DAO (Data Access Objects) is an application program interface (API) available with Microsoft’s Visual Basic that lets a programmer request access to a Microsoft Access database.

DAO was Microsoft’s first object-oriented interface with databases. DAO objects encapsulate Access’s Jet functions. Through Jet functions, it can also access other Structured Query Language (SQL) databases.

To conform with Microsoft’s vision of a Universal Data Access (UDA) model, programmers are being encouraged to move from DAO , although still widely used, to ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) and its low-level interface with databases, OLE DB. ADO and OLE DB offer a faster interface that is also easier to program.

DCE was developed by the Open Software Foundation (OSF) using software technologies contributed by some of its member companies.

2) In computer data transmission, DCE (Data Communication Equipment) is the RS-232C interface that a modem or other serial device uses in exchanging data with the computer. For further information about the DCE interface and its relationship to the Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) interface, see RS-232C.