Preface

Based on an open standard, Oracle Provider for OLE DB (OraOLEDB) allows access to Oracle Databases. This documentation describes OraOLEDB's provider-specific features and properties.

This document describes the features of Oracle Database for Windows that apply to the Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems.

This Preface contains these topics:

Audience
Documentation Accessibility
Related Documents
Conventions

Audience

Oracle Provider for OLE DB Developer's Guide is intended for programmers developing applications to access an Oracle Database using Oracle Provider for OLE DB. This documentation is also valuable to systems analysts, project managers, and others interested in the development of database applications.

To use this document, you must be familiar with OLE DB and have a working knowledge of application programming using Microsoft C/C++, Visual Basic, or ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). Knowledge of Component Object Model (COM) concepts are also useful.

Readers should also be familiar with the use of Structured Query Language (SQL) to access information in relational database systems.

Documentation Accessibility

Our goal is to make Oracle products, services, and supporting documentation accessible to all users, including users that are disabled. To that end, our documentation includes features that make information available to users of assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Accessibility standards will continue to evolve over time, and Oracle is actively engaged with other market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For more information, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program Web site at http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/.

Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation

Screen readers may not always correctly read the code examples in this document. The conventions for writing code require that closing braces should appear on an otherwise empty line; however, some screen readers may not always read a line of text that consists solely of a bracket or brace.

Accessibility of Links to External Web Sites in Documentation

This documentation may contain links to Web sites of other companies or organizations that Oracle does not own or control. Oracle neither evaluates nor makes any representations regarding the accessibility of these Web sites.

Access to Oracle Support

Oracle customers have access to electronic support through My Oracle Support. For information, visit http://www.oracle.com/support/contact.html or visit http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/support.html if you are hearing impaired.

Related Documents

For more information, see these Oracle resources:

For information about Oracle error messages, see Oracle Database Error Messages. Oracle error message documentation is available only in HTML. If you only have access to the Oracle Documentation CD, you can browse the error messages by range. Once you find the specific range, use your browser's "find in page" feature to locate the specific message. When connected to the Internet, you can search for a specific error message using the error message search feature of the Oracle online documentation.

Many of the examples in this book use the sample schemas of the seed database, which is installed by default when you install Oracle. Refer to Oracle Database Sample Schemas for information on how these schemas were created and how you can use them yourself.

To download free release notes, installation documentation, white papers, or other collateral, please visit the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). You must register online before using OTN; registration is free and can be done at

http://otn.oracle.com/membership/

If you already have a username and password for OTN, then you can go directly to the documentation section of the OTN Web site at

http://otn.oracle.com/documentation/

For additional information, see:

http://www.microsoft.com

Conventions

The following text conventions are used in this document:

Convention	Meaning
boldface	Boldface type indicates graphical user interface elements associated with an action, or terms defined in text or the glossary.
italic	Italic type indicates book titles, emphasis, or placeholder variables for which you supply particular values.
`monospace`	Monospace type indicates commands within a paragraph, URLs, code in examples, text that appears on the screen, or text that you enter.