ODBiC is a CGI program that is executed by your Web server to process "template" (or "script") files that you write. These templates produce standard HTML Web pages, but they can also do data processing such as interacting with your ODBC databases.

A CGI program can be executed by a Web URL that references a program file rather than an HTML file. To get data from a Web user, for example, a CGI program can be executed as the "action" function for an HTML input form. The CGI can process this data and create a Web page to send back to the user's browser. CGIs make Web page content dynamic rather than static, and they allow Web-based services beyond simple document presentation.

ODBiC processing is completely controlled by template files that you create. In these template files, you can have HTML formatted text and JavaScript, which is simply sent to browsers, but you can also have ANSI SQL statements to SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE data in any ODBC-accessible database. Database query results can be inserted into the HTML output to the browser, or the user's input can be saved in the database.

In addition to this SQL interface, ODBiC provides many other useful data processing functions, without the complexity of CGI programming, to make your site interactive.

ODBiC runs on Windows NT, XP or 95/98/2000 systems, under any Web server that supports the CGI 1.1 standard. (A Web server is required only for "real-time" database access via the Web. It is not required if ODBiC is run "offline" to write HTML files to disk. On XP, offline usage requires using the Program Compatibility Wizard to set the program to run in Windows 95 mode with "visual themes" disabled.)

Database access requires ODBC drivers for your databases. Windows is shipped with a set of drivers, typically at least the ones required for MS Access, dBASE, FoxPro, Paradox, and text files. MS Office adds a driver for Excel. Most of the commercial database packages for the PC, such as MS SQL Server, Sybase, and Oracle, include ODBC drivers.