Which note do you mean? The note I see doesn't say the same thing you indicate, but I might be just missing it.

Also, while your documentation problem may be justified, we can't possible accommodate users who don't set permissions properly (and decide to rebuild PHP).

I see the note on the top of the page here.

http://uk.php.net/manual/en/ref.uodbc.php

"we can't possible accommodate users who don't set permissions properly (and decide to rebuild PHP)."

Ok, thats always your decision, but the problem I see in this case is its the note that was the reason the user "decided" to rebuild PHP, as it gave the indication that to do what he wanted to do, a rebuild was required replacing unixODBC with iODBC

We cannot find the note you are referring to. Maybe it was a user contributed note (and it was deleted).
 => Closed.

Maybe I am going mad then. If I look at the page to be found at http://uk2.php.net/manual/en/ref.uodbc.php

The third paragraph from the top contains the following

"    Note:  There is no ODBC involved when connecting to the above databases. The functions that you use to speak natively to them just happen to share the same names and syntax as the ODBC functions. The exception to this is iODBC. Building PHP with iODBC support enables you to use any ODBC-compliant drivers with your PHP applications. iODBC is maintained by  OpenLink Software. More information on iODBC, as well as a HOWTO, is available at www.iodbc.org."

Its not a user contributed note, its in the body of the text.

This note is specific to the databases mentioned - Adabas D, IBM DB2, iODBC, Solid, and Sybase SQL Anywhere and whilst it says "enables you to use any ODBC-compliant drivers with your PHP applications" imo it doesn't imply that it is the only method. 

Feel free to submit a patch if you think you can reword it so it is clearer.

Hi,

I am not sure what the process is of supplying a patch to the docs, if someone can point me at details, I will create one. Failing this I would think the following changes would remove confusion, increase information, and not plaster the docs with commercials.

I would remove the iODBC entry from the line:

"The following databases are supported by the Unified ODBC functions: ? Adabas D, ? IBM DB2, ? iODBC, ? Solid, and ? Sybase SQL Anywhere."

And replace the note that follows it with:

"Note:  There is no ODBC involved when connecting to the above databases. The functions that you use to speak natively to them just happen to share the same names and syntax as the ODBC functions. To enable generic ODBC support, use either iODBC or unixODBC to provide full ODBC support.

Building PHP with support for one of these enables you to use any ODBC-compliant drivers with your PHP applications. As PHP is built linking to the ODBC driver manager, multiple drivers can be added later as required, without requiring any change to PHP.

iODBC can be found at www.iodbc.org, and unixODBC at www.unixODBC.org."

This bug has been fixed in the documentation's XML sources. Since the
online and downloadable versions of the documentation need some time
to get updated, we would like to ask you to be a bit patient.

Thank you for the report, and for helping us make our documentation better.