What's New in ADO.NET Data Services

Note
This topic describes new functionality in ADO.NET Data Services that is available as an update to the .NET Framework version 3.5 Service Pack 1. You can download and install the update from the Microsoft Download Center.

The following functionality is new in this release of ADO.NET Data Services:

Data binding

A new DataServiceCollection class provides simplified binding of data service data to Windows Presentation Framework (WPF) controls. This class inherits from the ObservableCollection class to automatically update bound data when there are changes to data in bound controls. For more information, see Binding Data to Controls (ADO.NET Data Services).

Counting entities in an entity set

A new $count path segment enables you to receive only the total number of resources returned by a URI. For more information, see Special Resource Paths (ADO.NET Data Services).

A new $inlinecount query option enables you to receive the same total resource count together with the resource data in a single response. For more information, see Query Expressions (ADO.NET Data Services).

The .NET Framework client library has been updated to enable you to access this row count information in a query response in your application. For more information, see Querying the Data Service (ADO.NET Data Services).

Server-driven paging

A data service can now be configured to return requested resources as a set of paged responses. For more information, see Configuring the Data Service (ADO.NET Data Services).

The .NET Framework client library has been updated to enable you to handle paged responses. For more information, see Loading Deferred Content (ADO.NET Data Services).

Query Projections

Query results can now be modified to include only a subset of properties by using the new $select query option. For more information, see Query Expressions (ADO.NET Data Services).

The .NET Framework client library has been updated to support projection by using the select clause (Select in Visual Basic) in a LINQ query. For more information, see Query Projections (ADO.NET Data Services).

Custom data service providers

By implementing a set of new data service provider interfaces, you can use various types of data with a data service, even when the data model changes during execution. For more information, see Data Services Providers (ADO.NET Data Services).

Streaming of binary resources

According to the AtomPub specification, an entity can be defined as Media Link Entry, with a link to an associated Media Resource. This enables you to retrieve and save binary large object data independent of the entity to which it belongs. You can create a data service that returns binary property data as a stream instead of first loading the entire entity, including binary data, into memory. Do this by implementing the IDataServiceStreamProvider interface.

The .NET Framework client library has been updated to allow you to get and set binary properties as a data stream. For more information, see Loading Deferred Content (ADO.NET Data Services).