The Adaptive Server Anywhere .NET data provider is faster than the OLE DB provider.

• In the .NET environment, the Adaptive Server Anywhere .NET data provider provides native access to Adaptive Server Anywhere. Unlike the other supported providers, it communicates directly with Adaptive Server Anywhere and does not require bridge technology.