Transports and Interfaces: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration > Using Siebel OLE DB Provider >

About the Software Architecture for the Siebel OLE DB Provider

The Siebel OLE DB Provider is a read-only object that exposes Siebel business components as virtual OLE DB tables. You can connect to the Siebel OLE DB Provider by way of external OLE DB-enabled applications—for example, from OLE DB Consumers including Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access—and view data dynamically, as it is queried from your Siebel Database, within pivot tables, charts, or other appropriate data controls.

Using Siebel Tools, you define Siebel OLE DB rowsets to be queried against. These rowsets are an extension to the integration objects available within Siebel Tools. Siebel OLE DB Provider must be installed on the system that executes the queries. This does not mean that a Siebel client or the Enterprise Server must be running on this same system, but that they be accessible on the network. You can use Siebel OLE DB Provider to use your Siebel data in two ways: either through the use of existing OLE DB consumers, such as Microsoft Excel and Access, or through applications and scripts you write. With either method, Siebel OLE DB Provider works in the following scenarios:

• Windows Client. You can query Siebel OLE DB rowsets using third party business intelligence tools such as Microsoft Office or Cognos.

  NOTE:  Siebel OLE DB Provider must be installed on the Windows Client to gain access to the defined OLE DB rowsets.

• Windows Server. Using a third-party business intelligence tool such as Seagate's Crystal Reports or Cognos allows for the distribution of Siebel OLE DB rowsets through their query and reporting interface. You can add predefined queries or reports to the Siebel client Reports Menu using the Siebel Tools Reports Administrator.

  NOTE:  Siebel OLE DB Provider must be installed on the IIS system in order to gain access to the defined OLE DB rowsets.

• Siebel Web Client, Mobile Web Client, and Dedicated Web Client. As noted previously, using a third-party business intelligence tool installed on Windows Server is used to output to these clients.

  Figure 1 illustrates the architecture of the Siebel OLE DB Provider.

Figure 1. OLE DB Providers and Consumers of Siebel Data