helpviewer_keywords:

- "ADO, programming"

ms.assetid: c5b3a134-de22-4e9c-9489-9a1cc7a5dcfa

ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) is a high-level, easy-to-use interface to OLE DB. OLE DB is a low-level, high-performance interface to a variety of data stores. Both ADO and OLE DB can work with relational (tabular) and nonrelational (hierarchical or stream) data.

helpviewer_keywords:

- "ADO, programmer's guide"

ms.assetid: e3c50eee-964a-4abd-810d-1bd51978e814

This documentation provides an overview of how to use ADO objects to work with data from various data sources. First, the introduction summarizes the new features and the requirement for installing, using, and redistributing the ADO component. The next sections discuss the use of the various types of ADO objects. Finally, the appendixes discuss various Microsoft-supplied data and service providers, error messages, and tips about how to use ADO in several programming languages, in addition to samples and a glossary.

helpviewer_keywords:

- "ADO, security"

ms.assetid: 86b83a38-efdf-4831-a6d5-7e470d517d1c

The following sections describe security design features in ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) 2.8 and later. These changes were made in ADO 2.8 to improve security. ADO 6.0, which is included in Windows DAC 6.0 in Windows Vista, is functionally equivalent to ADO 2.8, which was included in MDAC 2.8 in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. This topic provides information about how to best secure your applications in ADO 2.8 or later.

- "tasks [ADO]"

- "ADO, tasks"

ms.assetid: 2fad33fb-c858-4dcb-98dc-3dfd0e555055

The following table lists programming tasks contained in the *ADO Programmer's Guide* and provides references for each task. These references can be textual descriptions or code examples in which you can find information about the ADO feature that performs the task.

helpviewer_keywords:

- "ADO, technologies"

ms.assetid: 38c8ad3c-d6f1-40f6-a394-bbba6ed861e5

The following table lists the Microsoft products, tools, and technologies discussed in the ADO Programmer's Guide. It provides links, wherever possible, to relevant topics in the guide.

helpviewer_keywords:

- "errors [ADO], error codes"

ms.assetid: 3aee61c7-a9b7-4596-b78e-5828a00d0281

In addition to the provider errors returned in the [Error](../../../ado/reference/ado-api/error-object.md) objects of the [Errors](../../../ado/reference/ado-api/errors-collection-ado.md) collection, ADO itself can return errors to the exception-handling mechanism of your run-time environment. Use the error trapping mechanism your programming language, such as the **On Error** statement in Microsoft® Visual Basic, or the **try-catch** block in Microsoft Visual C++®, to capture ADO errors.

helpviewer_keywords:

- "class wrappers [ADO]"

ms.assetid: 1fc09dc1-9e32-412e-9f43-b8eb8bb483ca

This code declares an instance of the ADO [Recordset](../../../ado/reference/ado-api/recordset-object-ado.md) class wrapper and initializes it, all on the same line of code. Further, it declares variables for each of the arguments in the [Open](../../../ado/reference/ado-api/open-method-ado-recordset.md) method, especially for [LockType](../../../ado/reference/ado-api/locktype-property-ado.md) and [CursorType](../../../ado/reference/ado-api/cursortype-property-ado.md) (because Java doesn't support enumerated types). It opens and closes the **Recordset** object. Setting Rs1 to NULL merely schedules that variable to be released when Java performs its systematic and intermittent release of unused objects.

- "service providers [ADO]"

- "service components [ADO]"

ms.assetid: e2581b47-b11e-4e1e-b96c-d39c77c5b48a

This section addresses three kinds of providers: data providers, service providers, and service components. Providers fall into two categories: those providing data and those providing services. A *data provider* owns its own data and exposes it in tabular form to your application. A *service provider* encapsulates a service by producing and consuming data, augmenting features in your ADO applications. A service provider may also be further defined as a *service component*, which must work together with other service providers or components.

helpviewer_keywords:

- "errors [ADO], types"

ms.assetid: 0ce201c3-6657-4c87-ae81-0d7dc5b5a431

See the following topics for more information about particular error messages: