DB2 Call Level Interface (DB2 CLI) is IBM's callable SQL interface to the DB2 family of database servers. It is a 'C' and 'C++' application programming interface for relational database access, and it uses function calls to pass dynamic SQL statements as function arguments. It is an alternative to embedded dynamic SQL, but unlike embedded SQL, it does not require host variables or a precompiler.
DB2 CLI is based on the Microsoft** Open Database Connectivity** (ODBC) specification, and the International Standard for SQL/CLI. These specifications were chosen as the basis for the DB2 Call Level Interface in an effort to follow industry standards and to provide a shorter learning curve for those application programmers already familiar with either of these database interfaces. In addition, some DB2 specific extensions have been added to help the application programmer specifically exploit DB2 features.
The DB2 CLI driver also acts as an ODBC driver when loaded by an ODBC driver manager. It conforms to level 2 of ODBC 2.0, and level 1 of ODBC 3.0. In addition, it also conforms to various ODBC 3.0 level 2 interface conformance items (202, 203, 205, 207, 209, and 211). Information regarding ODBC support and level 2 interface conformance items is provided in Appendix C, DB2 CLI and ODBC.