Data Points
Julie Lerman
Entity Framework sometimes reinserts existing objects into databases. In the first of a two-part series, Julie Lerman explains why this happens, and how you can avoid it.
April
2013
Julie Lerman
Explore new features in the first packaged alpha release of Entity Framework 6, including asynchronous processing and custom Code First conventions.
March
2013
Julie Lerman
Applying a concept from domain-driven design—Bounded Context—can help you build a targeted model with Entity Framework.
January
2013
Julie Lerman takes a look at Breeze, an open source data access API that makes working with JavaScript a whole lot easier.
December
2012
Julie Lerman
The new Entity Framework Designer in Visual Studio 2012 gets a couple of big improvements and a slew of smaller ones, all adding up to an enhanced user experience.
November
2012
Julie Lerman
To take advantage of enum support and other features added to Entity Framework in the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5, you need the compatible version of EntityFramework.dll, EF 5. Julie Lerman helps to ease the migration.
September
2012
Julie Lerman
An unfortunate use of a base class to provide logging data for all classes in an Entity Data Model creates chaos in the database. Learn why this happens and how to avoid the problem.
August
2012
Julie Lerman
JSON is an increasingly important format for application development. Make sure you know how to consume OData in JSON format and create WCF Data Services that return JSON.
July
2012
Julie Lerman
Knockout.js brings many benefits to client side web apps. Julie Lerman looks at leveraging it to perform data binding with OData.
June
2012
Julie Lerman
Julie Lerman takes a look at the current preview of SQL Azure Labs Codename “Data Explorer,” and puts it to use to let a customer create his own OData feed.
April
2012
Julie Lerman
Lots of people have lots of questions about Code First and DbContext in Entity Framework 4.2. This month, Julie Lerman shares the answers to some of the most common ones.
March
2012
Julie Lerman
The Entity Framework DbContext API simplifies many of the most common coding tasks, says Julie Lerman, who shows you her three favorite DbContext features.
February
2012
Julie Lerman
The absence of foreign key properties in classes adds some challenges to working in disconnected apps. In this column, Julie Lerman explores behavior with inserts and updates when no foreign key is available and demonstrates how to make Entity Framework toe the line.
January
2012
Julie Lerman
Windows 8 Metro Style adds yet another UI that can consume OData. Julie Lerman helps you sharpen your OData creation skills with WCF Data Services, Code First and the Entity Framework Validation API.
December
2011
Julie Lerman
Our resident database expert explores some of the major players in the NoSQL world and shares what she’s learned. If you’re a database developer wondering what all the fuss is about, this overview of the MongoDB, CouchDB and RavenDB document databases is for you.
November
2011
Julie Lerman
Sometimes useful state information about an Entity Framework context is lost when the context goes out of scope, but Julie Lerman explains how a second-level cache can help retain this information for further use, such as in automatically generated database persistence commands, for example.
September
2011
Julie Lerman
Julie Lerman takes on code generation in her third column exploring important decisions you have to make when using the Entity Framework, while also discussing the ObjectContext vs. DbContext choice and query building options.
July
2011
Julie Lerman
With the Entity Framework, modeling the data is just a first step. You'll also need to use the right tools for querying and loading your data. We'll show you the options and help you choose the right ones for your application.
June
2011
Julie Lerman
The Entity Framework now includes more ways than ever to create a conceptual model, starting first with just your code, a model created with the visual designer, or a legacy database. We help you choose which one’s right for you.
May
2011
Julie Lerman
Julie Lerman struggled for days with some vexing user experience problems related to the WPF DataGrid, so she’s saving you the bother by explaining how she solved them.
April
2011
Julie Lerman
You don't always need to get huge amounts of data with your database queries. See how Julie Lerman uses new features of ASP.NET MVC 3 and Entity Framework to perform efficient server-side paging when you don't need to return those big data payloads.
March
2011
Julie Lerman
OData lets you access data over the Web through simple HTTP commands. We’ll show you how the jQuery DataTables plug-in along with the Microsoft .NET Framework and Silverlight OData client libraries let you retrieve and display this data quickly, easily and with style.
February
2011
Julie Lerman
It’s important to profile your database queries to see what happens in response to Entity Framework queries and other data access activities, says Julie Lerman, who gives you the details on several profiling options to improve you coding.
December
2010
Julie Lerman
Your app may function as expected when you switch to using a cloud database, but profiling and tuning queries to account for the varying effects of network latency can help you boost overall performance.
November
2010
Julie Lerman
With the code first feature in Entity Framework, there is no visual data model and no XML describing that model. You simply create the classes for your application domain and go. We’ll show you this and several other nifty new features in the latest EF CTP.
