Avoiding the Jet Engine

[Robert Vivian]

Does anyone know whether I can avoid having to install the Jet Engine by
using ODBC Direct either from a Visual Basic or C++ application? If so what
features am I sacrificing such as the ability to repair or compact the MDB.
None of what I have read is clear on how independent the MDB is of the
engine. My desire is to release an application without having to install on
the user's computer anything that might interfere with what is already
installed. I have heard that one can muck up a system that already has a
version of Access installed. Thanks for any help.

 

[Paul Overway]

ODBC uses a Jet Driver to open MDB files. You're being overly paranoid and
illogical. In any case, you need to install the Jet Engine if you want to
open an MDB...unless you want to write your own engine. If you and your
users have Access installed, Jet is installed. The cases where Jet is not
already installed will be rare.

In regard to mucking up systems, Jet is installed by default on most OS now,
and therefore will probably be there for you to use. You don't mention
which version of Jet, but 4.0 is usually installed already. Your setup
program should follow normal conventions and not overwrite existing files
(if they are newer/later version)...most installers follow this rule.