Yes, you can connect a 64-bit application to a 32-bit ODBC driver by using the ODBC-ODBC Bridge.
Without the ODBC-ODBC Bridge, a 64-bit application cannot connect to a 32-bit ODBC driver. 64-bit applications must be linked against 64-bit libraries. For this reason, 64-bit applications can only link against a 64-bit ODBC Driver Manager library. 64-bit ODBC Driver Managers can only load 64-ODBC drivers. For some ODBC drivers, only a 32-bit version is available.
The ODBC-ODBC Bridge is a client/server product. The ODBC-ODBC Bridge Client is not linked against the ODBC-ODBC Bridge Server. The ODBC-ODBC Bridge Client communicates with the ODBC-ODBC Bridge Server by using the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) mechanism. A 64-bit ODBC-ODBC Bridge Client can be used with a 32-bit ODBC-ODBC Bridge Server and vice versa. (The RPC mechanism also allows a ODBC-ODBC Bridge Client for one platform to be used with a ODBC-ODBC Bridge Server for a different platform. For example, a Linux ODBC-ODBC Bridge Client and a Windows ODBC-ODBC Bridge Server.)
To connect a 64-bit application with a 32-bit ODBC driver, you use a 64-bit ODBC-ODBC Bridge Client and a 32-bit ODBC-ODBC Bridge Server.
ODBC calls made by your 64-bit application are passed from the 64-bit ODBC driver (the ODBC-ODBC Bridge Client) to the target 32-bit ODBC driver via the 32-bit ODBC-ODBC Bridge Server.
The following steps show how to access a 32-bit ODBC driver from a 64-bit application on a 64-bit Windows machine. The ODBC driver used is the Microsoft Access ODBC driver. The application used is the SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) Import and Export Wizard.
To access the 32-bit ODBC Data Source Administrator, run the following command in the Windows Run dialog box:
%windir%\syswow64\odbcad32.exe
Accept the Default option during Setup, which will install both the ODBC-ODBC Bridge Client and Server components.
The Import and Export Wizard starts.
Setting | Value |
---|---|
Data source | .Net Framework Data Provider for ODBC |
Dsn | The name of your ODBC-ODBC Bridge Client data source. |
Driver | Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge |