dotNET Connections

Oracle ADO.NET Entity Framework Beta - Some Restrictions

2009-05-07T17:29:00.000-04:00

So our far we have been delighted with the reaction we have seen with our beta Oracle support for the ADO.NET Entity Framework. We are diligently working on addressing the excellent feedback, so keep the questions and comments coming! Send all comments & questions to entitybeta@datadirect.com

In the meantime, we have received a few questions on our current support and possible restrictions of our current beta many of which we are already working on to resolve.

• Stored Procedures and Functions in packages are currently not visible to the ADO.NET Entity Data Model. If you attempt to run ‘edmgen /mode:FullGeneration’ you’ll likely run into some issues.

• The OracleEntity provider currently plans to implicitly deal with RefCursor data types (i.e. we set operate under the assumption that Ref Cursor Mode=Implicit) and some aspects of this implicit handling are not currently available.

• No current support for the APPLY clause

• No current support for certain statements with LEFT OUT JOIN clauses

• No current support UNIONing columns with different character sets.

Look for details, including possible updates to the above list and other changes which I’ll write up in a future blog posting. Otherwise, keep excellent comments, questions and encouragement headed our way.

Oracle support for the ADO.NET Entity Framework

2009-04-30T15:04:00.006-04:00

Announcing a significant update to our Oracle provider from Connect for ADO.NET!

We have enabled the use of the Microsoft® Entity Framework with Oracle data sources, supporting a wide range of Oracle versions. In this beta release, we fully support EDM schema generation, and of course full support for LINQ and Entity SQL statements issued Entities-enabled applications.

Through out the beta, we will post various announcements, selected feedback and targeted how-tos and other of useful resources on our various blogs, so check back often!

DbBulkCopy, Csv and mappings galore

2009-02-06T01:19:00.009-05:00

As recently as our Connect for ADO.NET 3.2 release, we introduced support for bulk load operations across all of our providers. We are already getting excellent feedback on what we hoped would be our most prominent features, namingly

The DDTek.Data.Common.DbBulkCopy* objects which act as an extension for programmers who want to extend their usage of the common programming model and provider factories. Check here for functional details on a DbBulkCopy, DbBulkCopyColumnMapping (and more) objects. If you've used bulk copy in in ADO.NET this is a nice extension of the established pattern in ADO.NET where SqlBulkCopy originally blazed the trail.

Just as popular is our ability to consume standard CSV files that be either generated/processed automatically (CsvWriter and CsvReader respectively) or by an outside tool using our published schema as a guide. Although, in hindsight, an obvious point of integration, we probably didn't do as a good a job in making it easy to understand how any outside tool would could understand the decisions we took on how we map specific database data types to our common CSV data type.

So to meet this need, I am publishing a range of tables below that show how each datbase type, or DbType maps to our XML Schema 'dataType' facet.

Struggling with 64-bit Vista to Oracle access?

2009-01-26T11:04:00.002-05:00

Over the past week or so I've received a wave of Google Alerts highlighting a spate of issues people are seeing on 64-bit Windows Vista, especially when trying to configure their data access to an Oracle database. It doesn't have to be this way, and I'm compelled to give a shout out for our Installer team which designed our installer to intelligently deploy either our 32-bit or 64-bit components dependent on your target platform - pain and anguish free. Go grab a trial copy of our Connect for ADO.NET 3.2 providers today and see for yourself!

The demise LINQ to SQL? Not quite...

2008-12-22T14:28:00.003-05:00

Some might rightly consider this old news, however the LINQ to SQL death notices were brought back to the head-lines by Redmond Developer News. See the link below for teh full artircle:

http://reddevnews.com/news/article.aspx?editorialsid=10472

I've pasted in my quote from the artile below, as it is very representitive of our position on where LINQ to SQL and where the ADO.NET Entity Framework fits in the general .NET data access landscape.

