SQL Access and ISO/RDA

It is pointed out that, in a client-server environment, use of standard SQL (structured query language) itself is not sufficient. If the client and the server reside on the heterogeneous systems connected through a network, then they must communicate using a common protocol in order to interoperate. The author describes one such protocol being developed by ANSI and ISO and also discusses the efforts of an industry consortium, called SQL Access, in expediting this work. SQL Access specification uses RDA (remote database access) as the communications mechanism between database applications and servers. The author focuses on the communications aspect of SQL Access specification and discusses the RDA standard in some detail. An example of the mapping between SQL statements and RDA services is presented, and some of the SQL Access contributions to the ISO RDA standard are discussed.<>