What is ADO (ActiveX Data Objects)?

If your application needs to access relational databases on Windows, ADO (ActiveX Data Objects) provides a simple object model for working with data.

ADO is built on top of OLE DB and can be used from environments such as Visual Basic, ASP, and Delphi.

The basic ADO model consists of the following three things:

1. Connection
2. Command
3. Recordset.

The Connection object establishes communication with the database. For example, over a network. Then, the Command object executes SQL statements or stored procedures.

Finally, the Recordset object provides access to query results (think SELECT).

A typical application opens a connection, executes a query, and processes the returned rows. ADO supports databases such as SQL Server, Oracle, and Microsoft Access through OLE DB providers.