' "I don't think the Entity Framework is necessarily perfect, but I think it's going to change the outlook of data access in .NET," said Jonathan Bruce, ADO.NET technologies program manager at DataDirect, which is a subsidiary of Progress Software Corp. "I think LINQ to SQL will likely find its niche in small, in-house proof-of-concept type projects because it's easy to get going -- it has a very lightweight data model." '

You can hear a great discussion on this topic, "Bullet Proof your Data Access on the .NET Framework", an online webinar we did with the Stephen Wynkoop a SQL Server MVP, and founder of SSWWUG. Check out the link below to listen into the discussion.

http://www.datadirect.com/connect-webcast-archive-data-access/index.ssp

Are these the top 10 .NET stories of 2008 ?

2008-12-22T14:25:00.001-05:00

You be the judge:
http://www.devtopics.com/top-10-net-news-stories-of-2008/

Released: Connect for ADO.NET 32

2008-12-22T14:20:00.002-05:00

A copy of the press release that announces this release... much more on this over the coming weeks.

---
DataDirect Technologies Continues to Set the Standard for Superior Data Connectivity to the .NET Platform

Latest Release of DataDirect Connect® for ADO.NET Includes New Performance Features and First-of-its-Kind Bulk Load Functionality

BEDFORD, Mass. – Dec. 8, 2008 – DataDirect Technologies, the unparalleled leader in data connectivity and mainframe integration and an operating company of Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS), today announced the latest release of its DataDirect Connect® for ADO.NET data providers. With DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET, developers can securely and efficiently write and deploy .NET enterprise applications that connect to multiple databases including Oracle, DB2, Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase. The latest product release includes new provider features for each major database, new performance tuning options and introduces DataDirect Bulk Load, the most flexible, common API-based implementation of bulk-load functionality for the .NET platform that provides consistent semantics across all supported databases.

DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET has raised the bar for superior performance, security and interoperability. As the only suite of ADO.NET data providers with a 100 percent managed code architecture, DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET eliminates the need for database client libraries. Because managed code runs in the Common Language Runtime (CLR) environment it reduces risks and closes holes that unmanaged code leaves exposed, providing developers the most versatile deployment options available in both application and client-server environments.
“Database vendors offer the bare minimum in terms of data connectivity, and this just isn’t enough for large scale, complex applications,” said John Goodson, vice president and general manager at DataDirect Technologies. “With DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET developers get full support for the .NET Framework with the fastest and most functional ADO.NET managed data providers on the market.”

Building on its reputation for technical innovation and reinforcing the company’s steadfast commitment to responding quickly to the needs of software developers and system architects, DataDirect Technologies has included DataDirect Bulk Load in the latest version of its data provider. A persistent data connectivity challenge is the need to load very large amounts of data into a relational database as fast as possible. For developers working with more than one database, DataDirect Bulk Load offers a standard and consistent method for moving volume-intense data across Oracle, DB2, Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase databases, without having to deploy and load client libraries.

In addition to the new levels of efficiency brought by DataDirect Bulk Load, the latest release of DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET also offers key performance enhancements. New tuning options provide optimal performance in a wide variety of application scenarios allowing users of Oracle, DB2, Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase to reap substantial performance and efficiency gains with no changes to their applications.

Corporate IT departments at the Fortune100 and leading ISVs use the DataDirect data provider to build reliable .NET applications that can connect to multiple databases while reducing the amount of code necessary to utilize database-specific features. With its deep rooted, technical relationships with all major database and platform vendors, DataDirect Technologies ensures its data connectivity products support the latest provider features and database versions. DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET now supports Oracle 11g R1, Microsoft SQL Server 2008, DB2 iSeries V6R1 and includes many new performance and usability features. To view a complete list of database provider features, go to: http://www.datadirect.com/products/net/index.ssp
About DataDirect TechnologiesDataDirect Technologies is the software industry’s only comprehensive provider of software for connecting the world’s most critical business applications to data and services, running on any platform, using proven and emerging standards. Developers worldwide depend on DataDirect® products to connect their applications to an unparalleled range of data sources using standards-based interfaces such as ODBC, JDBC™ and ADO.NET, XQuery and SOAP. More than 300 leading independent software vendors and thousands of enterprises rely on DataDirect Technologies to simplify and streamline data connectivity for distributed systems and to reduce the complexity of mainframe integration. DataDirect Technologies is an operating company of Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS). For more information, visit www.datadirect.com.