October
2010
Julie Lerman
Julie Lerman shows database administrators how to limit access to databases from the Entity Framework by allowing it to work only with views and stored procedures instead of tables—without impacting application code or alienating developers.
August
2010
Julie Lerman
Let go of your traditional relational database thinking if you want to understand how Windows Azure Table storage works, says Julie Lerman. Luckily for you, she’s done the hard work to grasp the new concepts and help you get up to speed.
July
2010
Julie Lerman
LINQ's ability to project randomly shaped data into anonymous types can be a blessing and a source of frustration, says Julie Lerman. It’s great when you just need to grab a special view of your data, but it can be problematic in certain circumstances. She explains what the limitations are and how to get around them.
May
2010
Julie Lerman
Did you know that by precompiling LINQ queries you might actually be degrading your app’s performance if you’re not careful? Julie Lerman explains how to ensure you’re not re-precompiling queries each time and losing the expected performance benefits across post-backs, short-lived service operations and other code where critical instances are going out of scope.
March
2010
John Papa
In this month’s column, John Papa shows you how the DataForm control works and how it can be customized. He presents in detail a sample application that uses several features to bind, navigate, edit and validate data using the DataForm.
October
2009
John Papa
In this month’s column, the author shows how binary encoding works, the effect it has on an application’s performance, and how it behaves by demonstrating it in action.
August
2009
John Papa
Silverlight 2 applications are restricted to running inside a browser. However, Silverlight 3 applications can run inside the browser or out. Here we build a social networking app as a standalone Silverlight 3 application.
June
2009
John Papa
ADO.NET Data Services and Silverlight make a powerful combination, but to make them work well together, there are a few things you need to understand. Here, John Papa explains.
April
2009
John Papa
Here we build a syndicated news reader application to illustrate the use of isolated storage and data syndication in Silverlight.
February
2009
John Papa
John Papa tackles questions about calling services from Silverlight 2 applications.
November
2008
John Papa
Here John Papa demonstrates how to build a Silverlight 2 user interface that communicates through WCF to interact with business entities and a database.
September
2008
John Papa
Here we build a solution that fits the Entity Framework into an n-tier architecture that uses WCF and WPF and the MVP pattern.
July
2008
John Papa
The Entity Framework is a hot topic, but how do you know when to use EntityClient, Object Services, Entity SQL, or LINQ? Find out here.
May
2008
John Papa
LINQ to Objects and LINQ to Entities have an arsenal of Standard Query Operators that operate on sequences to perform a wide variety of operations.
March
2008
John Papa
With the Entity Framework, developers are given more flexibility by being able to design around a conceptual model rather than a relational data model. To get started, you need to know how to design an Entity Data Model. John Papa walks you through that process.
February
2008
John Papa
This month John Papa takes a look at developing a mobile application that can access data on your application server.
January
2008
John Papa
WPF is one of the most important new technologies in the .NET Framework 3.0. This month John Papa introduces its data binding capabilities.
December
2007
John Papa
In T-SQL, views and derived tables serve similar purposes and have their advantages. But when working with SQL Server 2005,there's a third option--using Common Table Expressions (CTEs). John Papa explains.
October
2007
John Papa
The new Entity Framework in ADO.NET will let you manipulate data using an object model. John Papa explains.
July
2007
John Papa
SQL Server Management Objects offer developers a robust toolset for backing up and restoring databases, and issuing DDL commands, as John Papa explains.
June
2007
John Papa
What to do when you need to disable triggers and constraints to perform data synchronization and other tasks with an offline database.
April
2007
John Papa
In this column see how to bind a custom list of business entities using the binding tools in the .NET Framework 2.0.
February
2007
John Papa
This month John Papa fields some of his favorite questions regarding data manipulation with ADO.NET.
January
2007
John Papa
John Papa builds a Windows Mobile 5.0 application that reads RSS feeds and loads them into an ADO.NET DataSet.
December
2006
John Papa
The System.Transactions namespace of the Microsoft .NET Framework makes handling transactions much simpler than previous techniques. Read all about it this month.
November
2006
John Papa
Reporting has always been one of the dark arts of development. The tools typically seem to do just enough to get you to a certain point, then leave you to find workarounds to solve more complex issues.
July
2006
John Papa
Many applications require some degree of integration with a reporting tool. A good solution, SQL Server™ Reporting Services 2005, provides Web-based reports and can be integrated into both Windows® Forms and Web-based applications.
June
2006
John Papa
SQL Server 2005 includes several important improvements to the Transact-SQL (T-SQL) language. One added feature is a new kind of trigger that fires when data definition language (DDL) statements run.
