ADOX 2.8 TypeLib in Vista SP2

Wow, it took me some time to notice it but Microsoft must have been listening.

One of the headaches to watch for in Vista was that DAC 6.0 (and MDAC before that) was not including the compatibility typelibs for ADOX the way they do for ADO.  Suddenly I see we have an option now though: msadox28.tlb is there, which implies that msadox.dll now exposes both sets of interfaces.

Now programs compiled on Win2k or WinXP against ADOX 2.8 should work under Vista SP2 unlike previously.  I had been changing my habits to use late binding for ADOX objects but someday (once all Vista in the world is at SP2?) I won't have to anymore.  We can hope that Win7 RTM ships that way too.... right?

Of course any programs compiled against something like ADOX 2.6 are probably still screwed.  Microsoft was more thorough about ADO compatibility typelibs even on Vista.  Either there is a problem doing this for ADOX downlevel (interfaces too different?) or more likely they want everyone on more secure DAC/MDAC levels anyway.  This means some programs will still need recompilation for Vista.

This also means you can early-bind to ADOX 2.8 when developing on Vista SP2 and expect your programs to work on Win2K or XP as long as MDAC 2.8 is installed there.  That was the other side of the ADOX coin previously: if you used early binding to ADOX 6.0 in Vista your programs would not run downlevel.

Nice theories anyway.  Now to test and verify them!

But Microsoft's error lingers and I'll be late binding ADOX for some time to come.  I just don't trust the whole world to install Vista's SP2 overnight... maybe for years considering that Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool Kit is loose in box jockey land.

Maybe we can hope this change was part of some Windows Update fix and not part of the SP2 package?  Does anyone know?  But I guess that still doesn't mean I can start early binding ADOX again anyway I suppose.

• Posted at Sunday, July 12, 2009 12:56 AM
• In General Category | Permalink