Introduction to Borland Database Engine > Introduction to Borland Database Engine

This is the complete user guide and reference for Borland® Database Engine.

Borland Database Engine (BDE) is the proven 32-bit Windows-based core database engine and connectivity software behind Delphi®, C++Builder®, IntraBuilder®, Paradox® for Windows, and Visual dBASE® for Windows. BDE offers a rich and robust set of features to assist developers of client-server applications.

Architecture: The BDE database-driver architecture includes numerous shared services. utilized by database drivers and other functions. The included set of database drivers enables consistent access to standard data sources: Paradox, dBASE, FoxPro, Access, and text databases. You can add Microsoft ODBC drivers as needed to the built-in ODBC socket. Optionally, Borland's SQL Links product provides access to a range of SQL servers, including Informix, DB2, InterBase, Oracle, and Sybase. Together with its database drivers and consistent API, BDE gives Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT application developers a direct, clean, separate, and shared high-level access to multiple data sources.

Object-orientation: BDE is object-oriented in design. At runtime, application developers interact with BDE by creating various BDE objects. These runtime objects are then used to manipulate database entities, such as tables and queries. BDE's extensive application program interface (API) provides direct C and C++ optimized access to the database engine, as well as BDE's built-in drivers for dBASE, Paradox, FoxPro, Access, and text databases.

Guide to programming with BDE: The core database engine files consist of a set of DLLs that are fully re-entrant and thread-safe. Included with BDE are a helpful set of supplemental tools and examples with sample code to get you started. See Introduction to BDE programming for detailed examples of each stage of the programming process, including a BDE template program that you can copy and use as a functional framework for building your own BDE applications. Also, in the Function reference of this guide you will find examples illustrating the use of each function in both C and Delphi (Pascal) languages.

Configuration: You configure the BDE system using the BDE Administrator (BDEADMIN.EXE). BDE provides flexible and powerful configuration management capabilities.

Local SQL: Included with BDE is Borland's Local SQL, a subset of ANSI-92 SQL enhanced to support Paradox and dBASE (standard) naming conventions for tables and fields (called "columns" in SQL). Local SQL lets you use SQL to query "local" standard database tables that do not reside on a database server as well as "remote" SQL servers. Local SQL is also essential to make multi-table queries across both local standard tables and those on remote SQL servers.

(Note: You might occasionally encounter internal references to the older name for the BDE API: the "Integrated Database Application Program Interface" or "IDAPI".)