IBM Cloud SQL ADO.NET Provider

ADO.NET Provider Overview

The IBM Cloud SQL ADO.NET Provider offers the most natural way to access IBM Cloud Sql data from any .NET application. Simply use IBM Cloud SQL Data Provider objects to connect and access data just as you would access any traditional database. You will be able to use the IBM Cloud SQL Data Provider through Visual Studio Server Explorer, in code through familiar classes, and in data controls like DataGridView, GridView, DataSet, etc.

Using the IBM Cloud SQL Data Provider

The IBM Cloud SQL Data Provider wraps the complexity of accessing IBM Cloud Sql services in an easy-to-integrate, fully managed ADO.NET Data Provider. Applications then access IBM Cloud Sql through the IBM Cloud SQL Data Provider with simple Transact-SQL.

The CData ADO.NET Provider for IBM Cloud SQL hides the complexity of accessing data and provides additional powerful security features, smart caching, batching, socket management, and more.

Working with DataAdapters, DataSets, DataTables, etc.

The IBM Cloud SQL Data Provider has the same ADO.NET architecture as the native .NET data providers for SQL Server and OLEDB, including: IBMCloudSqlConnection, IBMCloudSqlCommand, IBMCloudSqlDataAdapter, IBMCloudSqlDataReader, IBMCloudSqlDataSource, IBMCloudSqlParameter, etc. Because of this you can now access IBM Cloud Sql data in an easy, familiar way.

For example:

using (IBMCloudSqlConnection conn = new IBMCloudSqlConnection("...")) {
	string select = "SELECT * FROM IBMCloudSQLTables";
	IBMCloudSqlCommand cmd = new IBMCloudSqlCommand(select, conn);
	IBMCloudSqlDataAdapter adapter = new IBMCloudSqlDataAdapter(cmd);
	using (adapter) {
		DataTable table = new DataTable();
		adapter.Fill(table);		
		...
	}
}

Driver Features

• Fully-managed .NET: 100% fully managed ADO.NET libraries supporting .NET Standard, .NET Core 2.0, & Xamarin.
• Developer Friendly: Seamless integration with all versions of Visual Studio.
• Powerful ADO.NET Features: Including support for ADO.NET Entity Framework (EF 5 & 6), ADO.NET 2.0, LINQ to Datasets, etc.
• Replication and Caching: Our replication and caching commands make it easy to copy data to local and cloud data stores such as Oracle, SQL Server, Google Cloud SQL, etc. The replication commands include many features that allow for intelligent incremental updates to cached data.
• String, Date, Numeric SQL Functions: The driver includes a library of 50 plus functions that can manipulate column values into the desired result. Popular examples include Regex, JSON, and XML processing functions.
• Collaborative Query Processing: Our drivers enhance the data source's capabilities by additional client side processing, when needed, to enable analytic summaries of data such as SUM, AVG, MAX, MIN, etc.
• Easily Customizable and Configurable: The data model exposed by our ADO.NET Providers can easily be customized to add or remove tables/columns, change data types, etc. without requiring a new build. These customizations are supported at runtime using human-readable schema files that are easy to edit.
• Secure Connectivity: Includes standard Enterprise-class security features such as TLS/ SSL data encryption for all client-server communications.

ADO.NET Provider Performance

With traditional approaches to remote access, performance bottlenecks can spell disaster for applications. Regardless if an application is created for internal use, a commercial project, web, or mobile application, slow performance can rapidly lead to project failure. Accessing data from any remote source has the potential to create these problems. Common issues include:

1. Network Connections - Slow network connections and latency issues are common in mobile applications.
2. Service Delays - Delays due to service interruptions, resulting in server hardware or software updates.
3. Large Data - Intentional or unintentional requests for large amounts of data.
4. Disconnects - Complete loss of network connectivity.

The CData ADO.NET Provider for IBM Cloud SQL solves these issues by supporting powerful smart caching technology that can greatly improve the performance and dramatically reduce application bottlenecks.

Smart Caching

Smart caching is a configurable option that works by storing queried data into a local database. Enabling smart caching creates a persistent local cache database that contains a replica of data retrieved from the remote source. The cache database is small, lightweight, blazing-fast, and it can be shared by multiple connections as persistent storage.

Caching with our ADO.NET Providers is highly configurable, including options for:

• Auto Cache - Maintain an automatic local cache of data on all requests. The provider will automatically load data into the cache database each time you execute a SELECT query. Each row returned by the query will be inserted or updated as necessary into the corresponding table in the cache database.
• Explicit Cache - Cache only on demand. Developers decide exactly what data gets stored in the cache and when it is updated. Explicit caching provides full control over the cache contents by using explicit execution of CACHE statements.
• No Cache - All requests access only live data and no local cache file is created.

This powerful caching functionality increases application performance and allows applications to disconnect and continue limited functioning without writing code for additional local storage and/or data serialization/deserialization.

More information about ADO.NET Provider caching and best caching practices is available in the included help files.

Getting Started with IBM Cloud SQL ADO.NET Provider

Working with the new IBM Cloud SQL ADO.NET Provider is easy. As a fully-managed .NET Data Provider, the IBM Cloud SQL Data Provider integrates seamlessly with the Visual Studio development environment as well as any .NET application.

Visual Studio Integration - Server Explorer

As an ADO.NET Data Provider, IBM Cloud SQL ADO.NET Provider can be used to access and explore IBM Cloud SQL data directly from the Visual Studio Server Explorer.

Winforms DataGrid Integration

Connecting Web, Desktop, and Mobile .NET applications with IBM Cloud SQL is just like working with SQL Server. It is even possible to integrate IBM Cloud SQL ADO.NET Provider into applications without writing code.

IBM Cloud SQL ADO.NET Provider Resources:

Take a look at some of our most popular articles from our knowledge base:

• Access IBM Cloud Sql with Entity Framework 6
• DataBind IBM Cloud Sql to the DevExpress Data Grid
• LINQ to IBM Cloud Sql
• Visualize IBM Cloud Sql in TIBCO Spotfire through ADO.NET

For more articles and technical content related to IBM Cloud SQL ADO.NET Provider, please visit our online knowledge base.