OLE DB

See definition for: Object Linking and Embedding Data Base

An Application Programming Interface (API) that allows low-level programming languages such as C and C++ to access dissimilar data stores through a common query language. OLE DB is seen as the replacement for Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). Data stores such as those in Exchange 2000 and SQL Server allow for OLE DB access, which makes application development easier and faster.

High-level programming languages such as Visual Basic can use ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) to issue queries through OLE DB. [Exchange 2000]