Sample ADO.NET Entity Framework Provider - Beta 3

We've updated the sample provider to work with Beta 3 of the ADO.NET Entity Framework. The sample provider is available for download as an attachment to this blog post.

The sample provider has undergone some minor changes in moving from Beta 2 to Beta 3. The biggest such in the sample provider is due to changes in the provider manifest. To help provider writers better understand how provider manifests are used in Beta 3, we've included the provider manifest spec along with the sample provider.

As with previous builds, the sample provider wraps System.Data.SqlClient and demonstrates the functionality a provider needs to add in order to support the ADO.NET Entity Framework. The solution that contains the sample provider also includes a modified version of the Entity Framework Query Samples project. The modified project uses the sample provider rather than System.Data.SqlClient.

You'll also find a new project in the solution - ExtendedProvider. This project leverages the sample provider and the Data Designer Extensibility (DDEX) that's part of Visual Studio 2008 to demonstrate how to make an ADO.NET provider available through the various Visual Studio designers, including the ADO.NET Entity Framework Designer.

If you're writing an ADO.NET provider for the Entity Framework and you're not already in touch with me, please drop me a line at David (dot) Sceppa (at) microsoft (dot) com. Enjoy!

David Sceppa

ADO.NET Program Manager

Microsoft Corporation