The ability to make a direct connection from an ArcGIS or ArcIMS® 9.2 service pack (SP) 5 or later release client application to an ArcGIS 9.3 geodatabase allows sites to incrementally upgrade their ESRI® software. Various groups within an organization may have different requirements and timelines that necessitate their client applications remain at 9.2 SP 5 while other groups want to upgrade to 9.3 clients. With the ArcGIS 9.3 geodatabase direct connect for 9.2 clients installation, you can upgrade your geodatabase to an ArcSDE® 9.3 release so your 9.3 clients can take advantage functionality present in the software at 9.3, and leave other users on 9.2 SP 5 or later service pack clients—and they will still be able to make a direct connection to the geodatabase.
This is accomplished by installing ArcSDE 9.3 library files on the 9.2 SP5 or later service pack release client machines.
When you run the setup on the client machine, it detects which client applications are present so it can install the files in the correct locations.
The setup also detects if you have an ArcSDE component installed. Possible installations include the following:
Installing the direct connect drivers for any one of these will install all supported versions of the direct connect drivers for that component. For example, installing the files for an ArcSDE C API client will install the 9.3 direct connect drivers for DB2, Oracle, and SQL Server. Installing the files for ArcSDE for Oracle installs the 9.3 direct connect drivers for Oracle9i and Oracle 10g.
To learn how to install the files you need, see Installing files to make direct connections from a 9.2 SP 5 client to an ArcSDE 9.3 geodatabase.