# # #
DataDirect and DataDirect Connect are trademarks or registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Java and all Java based marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Any other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Published today: .NET-Based Data Access in SOA

2008-10-20T15:45:00.002-04:00

I was published in today's Redmond Developer News: See here for details. Enjoy!

Call for PDC Meetup/Networking Events

2008-10-17T00:30:00.000-04:00

As I will be attending my first PDC in a few weeks, I'd like to get a feel for when and where the good events are to meet up with people who are on the bleeding edge of all things at this events. Answers please to my email at jonathan.bruceATdatadirect.com (remove the AT).

I'll post all responses and suggestions I see on this and my sister blog dot-Net Connections.

Architect Tutorials and Design Previews 2008

2008-09-04T00:13:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year again, so you'll permit me some promotion of two events that allow us to sketch our architectural position and spend some time sharing and getting your input on our product road map. Two events to talk about here:

October 1st - Seattle, WA – Hyatt Regency Bellevue
October 21st - St. Louis, MO – Hilton St. Louis Frontenac
October 28th - Toronto, ON – The Westin Harbour Castle

First, our the DataDirect Architect Tutorials. Topics at these locations include: "DataServices Update with Industry Expert ZapThink", "Designing Data Access in a SOA Environment" and "The New Reality: Data Access for Virtual Environments" and you can hear these talks, meet the speakers.

October 2nd - Palo Alto, CA – Crowne Plaza Palo Alto

October 16th - Boston, MA – - Boston Marriott Burlington

Next, our Design Previews our long running annual series of talks where we "Frontiers in Data Access:The Coming Wave in DataServices", "Product Roadmaps: Connect and Shadow & XML", "SaaS: How Does it Effect Your Data Access Strategy", "How DataDirect Shadow Can Enable ISV’s Applications for Accessing Mainframe Data" and last, but certainly not least "XQuery And The DataDirect XML Data Integration Suite".

See you there!

Heterogeneous Data Access in .NET - Coding Directly to ADO.NET – Approach #1: Coding Directly to ADO.NET

2008-08-27T13:06:00.019-04:00

Guest blogging once again for Jonathan, this is Mike Frost with part 1 of my series on Heterogeneous Data Access in .NET - Coding Directly to ADO.NET

Before I begin though, I should make a comment about the reason for this series. After many conversations with .NET developers and with development organizations using .NET, we have heard a lot of confusion over the different approaches to accessing multiple databases in .NET. In some cases, what we have heard misinformation, in some cases it was a lack of information. In most cases, though, people just had different sets of needs and experiences and those differences often dictated a different set of requirements for everyone we spoke with. So what I'm offering isn't intended to be the "final" answer on this matter - merely a set of advice and guidelines based on our experience with this subject and with others who have wished to learn more about if for themselves.

With that said, the most obvious place to start when discussing how to develop an application that requires access to multiple relational data stores is to talk about ADO.NET. Historically (and even today given the many announcements concerning the ADO.NET Entity Framework), building code that accesses the ADO.NET interfaces directly is easily the most prevalent approach in use today in .NET applications. If you’ve ever built an ASP.NET application that connected to Oracle and used Visual Studio tooling to do it, then the database access code that was generated used ADO.NET under the covers.

The Pros – Coding directly to ADO.NET is perhaps the best option for those experienced developers that have a strong background in ADO.NET, want to maintain fully control of their data and require the power of the database to be at the immediate disposal. Coupled with this, writing to ADO.NET allows for very granular control of database access code which can be leveraged to ensure the most efficient database access for a particular application. Put simply, if you know what you’re doing with ADO.NET, you can probably do a very good job coding your application with this approach.

The Cons – All of that granular control means that a significant amount of application development time will likely be required. In addition, the developer will need to know which ADO.NET providers will be used ahead of time. Finally, unless the developer is a thorough planner and careful coder, he or she can fall into the trap of using provider-specific code. Unfortunately many developers are unaware of these factors during the initial development phase. As a result, it isn’t until after a significant investment of time and effort has been made that the impact of these factors becomes apparent.

