In this article I will continue to explain how to build a dynamic LINQ to Entities compiler for any database provider that supports the Ado.net Entity Framework.  See part 1 of building a dynamic linq to entities compiler for background information. This part of the series will cover using the .Net CodeDom Compiler to dynamically execute LINQ queries against an EF model.

We are working on a dynamic LINQ query mechanism for the next major release of VistaDB.  Our goal is to provide a dynamic LINQ execution panel (like LinqPad does for Linq to Sql) in Data Builder.  Users will be able to write LINQ to Entities queries against the database without having to first build an EF model.  We include a default data context object that can be used to write the queries the same way they will appear in your code.

Allow users to write a LINQ query

The first step needed in the process of compiling the query is to allow the user to supply me with the database and query they wish to execute. In this example the user must return their result set to a var named query and use the name “context” for the EF model context.

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Telerik is launching an updated Premium Collection today that includes a new release of the Telerik OpenAccess ORM.  This release supports VistaDB 4 as a targeted database.

This is something we have been holding the lid on for a while, but it is great news for the VistaDB community.  We continue to work with industry leaders to ensure our customers have the most options when it comes to how and where they use their databases.

What is OpenAccess ORM?

All Object Relational Modelers (ORM) are built to allow object oriented languages to map their objects to the relational database model.  There is an mismatch (called the Object relational impedance mismatch) between how things work in a relational database, and how we as object oriented programmers view those objects.  ORM tools aim to ease that process by creating mapping layers that hide the complexity of these problems.

An added benefit to modern ORM tools is that they often encapsulate you from the underlying database (mostly).  Many are now also starting to allow for advanced features like the ability to model your application in objects first, and have the database generated from that model.

From the Telerik website:

Telerik OpenAccess is an Enterprise-grade .Net ORM that does the data access plumbing in desktop and web applications. Supporting both forward (model-first) and reverse (schema-first) mapping, the tool offers transparent persistence for your DAL and business objects. OpenAccess ORM provides tight Visual Studio integration and allows you to seamlessly create database independent code. Take full control of the generated code by customizing the tool and leveraging its advanced features for code optimization and caching.

Visit the OpenAccess ORM Features page to read through their complete list of features.  The list is quite large, and includes a lot of features you won’t find in the Entity Framework.

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