Support of the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0

This document discusses the benefits of migrating to the Microsoft .NET Framework. It describes easier ways to build and deploy software that lets you connect information, computers, and customers. With the .NET technology, you can build, deploy, and use solutions with Web services.

The .NET programming model is different from existing programming models. For Windows developers, migration of existing applications is complex. For example, logic for some ADO functionality is different, and must be rewritten for ADO.NET.

ADO.NET (the data access portion of the .NET Framework) provides advantages of increased performance, scalability, and interoperability. An ADO.NET data provider that uses only managed code offers enhanced performance and granular security (see "The Importance of Managed Code for .NET Performance and Security" for more information).

Using managed ADO.NET data providers offers the broadest support for your database. For this reason, DataDirect Technologies does not support the use of our ODBC drivers and ADO data providers to connect to the .NET Framework with the ODBC and OLE DB data access bridges.

NOTE: This document refers to the ADO.NET 2.0 Common Programming Model and MetaData capabilities introduced in the Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework. If you are using an earlier version of the .NET Framework or the DataDirect Connect for .NET 2.2 data providers, refer to for .NET 2.2 data providers, refer to "DataDirect Technologies' Support of the .NET Framework".

DataDirect Support for the .NET Framework Topics: (Click to view topic.)

Advantages of Using the Microsoft .NET Framework

The Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 builds on and improves features in the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1, providing even more provides ease of data access and deployment, as well as performance improvements.

.NET would not be complete without support for high-performance database access. Under the .NET Framework, data access is handled by ADO.NET, which is an evolution of the existing ADO standard. ADO.NET offers several advantages over other data access solutions:

  • Interoperability. ADO.NET can cache data in XML capable objects called datasets. Any component that can read XML format can process information from an ADO.NET dataset.

  • Scalability and performance. Internet applications can have an extremely large number of users, and applications that consume resources such as database locks and database ions cannot serve large numbers of users efficiently. ADO.NET can use dised access to data; therefore, ADO.NET does not have to retain database locks or active database ions for an extended time.

  • Simplified programming model. ADO.NET has relatively few objects that are necessary to access databases, and the objects themselves are not nearly as complex as those in traditional ADO. In fact, many .NET programmers today are writing complete applications that use only five different ADO.NET objects in their code; the ion, Command, CommandBuilder, Data Adapter, and DataSet objects.

  • Common Programming Model. This model, introduced in the .NET Framework 2.0, provides a single API to access databases across multiple Microsoft data providers. Using the Provider Factories allows the developer to write code that is not dependent on the data provider and to choose which data provider(s) to load at runtime. DataDirect providers fully support the Common Programming Model.

In addition to supporting the existing versions of the Microsoft .NET Framework, DataDirect Technologies fully supports ADO.NET 2.0 functionality in the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 for the DataDirect Connect® for ADO.NET 3.0 data providers. DataDirect for .NET 2.2 has been certified for running on the .NET Framework 2.0. This means that any applications built with Visual Studio 2005 are now supported. Applications that were built using the ADO.NET 1.x API can run on the .NET Framework 2.0, after being re-compiled using the .NET Framework 2.0.

DataDirect Technologies is committed to supporting the Microsoft .NET Framework with the fastest and most functional ADO.NET managed data providers on the market.

DataDirect Technologies products are unquestionably the industry leaders among data access technology in today's market. Our middleware technology is the data connectivity backbone for dataware applications from over 250+ vendors, including Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase, Informix, CA, and IBM, and is also the data connectivity backbone for internal applications within most Fortune 100 companies.

Our Support of Microsoft ADO.NET

DataDirect for ADO.NET 3.0 adds performance and usability features to our 100% managed data providers. These are native wire protocol data providers. Using wire protocols eliminates the need for the native database's wire API and boosts the speed at which data can be accessed. Using wire protocols also allows these data providers to be comprised completely of managed code; they do not have to call out to unmanaged code—code outside of the .NET environment—in the form of database clients. Calling unmanaged code from managed code causes a data provider to be significantly slower than data providers that use only managed code.

Migrating to Microsoft ADO.NET

We believe that you, as an application developer, will want to take advantage of many of the great new features in ADO.NET. DataDirect Technologies is there to support you with the fastest and most functional ADO.NET data providers on the market.

Developing New ADO.NET Applications

Newly developed ADO.NET applications have no migration cost other than the time invested in learning ADO.NET. ADO.NET is different than other generic database interfaces (such as ADO and ODBC) in that it:

  • Provides you with more control over what happens between the data provider and the database than either ADO or ODBC. With previous versions of the .NET Framework, the price of this control was the loss of many benefits that a generic database interface gives you. The .NET Framework 2.0 introduced ProviderFactory classes that allow you to program generically against heterogeneous data sources.

    In addition to supporting these classes, the DataDirect for ADO.NET 3.0 data providers standardize some of the database-specific calls so that you do not need to know what the underlying database requires. For example, the ADO.NET specification does not describe a standard parameter marker. But, DataDirect Technologies has standardized parameter markers that you can use in your applications in the same way no matter which DataDirect Technologies ADO.NET data provider you are using.

  • Provides a generic interface to allow application access to database schema metadata. No other vendor provides an application with a consistent view of the data source metadata across all backends – Oracle, DB2, Sybase, Microsoft SQL Server.

  • Provides generic classes that allow you to write code that does not name a specific data provider. This feature, which was introduced in the .NET Framework 2.0, eliminates the requirement to know which data provider you were using. In some cases; however, differences between specific objects contained in the data providers will still require special handling by the developer.

