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Entity Framework Query Samples Readme |

The Entity Framework Query Samples application is a test framework for different databases and data providers within ADO.NET Entity Framework. Its goal is to help you learn the features of the different query languages available in the Entity Framework, and to let you visualize how the results and the translated store queries look like.

This package is based on the original work by Microsoft available here: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/EFQuerySamples.

The Devart version of the sample includes support for:

- Oracle 9.2.0.4 or higher using dotConnect for Oracle
- MySQL 5.0 or higher using dotConnect for MySQL
- PostgreSQL 8.0 or higher using dotConnect for PostgreSQL
- SQLite using dotConnect for SQLite
- SQL Server 2000 using standard SqlClient
- SQL Server 2005 using standard SqlClient
- SQL Server 2008 using standard SqlClient
- SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP1 using Mobile Edition of standard SqlClient

#### Requirements

To connect to Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite you will need a Trial or Professional version of the corresponding dotConnect product installed on your system. ADO.NET Entity Framework requires .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 installed. Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 is required to compile the sample.

#### Installation and Configuration

First, create a new copy of NortwhindEF database. The sample contains folder DB, which includes subfolders for every database with scripts or ready-to-use database files.

Second, open the App.config file and adjust connection strings for the databases you are going to use.

After that you can compile and run the sample.

#### Running Samples

There are 2 ways to run samples: interactive mode and batch mode.

To run samples in an interactive mode, compile and run the project without any command-line arguments. Using the tree on the left hand side, locate the interesting sample and click Run. You can run samples against different providers, by selecting them from the drop-down menu.

To run samples in the batch mode, run "SampleQueries.exe /runall /pause". It will open the console where each sample is executed sequentially and any exceptions are reported.

You can also pass "/log filename.txt" which will save results of all samples to a file. To specify different provider, pass "/connectionString cs" where "cs" is the name of the connection string defined in "SampleQueries.exe.config"

For example:

    SampleQueries.exe /log log.txt /connectionString "NorthwindEF (MySQL)" /runall /pause

#### Server Specific Notes

While Oracle and PostgreSQL pass all tests fine, there are some restrictions in less feature-rich engines. The restrictions are not fatal, however, and it is still possible to write a functional EF-powered application with MySQL and SQLite.

MySQL Server does not support some keywords in SQL statements, such as EXCEPT and MINUS. Therefore some queries that are translated to SQL with usage of these clauses fail (some tests for relational and set operators).

In SQLite engine there are limited metadata support, some server functions missing (IndexOf, Floor, etc), and a problem with converting data types. SQLite fails 22 tests.

#### Documentation and Informational Resources

dotConnect products have exhaustive documentation integrated into IDE, where every aspect of using the product is covered in details. The documentation contains reference information, tutorials, and a set of articles that enlight most of dotConnect features. You can also download the documentation in chm format from our site.

There are forums dedicated to dotConnect products and Entity Framework support.

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