Company : Customers : Entrieva

Entrieva Avoids Client Compatibility Issues with DataDirect

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Goal

Fix Oracle client compatibility issues so customers can deploy .NET applications successfully.

Why they embed DataDirect

DataDirect's ADO.NET data providers are built with 100% managed code, which means they provide data access entirely within the .NET Framework. They do not require the use of Oracle's client library software.

Business benefits

Entrieva can offer its customers out-of-the-box connectivity to both Oracle and SQL Server for trouble-free customer evaluations and installations.

Technical benefits

Entrieva's customers don't have to worry about installing or maintaining client library software or the resulting DLL conflicts on client workstations. Performance and security are also improved as the result of staying within the .NET framework with 100% managed code ADO.NET providers.

Entrieva Software's customers have no shortage of data. Rather than suffer under the liability of "too much data," what these customers need is the ability to organize, categorize, and index all of this data so it can be used effectively as an asset. Entrieva's Knowledge Engineer Workbench and the SemioTagger engine (bundled with the Workbench) - now available for .NET - are aimed at power users who work with large volumes of specially catalogued data.

Recently, one of Entrieva's large customers, a major search engine portal, chose Entrieva's new Knowledge Engineer Workbench for Oracle on .NET. This seemed an optimal solution for managing their Oracle data until it was discovered that the data access component was causing major problems.

Multiple, Incompatible Client Library Versions Caused Problems

The problem: Oracle's ADO.NET provider distributed with its database requires the client library software to be installed on the clients. But Oracle issues multiple versions of client library software, depending on the version of the database you're using. Entrieva's customer was housing multiple versions of Oracle databases and applications accessing these databases. To support the .NET application, Oracle client software had to be changed. This was not an option because it would have affected too many other legacy applications that depended on older Oracle client libraries. Multiple, incompatible client library versions would make it impossible to deploy new applications without disrupting everything else.

DataDirect ADO.NET: No Database Client Libraries Necessary

Ajay Sravanapudi, Founder and CTO of Entrieva, solved this problem by coming to DataDirect. "Our customer's existing applications were breaking, so they couldn't use the Oracle ADO.NET provider." Ajay's team tried Connect for ADO.NET, DataDirect's 100% managed code ADO.NET providers. With Connect for ADO.NET, the SemioTagger Engine could quickly and securely access relational data without having to leave the .NET Framework to access client library software. This means that Entrieva's customers don't have to worry about installing or maintaining client library software. And as a bonus, performance got a major boost too.

Ajay was already familiar with DataDirect's history in data access middleware. "As a third-party vendor focused on data connectivity, DataDirect Technologies' drivers and providers offer features absent from components that come bundled with database engines." Entrieva joined the DataDirect family of roughly 300 software vendors by enrolling in the DataDirect Starter Program - an OEM relationship option designed for ISVs who are either entering a new technology (such as .NET) or are just starting to build a customer base. They are using DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET to offer their customers out-of-the-box connectivity to both Oracle and SQL Server, and they made add more database support later.