Rewriting ADO Applications to ADO.NET Applications

We believe that migrating from ADO to ADO.NET remains a major undertaking. Even with the generic objects introduced in the .NET Framework 2.0, accessing data with ADO.NET is easier if you are using a single database and know what its schema and data look like at application design time.

First, you must rewrite all of the ADO calls that are currently in your ADO application. The new interfaces in ADO.NET are not the same as those in ADO. Most of the existing ADO functionality exists in ADO.NET, but it requires the use of the new objects and methods. So, to write an equivalent application, you must change all of your ADO calls. Microsoft provides wizards to help you do this, but even with the wizards, you will have to rewrite a lot of your code.

The Common Programming Model simplifies coding. Using objects such as DbConnection lets you get away from the provider-specific names required in earlier versions of the .NET Framework.

As you can see, you will need to make a significant investment to move to ADO.NET, but the benefits of doing so will convince you to make the move, especially if you are writing new Web services-based applications.

The Problem with Using the OLE DB and ODBC Bridges

We know you will get the most out of ADO.NET by using database-specific managed providers that can provide the most support for your database. Therefore, DataDirect Technologies does not provide support for anyone using our ODBC drivers or ADO data providers (DataDirect Connect products and SequeLink) with the OLE DB and ODBC data access bridges.

Here are some compelling reasons why we think you will not want to use these bridges:

  • The bridges must call unmanaged code (code outside of the .NET environment), eliminating many of the advantages of the .NET managed environment, such as granular security and enhanced performance. Why take the performance hit?

  • If you use a bridge, your code will be written for this bridge and must later be rewritten to use a database-specific ADO.NET data provider when it becomes available. The reasons discussed previously that explain why moving from ADO to ADO.NET is a major undertaking apply here also: object names, schema information, error handling, and parameters; you will have to rewrite these parts of your code when you change from a bridge to an ADO.NET data provider.

DataDirect Technologies has managed ADO.NET data providers for Oracle, Sybase, DB2, and Microsoft SQL Server. The SequeLink Client for .NET offers a managed data provider solution for other major databases. You'll save valuable time and resources by coding to these data providers instead of to the bridges.

Our Support for the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0

The .NET Framework 2.0 enhances data access through the addition of new data access controls and services, as well as through improvements to the ADO.NET namespaces themselves. These enhancements focus on ease-of-use, code reusability, and improved support for XML. DataDirect is fully committed to supporting the new features of the .NET Framework 2.0.

One such enhancement is the Common Programming Model, which provides a single API to access databases across multiple ADO.NET 2.0-compatible data providers. Using the Provider Factories allows the developer to write code that is not dependent on the data provider and to choose which data provider(s) to load at runtime. DataDirect providers fully support the Common Programming Model.

Initial versions of the .NET Framework provided a strong core of functionality for data access developers. The .NET Framework 2.0 provides additional classes to further increase developer productivity. Tracing support for the Microsoft ADO.NET data providers has been improved, allowing fine-grained debugging of data access components across multiple tiers and into .NET Framework managed code, as well as native code. DataDirect Technologies ADO.NET data providers have always supported tracing. Our ADO.NET data providers trace the input arguments to all of their public method calls, as well as the outputs and returns from those methods (anything that a user could potentially call).

The .NET Framework 2.0 also introduced "ClickOnce Deployment," the next generation of their No-Touch Deployment (see "No-Touch Deployment FAQ"), for use with managed code applications. Windows client applications installed using ClickOnce Deployment support running applications offline, rolling back to previous versions of an application, and listing an application in the Windows Start menu and the Remove Programs catalog within the Control Panel. ClickOnce Deployment also enables developers to distribute the .NET Framework with a Windows client application. DataDirect for ADO.NET 3.0 data providers support ClickOnce Deployment.

Along with the .NET Framework 2.0, Microsoft released Visual Studio 2005. Visual Studio 2005 contains wizards and tools to help the developer write database access code and to explore database servers as they write code (for example, developers can look at lists of tables, columns in a table, stored procedures, and so on). DataDirect for ADO.NET 3.0 data providers are integrated with the database wizards and tools exposed in Visual Studio 2005.

Conclusion

Moving to the Microsoft .NET Framework to support your Web service applications is a great decision. When you use an ADO.NET data provider, you get improved scalability and performance, as well as increased interoperability through the use of XML-capable objects called datasets. The .NET Framework 2.0 enhances data access through the addition of new data access controls and services. These enhancements focus on ease-of-use, code reusability, and improved support for XML.

DataDirect Technologies is committed to supporting the .NET Framework and providing the fastest and most functional ADO.NET data providers:

  • Using wire protocols eliminates the need for the native database's wire API and client software, and enhances the speed at which data can be accessed.

  • Using managed code delivers scalability, security, and performance improvements.

DataDirect Technologies offers the following ADO.NET data providers built with 100% managed code that support the .NET Framework Version 2.0:

  • DataDirect Connect® for ADO.NET 3.0 DB2 data provider

  • DataDirect Connect® for ADO.NET 3.0 Oracle data provider

  • DataDirect Connect® for ADO.NET 3.0 SQL Server data provider

  • DataDirect Connect® for ADO.NET 3.0 Sybase data provider

Existing code written for earlier versions of the .NET Framework and earlier versions of DataDirect for .NET is compatible with the 3.0 version of the data providers. Note that the applications must be re-compiled using the .NET Framework 2.0.

However, if your applications require Windows 98 and Windows Me and/or the .NET Framework 1.x, you can use the DataDirect for .NET 2.2 data providers, which DataDirect will continue to make available.