The use of Visual Studio tooling during development isn’t inherently bad, nor are most developers coding without some foresight into what they are doing. Unfortunately, there is a natural tendency to take the path of least resistance. This tendency, combined with a certain level of code abstraction that Visual Studio tooling can create, often leads to applications that are mired down in huge masses of provider-specific code.

While this result might be acceptable for single data source data access (e.g. SQL Server only), it does lock the application to the provider it was originally written to work with. Consequently, adding support for additional database providers ultimately becomes a huge headache as application code and SQL statements must all be rewritten to account for differences in provider code, semantics, and SQL statement formatting. Ask anyone who has been faced with this situation and they will tell you that it’s a nightmare to deal with!

It is worth noting that that the use of connection factories (link) can reduce the amount of provider-specific code with this approach. While this does not account for and eliminate all provider-specific coding in this approach, it can help mitigate some of the hassle of trying to support multiple providers and data sources.

So, to summarize:

Coding Directly to ADO.NET

Pros:

Available today
Allows granular control of database access code
Best option for developers with a strong background in coding to ADO.NET spec

Cons:

Requires careful coding on the part of the developer to avoid provider-specific code where possible
Requires more development time as compared with other approaches
Requires prior knowledge of what providers will be used or recoding to add support for additional providers
Applications tend to get locked to a specific provider

My next post will cover an approach specifically designed to help architect .NET applications requiring heterogeneous data access – programming with the Microsoft Data Access Application Block.

Heterogeneous Data Access in .NET – The Introduction

2008-08-12T11:03:00.005-04:00

Things have been fairly quiet around here since Microsoft’s Tech Ed event, so I’ve invited Mike Frost, our Product Marketing Manager for ODBC and ADO.NET technologies, to add some of his thoughts that we’ve been discussing over the past while. This is the first of a series of guest postings – Mike will be sharing his thoughts on this venue over a series of postings. If you have a chance, check out his blog as well.

So, welcome Mike!

Thanks, JB. Comments and descriptions of the advantages and benefits of developing software using Microsoft’s .NET environment are easy to find – there are websites and blogs galore that go into these details ad nauseum. Unfortunately, finding a clear, concise comparison of the different approaches to developing or modifying a .NET application to access multiple data sources has been next to impossible…until now. ^_^

This is part one of a series of posts aimed at untangling the web of options and technologies available for heterogeneous data access in .NET. Each posting I will introduce an approach and explain its benefits and drawbacks as well as its options and limitations. By the time this series is concluded, we will have a nice summary of information all in one place that will allow anyone to make an informed assessment of the right approach for any project or organization no matter how great or small.

ADO.NET Entity Framework goes RTM

2008-08-11T22:23:00.001-04:00

RTM is a big mile stone for any product - especially a predict first release of final bits *and* you are available, by default in the platform. So I tip my hat to everyone in building 35 for what must be a very gratifying day.
It's been quite a journey since Microsoft flew us up to Seattle for a three day immersion in their road map.

We were delighted to be able to participate in today's announcements too. I'll leave it to John Goodson, to sum it up:

""DataDirect Technologies is delighted to see the ADO.NET Entity Framework RTM," said John Goodson, vice president and general manager of DataDirect Technologies. "We are firmly committed to the ADO.NET Entity Framework and look forward to offering Oracle connectivity in the near future."

I expect to able to talk alot more about the ADO.NET Entity Framework and Connect for ADO.NET on this blog, very soon.

.NET Framework and Mainframe Collide

2008-06-09T13:06:00.006-04:00

Collisions generally have negative connotations, however in this case it is actually a good thing.

The mainframe world, all too often associated with legacy systems that exist in some dark corner of buildings continues to this day to provide the essential back bone for many corporations essential and business-critical applications. While some companies seek to migrate data out of mainframe investments into data bases such as Oracle, or often SQL Server there are plenty who'd rather leave these resources well alone and bring on stream more up to date interfaces to these data asources.

That said, development platforms such as Java and the .NET platform however enjoy the majority of developer focus today and resources such as DB2 z/OS and non relational mainframer esources such as VSAM, IMS and Adabas get left behind.

