Can a version 12 ODBC Driver by used with version 11 Database?

[former_SQLA_member1694882]

ODBC Driver - 12.0.1.3817

SQL Anywhere Server - 11.0.1.2837

Just wanting to know if there would be any cause for concern using an ODBC Driver from version 12 with a version 11 database?

The statements that would be executed are very simple CRUD statements. E.g. select x from y where field = n, insert into x (...) values (...).

[VolkerBarth · Accepted solution]

From the v11 docs:

Compatibility with existing software
SQL Anywhere 11 database servers support connections from client applications using software from version 6.0.0 or later. Version 5 and earlier clients cannot connect to a version 11 database server.

AFAIK, the same is true for all other versions, too, and "or later" does include newer versions, as well.

So the general answer should be "yes".

The SQL syntax is usually no concern for the client-side at all, as it is simply handed over to the database server. Note: I'm deliberately saying "usually" as there are some client-side aspects that may have influence - cf. the fact that clients like DBISQL/dbisqlc do some parsing on statements themselves. However, I'm not aware that the ODBC driver does parse itself.

We have often used servers and clients of different versions without problems. Apparently, some advanced features of newer clients (say, connection pooling in v12) might not work with an older server, but that doesn't seem a drawback, methinks...

[former_SQLA_member1694882 · Accepted solution]

Thanks Volker. I spent a while searching the docs but was focusing more from the odbc driver side.