May
2006
John Papa
SQL Server 2005 introduces a lot of new features, but it also enhances the popular and oft-used Transact-SQL (T-SQL) language. Changes include the introduction of new datatypes to store large values using the MAX indicator, the integration of enhanced XML querying and data modification with XQuery, and the new XML datatype.
March
2006
John Papa
Several significant enhancements have been made to ADO. NET 2. 0 in the areas of improved performance, increased flexibility, and added features. In my last column (Data Points: DataSet and DataTable in ADO.
January
2006
John Papa
ADO. NET 2. 0 sports some exciting enhancements to the core classes found in ADO. NET 1. x and introduces a variety of new classes, all of which promise to improve performance, flexibility, and efficiency.
November
2005
John Papa
E nterprise applications can have a wide variety of data update requirements. Sometimes you need to save multiple rows of changes at once within a single transaction. Other times, the user must be allowed to enter multiple rows of data, send them to the database in a batch; and if a row or two fails, only the rows that succeeded should be committed and remain committed.
October
2005
John Papa
Last month I explored the foundation of the Enterprise Library Data Access Application Block (DAAB) including how it all fits into an architecture (see Data Points: The Enterprise Library Data Access Application Block, Part 1).
August
2005
John Papa
A solid data access later (DAL) can benefit an application by hiding redundant tasks, helping handle exceptions more gracefully, helping clean up resources more efficiently, and providing a layer of abstraction from the database.
July
2005
John Papa
SQL Server™ 2000 includes several XML features that let you transform relational rowsets into hierarchical XML documents, read XML documents, and bulk load data via XML. For example, you can pass an XML document to a stored procedure, join the XML to some tables and return a rowset, or even modify data in the database.
June
2005
John Papa
When your goal is a scalable and efficient enterprise solution, you need to develop an efficient data-access strategy. You can't just do some testing on your production machines and rely on the results.
May
2005
John Papa
The Microsoft® . NET Framework versions 1. 0 and 1. 1 represented major changes in software development. However, one important thing that did not change much was support for distributed transactions.
February
2005
John Papa
ASP. NET 2. 0 introduces a series of new tools that improve data access including several data source and data bound controls. The new assortment of data source controls can eliminate a ton of repetitive code that was required in ASP.
January
2005
John Papa
Someone once said to me that the hallmark of a good developer is the desire to spend time efficiently. Developers are continually pursuing ways to make coding easier and faster, and to reduce the number of errors.
December
2004
John Papa
Every day a developer somewhere needs to write code to iterate through SQL Server™ system objects, query and update tables in linked servers, handle optimistic concurrency, and retrieve column and stored procedure metadata.
November
2004
John Papa
Enterprise development has been moving towards a discon-nected model in recent years and ADO. NET development is no exception. While the disconnected model of the ADO. NET DataSet offers great flexibility, that adaptability also means looser control over data updates than you get with a connected data access model.
October
2004
John Papa
One of the key features of the ADO. NET DataSet is that it can be a self-contained and disconnected data store. It can contain the schema and data from several rowsets in DataTable objects as well as information about how to relate the DataTable objects—all in memory.
September
2004
John Papa
As you move forward with your use of ADO. NET, you'll need to know how to approach situations that you previously learned to handle in ADO and now have to tackle with ADO. NET. Just as n-tiered solutions developed using Visual Basic®, C++, and ASP often rely on ADO for their data access needs, Windows® Forms, Web Forms, and Web services rely on ADO.
August
2004
John Papa
In recent years ADO has taken the lead as the preferred method for implementing data access in Windows®-based applications. Huge numbers of ADO applications are in use today and many developers are well versed in ADO development.
July
2004
John Papa
Dealing with error handling between T-SQL and a calling application, evaluating when a field's value has changed, and creating auditing tables in SQL Server™ are all common issues that developers must tackle.
April
2004
John Papa
How do you know which technique is best for retrieving data and populating a DataSet in ADO.NET?. Since the Microsoft .NET Framework offers so many choices on how to write the code, many developers are now taking a close look at the different options. See what they are.
June
2003
John Papa
There are a number of ways to handle paging in Web applications. This month I'll examine several paging techniques and weigh their pros and cons. John Papa discusses how to manage paging and caching issues through the lower tiers of an n-tiered architecture, including how to make SQL Server manage the paging on your app's behalf.
May
2003
John Papa
Managing relations in a database became a whole lot easier with ADO. NET. Instead of returning a single rowset to a data store, you can return a series of rowsets and relate them within a DataSet. There are numerous advantages to using related DataTables in ADO.
January
2003
John Papa
One of the biggest differences between traditional ADO and ADO. NET is that the rowsets stored within ADO. NET can be truly relational. For example, a DataSet can store one DataTable containing customers and another DataTable containing the customers' orders.
November
2002