Our solution? Shadow for ADO.NET. Available for use with the Shadow z/Direct product line, DataDirect's mainframe integration software stack. We are very proud of the work we've done here, so let me call out some of the major features:

Integration of mainframe DB2 and VSAM data
100% managed code provider
Support for the .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5 on 32-bit and 64-bit platforms
Support for ADO.NET 2.0 Common Programming Model
Runtime compatibility with Visual Studio
Support for a Metadata Collections based on the ANSI SQL Information Schema specification as well as collections specific to CICS and VSAM
Support for common methodologies used to manage auto-generated values

Hungry for more ? Check out the Shadow for ADO.NET for details.

Afterglow on tonight's BoF

2008-06-05T00:34:00.003-04:00

A quick word of thanks for everyone's excellent participation on our BoF tonight. While I was nervous that 60 minutes would be a long time to fill, especially considering I was not allowed any slides, given how the conversation flowed across all sides of the room, it was a very useful and enjoyable 60 minutes. Some of the key take aways included...

Entity Framework holds great promise, and but is not a catch all for everything....
SQL is not dead (far from it). For critical apps where you have to maintain absolute control as to how your application performs and behaves, there is no substitue for keeping your hands on the controls.
The Data Cloud hold great promise, but everyone is nervous as to the prospect of exposing any data source into an uncontrolled, unmanaged cloud. Lots of concerns as to the security and governence of this.

We'll do this all again next week for Tech Ed IT Pros.... and of course as I didn't bring enough t-shirts for everyone, so stop by our booth tomorrow where I will be handing out our very popular t's.

See you tonight @ N320 C

2008-06-04T14:13:00.000-04:00

Looking forward to see everyone at tonight's BOF session at 7.45. We'll have some very unique give-aways for the best questions!

Tech Ed Day 1: Coming out party for ADO.NET Entity Framework

2008-06-02T16:58:00.006-04:00

At this years Tech Ed - Developers, I think it is fair to say that this is the coming out part of the ADO.NET Entity Framework, and with good reason too. From the early days when I participated in numerous all day sessions in Building 35, Microsoft HQ, it is very gratifying to see so many of the concepts we were introduced to move from the white board notions to become tangible component of the .NET Framework. Bring on the GA release of this SP!

The insert to the left, courtesy of the Redmond Developer news does a nice job of breaking out the major features of the .NET Framework 3.5 Sp1, of the the ADO.NET Entity Framework is probably the leading feature. Described, I think accurately as the 'data-driven' release, I can already report than I have a number of good conversations with attendees who are looking to find out more about this technology.

Hungry for more ? If you are attending Tech Ed Devleopers, there are a few excellent venues that I'd recommend you make some time for. Thx to Elisa Flasko at Microsoft doing most of the hardwork for me:

June 4th 2:45pm-4:00pm TCD2B Using LINQ, the ADO.NET Entity Framework and ADO.NET Data Services with third party databases by David Sceppa

June 5th 10:15am-11:30am T7D80 Advanced Entity Framework: Take Charge of Object Services by Julie Lerman

June 5th Noon-12:45pm TAC34 ADO.NET Data Services Deep Dive by Mike Flasko

You can see more of Elisa's excellent recommendations here.

Of course, I've talked about my BoF before on Wednesday night which is already generated some great interest, but we are also exhibiting through out the week, where we have some very unique give-aways (you won't be disappointed!) and of course I'll be happy to talk about how DataDirect Technologies plans to support the ADO.NET Entity Framework. Come see us at booth 1232 in the exhibition hall.

Virtualization bottle neck or opportunity?

2008-06-02T11:21:00.000-04:00

My colleague, Mike Johnson exposes the underbelly of virtualization on tackles a topic that is become pervasive through the IT software stack. As with any new notion, virtualization is not a catch-all and while the benefits are quickly realizable, there are some important considerations especially when your virtualized stack has to interface will real world resource contentions. Full details in his article here.

TechEd Developers 2008

2008-06-01T17:30:00.002-04:00

Early reports from DotNet Connections experiences at TechEd 2008 indicates a bumpy start. Apparently I have no hotel for this evening and will be staying the in the glorious 'Quality Inn' as my original reservation at the Rosen Plaza does not kick in until Monday.

