Using ODBC with Entity Developer

reggie · Post by **reggie** » Mon 11 Jul 2011 03:46

What drivers, product, etc do I need to download to connect to a database via ODBC?

I've tried the dotConnect Univerisal, but I don't see any new available selections for ODBC, I only see a the SQL Server database connection option.

AndreyR · Post by **AndreyR** » Mon 11 Jul 2011 12:50

Could you please specify the scenario you are planning to use ODBC in?
You are mentioning Entity Developer, so I suppose you are planning to use one of ORMs - Entity Framework, LinqConnect, or NHibernate. Could you please specify the ORM you are going to proceed with?

reggie · Post by **reggie** » Mon 11 Jul 2011 12:57

Entity Framework.

AndreyR · Post by **AndreyR** » Mon 11 Jul 2011 14:19

I recommend you to take a look at our Entity Framework Query Samples.
They describe how to use several storage models with one conceptual model.
Take a look at this blog article as well.
Hope these links describe the scenario you are interested in.

reggie · Post by **reggie** » Mon 11 Jul 2011 16:02

I didn't describe my issue clear enough.

I'm currently using Entity Developer for SQL Server to create my Model, this works.

I also have another database that I want to do the samething with, but I can only access this database via ODBC.

What "driver"/dotConnect do I use to generate a model thru a ODBC connection?

Thanks

AndreyR · Post by **AndreyR** » Tue 12 Jul 2011 11:48

We are not working with ODBC in our Entity Framework support.
Sorry for the inconvenience.

reggie · Post by **reggie** » Tue 12 Jul 2011 12:52

I thought dotConnect Universal allowed connecting via ODBC or other ADO.NET providers?

Below is a quote from the dotConnect Universal product...

"dotConnect Universal offers universal access to data of different databases for the Microsoft .NET Framework. It supports most of major database servers, including Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, Oracle, DB2, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, InterBase, and Firebird. Other servers can be accessed through their ADO.NET, OLE DB and ODBC providers. "

Does dotConnect Universal work thru Entity Developer just like the other dotConnect products such as MySQL, SQLLite,PostgreSQL, etc?

AndreyR · Post by **AndreyR** » Tue 12 Jul 2011 12:58

You are correct about dotConnect Universal and ODBC support.
However, dotConnect Universal does not contain the Entity Framework (and LinqConnect) support, and Entity Developer does not provide support for dotConnect Universal as well.

reggie · Post by **reggie** » Tue 12 Jul 2011 15:46

I guess it's confusing that your dotConnect products provide a bridge to the Entity Developer, except the Universal product.

So is it safe to say that if you don't use NHibernate, you can use Entity Developer ONLY with the dotConnect providers (excluding Universal) that are available?

So even if I have an ADO.NET Providers drivers installed, I can't use it with Entity Developer?

Thanks

AndreyR · Post by **AndreyR** » Wed 13 Jul 2011 12:59

Yes, Devart Entity models provide support only for dotConnect for Oracle/PostgreSQL/MySQL/SQLite, and Microsoft EF Provider for SQL Server.
Devart LinqConnect models support dotConnects only, and the Devart LINQ to SQL model works only with Microsoft SQL Server.