New Features and Bug Fixes in Version 4.53 of ODBCExpress
=========================================================


New Features
------------

New features introduced since ODBCExpress 4.52:

1.  An OnException event is added to the TODBCError class to inspect or ignore
    EODBC exceptions.
2.  The TDataSet refresh functionality is implemented in the TCustomOEDataSet.
    This allows you to see changes to the underlying data in the dataset without
    having to close and re-open the dataset.
3.  All the TCustomOEDataSet properties are now published in the TOEQuery.  To
    accommodate this the RequestLive and UniDirectional properties' behaviour
    are slightly modified to work together with the ConcurrencyType and
    CursorType properties respectively.
4.  The currency data type is implemented for the TOEParam object.
5.  The column and parameter precision, scale and nullable properties are
    implemented for both the THstmt and TCustomOEDataSet, where applicable.

Delphi 4:

6.  Longword column and parameter types are added to the THstmt.


Bug Fixes
---------

The following bugs, which existed in ODBCExpress 4.52, are now fixed in
ODBCExpress 4.53:

1.  The Message property of the EODBC exception class was read-only.
2.  A parameter size problem sometimes caused incorrect behaviour when the
    dataset was re-executed or re-opened
3.  An error occurred when you opened an empty result set with a forward-only
    cursor in the TOEDataSet.
4.  The IsNull property of the TOEParam object was not set for in, in-out and
    result stored procedure parameters.
5.  A problem in the LoadFromStream method of the TOEParam object caused corrupt
    blobs to be written to the database.
6.  A blob parameter precision problem caused empty blobs to be written to the
    database by certain ODBC drivers, including the Visual FoxPro and the
    Interbase ODBC drivers.
7.  The ColVariant, etc. methods of the THstmt returned a boolean value as a
    Byte instead of a WordBool.
8.  A range-checking error occurred in the SQL parser when range-checking was
    enabled.

Delphi 4:

9.  The first page of the SQL Builder was not displayed correctly.
10. Master-Detail relationships caused an "invalid bookmark" error when
    scrolling.


Comments
--------

Some important comments on the new version:

1.  Please report any problems experienced with this new version to
    support@odbcexpress.com so that it can be addressed as soon as possible.
2.  The default TDataSetHstmt CursorType setting is changed from Static to
    Keyset-Driven to accommodate all the TCustomOEDataSet descendant components.
    If you are making use of the Static cursor then remember to change the
    default cursor type after you load your projects.
3.  The TwwOEDataSet InfoPower component is now derived directly from the
    TOEQuery component.  This means that the Table property is now called the
    TableName property.  If you made use of the Table property with this
    component then you will have to rename the Table property to TableName in
    your form stream .DFM file before you open your form in the IDE.
4.  MDAC 2 causes some problems when you disconnect a THdbc and then try to
    connect through another ODBC driver using the same THdbc.  To bypass this
    problem rather terminate the THdbc using the Terminate method before
    connecting through another ODBC driver with the same THdbc.
5.  A number of THstmt methods were converted to properties.  Specifically the
    NumCols, NumRows, NumRowsFetched and NumRowsAffected methods were removed
    from the THstmt component.  Use the ColCount, RowCount, RowsFetched and
    RowsAffected properties instead.

Delphi 4:

6.  Apply the Delphi 4.01 patch to fix problems such as the "list index out of
    bounds" error caused by the TDSListBox component.
7.  The ColOleVariant, etc. methods is removed from the THstmt.  The ColVariant,
    etc. methods are now sufficient since some OleVariant and Variant data type
    inconsistencies are fixed in Delphi 4.
8.  The custom data-aware control support is now completely removed from the
    Delphi 4 version, which means you cannot directly tie in components such as
    the TOEGrid and TOEListBox.


Acknowledgements
----------------

Thanks to everybody for all the suggestions and feedback which were instrumental
in the development of this new version of ODBCExpress.