Otherwise, what looks like a very interesting week ahead. I'll post when time/battery power allows.

Making Sense of it All: Heterogeneous Data Access on the .NET Framework 3.5

2008-04-14T20:23:00.005-04:00

dotNetConnections is delighted to announce that we have not one, but two BoF's at this years TechEd, North America conferences TechEd Developers & TechEd IT Professionals. Our topic this year, 'Making Sence of it All: Heterogeneous Data Access on the .NET Framework 3.5' should provide an broad basis so we can deal with many perspectives on how best to deal with data access on the .NET Framework. For one thing, the plethora data access options and data models that now exist should sound as warning shot for all: each data access option cannot possibly suit every need, so if you've questions and opinions on what option suits your development needs, it will be the place to be. BoF co-ordinates as follows:

Wednesday, June 4th @ 19h45 to 20h45
Wednesday, June 11th @18h30 to 19h30

Send email here or comment below if you're planning on attending, or have topics you'd like to cover...

LINQ links for 4/7/2008

2008-04-07T16:59:00.002-04:00

Julia Lerman, of the Data Farm has posted a series of excellent tutorials that are well worth a look all in her on-going series of '101 Tutorials'. Check them out here.

LINQ links for 3/25/2008

2008-03-25T22:11:00.005-04:00

By Tech Ed 2008, it will be almost two years since this posting appeared on LINQ in Action blog, so it wins today's LINQ links. It's interesting to take another look at some of the projected values to developers and architects back in mid 2006...

http://linqinaction.net/blogs/main/archive/2006/07/28/why-linq-will-succeed.aspx

LINQ syntax beats SQL syntax. SQL is flawed in that queries become exponentially difficult to write as their complexity grows. LINQ scales much better in this regard. Once you get used to it, it's hard to go back.
Database queries are easily composable. You can conditionally add an ORDER BY or WHERE predicate without discovering at run-time that a certain string combination generates a syntax error.
More bugs are picked up at compile-time.
Parameterization is automatic and type-safe.
LINQ queries can directly populate an object hierarchy.
LINQ to SQL provides a model for provider independence that might really work.
LINQ significantly cuts plumbing code and clutter. Without sweeping stuff under the carpet, like Workflow or Datasets. This is a credit to the design team.
C# hasn't suffered in the process (in fact, it's gained).

Out of 8 projections, dotNET Connections would give this forecast a 5/8. Not bad considering how inaccurate these predictions tend to be. Before dotNETConnections publishes what we value-adds we think won out, lets hear your thoughts. Comment below!

Vote for our BoFs @ TechEd 2008!

2008-03-24T15:11:00.001-04:00

Vote for our BoF at Microsoft Tech Ed Developers and IT Professionals. We'll be attending both conferences and with your votes, we will be able to run a BoF at both events...

Vote here for Tech Ed Developers and here for Tech Ed IT Professionals ...

Check out our BoF submission below...

Making Sense of All: Heterogeneous Data Access on the .NET Framework 3.5

In this BoF, we’ll peal back the layers on data access from the .NET platform. We’ll look at the common problems facing today’s applications with a particular emphasis on applications who in a multi-faceted, heterogeneous application environment. With all the options now available, available including the Data Access Application Blocks, LINQ, Entity Framework and vanilla ADO.NET which is the one for you? Come armed with your questions, ideas and burning issues and we can promise a lively discussion!

DataDirect acquires Xcalia

2008-03-19T16:57:00.005-04:00

dotNet Connections is delighted to announce that Xcalia has joined DataDirect Technologies family, significantly broadening our already broad data access offerings. More details here...

DAAB Links for 3/17/2008

2008-03-17T13:18:00.005-04:00

Scott Densmore posted on how to get Enterprise Libraries installed and functional with Visual Studio 2008. For those you already using the DataDirect Data Access Application Blocks this gives you all the tools, plus the continued benefits that I've blogged about before in the latest Visual Studio IDE.

http://blogs.msdn.com/scottdensmore/archive/2008/03/13/how-to-get-enterprise-library-3-1-working-in-vs-2008.aspx