Devart LinqConnect

LinqConnect is the fast and lightweight ORM solution, which is closely compatible to Microsoft LINQ to SQL and contains its own advanced features, such as complex type support, advanced data fetching options, configurable compiled query caching, and others. LinqConnect is integrated into dotConnect for Oracle, dotConnect for MySQL, dotConnect for PostgreSQL, and dotConnect for SQLite.

LinqConnect includes run time assemblies to be used directly by your code, and a visual tool Entity Developer, which helps you build object-relational model from scratch or by reverse-engineering your database.

What is LINQ?

LINQ stands for Language-Integrated Query, which means that data retrieval is no longer a separate language. The LINQ engine allows .NET applications to connect to databases without bothering much about columns and rows. The data you receive is automatically formed as objects ready to use by your business logic.

LINQ to Relational Data may be thought of as an object-relational mapping (ORM) tool. The type-safe LINQ queries get compiled into MSIL on the fly, and the query clauses are translated into SQL and sent to SQL server for execution. This makes your data access layer safer, faster, and greatly more convenient to design.

Why Use LinqConnect?

Let's briefly enumerate just four main reasons to use LinqConnect in your applications:

  • Development time: it is really faster, having stripped off better part of the mundane work.
  • Maintenance time and effort: greatly designed application does not need as much maintenance as a poorly written one.
  • Performance: high enough without lots of efforts on optimizing your code. Even higher if you bother to do so.
  • Security: LinqConnect enforces good application architecture, which leaves less room for design vulnerabilities.

Key Features

  • Easy to use
  • High performance
  • Interchangeable with Microsoft LINQ to SQL
  • Plain CLR classes used (no need to use a common base class)
  • Full CRUD (Create, Retrieve, Update, Delete) support
  • Complex type support
  • Automatic configurable compiled query caching
  • Data binding support
  • Advanced data fetching options
  • Wide support for server data types
  • Load on demand (lazy load)
  • Identity generation support
  • Database transactions support
  • Inheritance mapping support (table per hierarchy model)
  • Server-independent interface
  • Visual model creation and code generation with Entity Developer

Visual Model Creation

Devart LINQ support includes a powerful visual tool for creating entity model that describes your business objects and their mapping to the database. You can design the model from scratch or reverse-engineer an existing database, in which case you will have the classes and the relations with just several clicks.

Entity Developer Screenshot

Entity Developer generates the classes in C# or Visual Basic. These classes (the model) is used by your application code.

Roadmap

  • Different inheritance mapping models
  • Simultaneous work with several databases
  • Make objects to be shared between different DataContext
  • Optimization of server queries execution for loading objects
  • Dynamic Data Entities Web Site support

Entity Developer

  • Database generation wizard
  • Improvements for visual mapping
  • Database metadata in local storage
  • User-customizable type mapping
  • Custom attributes for model elements
  • More predefined templates for diffrent use cases

Feature Information

Requirements

LinqConnect requires .NET Framework 3.5 installed on the computer.

Documentation And Samples

LinqConnect is shipped with documentation that includes a set of topics that cover LinqConnect usage and run time reference. There are several demo projects in C# and Visual Basic that can help you start using the technology.

You can view the documentation online here. Also there are quick illustrated tutorials for Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite.

Discussion Forum

LinqConnect has a dedicated forum where you can get help on using the technology within Devart dotConnects.