SQL Anywhere and the ADO.NET Entity Framework - Sybase

SQL Anywhere and the ADO.NET Entity 

Framework 

A WHITEPAPER FROM SYBASE IANYWHERE 

www.sybase.com/ianywhere

Contents: 

Introduction...............................................................................................................................................1 

Requirements ........................................................................................................................................................1 

SQL Anywhere .NET Integration Tools ......................................................................................................2 

Create an Entity Data Model from a SQL Anywhere Database.................................................................3 

View the Entity Data Model in the Entity Designer...................................................................................4 

Bind Data to Controls ................................................................................................................................5 

Extend the Entity Data Model ...................................................................................................................7 

Other Data Access Methods....................................................................................................................10 

Object Services ....................................................................................................................................................10 

EntityClient Provider............................................................................................................................................11 

Summary and Additional Resources .......................................................................................................12 

Revision History 

Version 1.1 - July 2010 

SQL Anywhere and the ADO.NET Entity Framework 

Version 1.1 - March 200910 

i

Introduction 

This whitepaper describes how database application developers can use SQL Anywhere 12 and the ADO.NET 

Entity Framework to build database-driven applications. This whitepaper also describes how the Language 

Integrated Query (LINQ) to Entities, Object Services, and the EntityClient Provider methodologies can be 

used to access data stored inside a SQL Anywhere database. 

The ADO.NET Entity Framework is a new technology from Microsoft that simplifies the development of data 

aware applications and reduces the amount of code database application developers must write. Typically, 

databases are designed by database administrators who ensure that all information is stored in schemas 

optimized for data retrieval. Although these schemas provide efficient access to data, they are not the best 

method of representing the business objects required by applications. Often, programmers must design and 

implement methods for transforming the data stored in relational systems into robust and reusable objects 

that are integral parts of enterprise solutions. The ADO.NET Entity Framework provides an intuitive 

approach to designing business logic based on relational data. 

The ADO.NET Entity Framework introduces the Entity Data Model (EDM) which is a conceptual view of the 

data used in the application. Often, existing database schemas contain large amounts of data, and only a 

subset of this data is required by client programs. For example, a Microsoft Windows client application that 

processes online orders may only require information about customers, products, and orders. Instead of 

including all the database tables in the EDM, the developer provides only the tables that are relevant to the 

application. 

Requirements 

The following software is required to complete the procedures in this document: 

• SQL Anywhere 12 or higher – obtain a free Developer Edition of SQL Anywhere from this location: 

http://www.sybase.com/detail?id=1016644 

• Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 with Service Pack 1 or higher 

• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 with Service Park 1 or higher 



1

SQL Anywhere .NET Integration Tools 

The SQL Anywhere setup program automatically installs the .NET integration components to your Visual 

Studio 2008 installation. However, if you install Visual Studio 2008 after installing SQL Anywhere, you must 

install the SQL Anywhere integration tools: 

• Ensure Visual Studio is not running. 

• Open a Command Prompt and navigate to the following directory: 

C:\Program Files\SQL Anywhere 12\Assembly\v2 

• Run the following command: 

SetupVSPackage.exe /i 

If you want to un-install the integration tools: 

• Run the following command at the same directory: 

SetupVSPackage.exe /u 

2 SQL Anywhere and the ADO.NET Entity Framework 

Version 1.1 - March 200910

Create an Entity Data Model from a SQL Anywhere 

Database 

A SQL Anywhere database can also be used to create a new entity data model defined in Visual Studio 2008. 

Follow the steps below to add the SQL Anywhere 12 Demo database as a EDM to your project. 

1. Right-click your project, click Add New Item > ADO.NET Entity Data Model. 

2. In the Name field, type SADemo.edmx. Click Add. 

3. Select Generate from database and click Next. 

4. Skip step 4 – 6 if the default connection is SQL Anywhere.demo12. Otherwise, click New 

Connection. 

5. In the Data source list, click SQL Anywhere. Click Continue. 

6. Click ODBC Data Source name and select SQL Anywhere 12 Demo. Click OK. 

7. Click Next. 

� If the ADO.NET Entity Data Model does not show up, verify Visual Studio 2008 Service 

Pack 1 and Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 with Service Pack 1 are installed properly. 

� If SQL Anywhere does not appear in the Data source list, verify the SQL Anywhere 

integration components are installed properly. 

8. Include all database objects in the model and click Finish. 

� If you are using Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0, clear the Pluralize or singularize generated 

object names checkbox and click Finish. 



3

View the Entity Data Model in the Entity Designer 

When you create an entity data model, a visual representation of the model appears in the Entity Designer. 

In the diagram below, the generated properties and associations match the database schema. 

This diagram illustrates that the entity is properly mapped to the database schema. 



Bind Data to Controls 

Use the following procedure to add a single DataGridView control to display the information stored in the 

SQL Anywhere database. 

LINQ to Entities are used in step 10 of this procedure to allow the use of the IntelliSense (auto completion) 

feature of Visual Studio. Through the use of tool tips and IntelliSense, Visual Studio can help programmers 

detect and avoid application runtime errors. 

1. On the Data menu, click Show Data Sources. 

2. Click Add New Data Source. 

3. On the Data Source Type list, click Object. Click Next. 

4. Expand the Model list and click Customers. Click Next. 

5. Click Finish. 

6. In the Data Sources window, drag the Customer object to your main form. The DataGridView and 

BindingControlNavigator controls that display the records stored in the database are generated. 

7. In the Load event pane of the main form, add the following code to bind the Customer object to the 

data grid: 

C# 

var saEntities = new SA12EntityFramework.Entities(); 

// Retrieve the list of customers from the EDM 

var customers = saEntities.Customers; 

// Bind the customers object to the data grid 

customersBindingSource.DataSource = customers; 

VB.NET 

Dim saEntities As New SA12EntityFrameworkVB.Entities 

' Retrieve the list of customers from the EDM 

Dim customers = saEntities.Customers 

' Bind the customers object to the data grid 

CustomersDataGridView.DataSource = customers 

8. Run the project to view the list of customers in the data grid. 

9. Close the sample application. 

10. In the Load event pane of the main form, add the following code to display only Canadian 

customers in the data grid: 

C# 


// Retrieve the list of Canadian customers from the EDM 

var customers = from c in saEntities.Customers 



5

where c.Country == "Canada" 

select c; 

// Bind the customers object to the data grid 

customersBindingSource.DataSource = customers; 



' Retrieve the list of Canadian customers from the EDM 

Dim customers = From c In saEntities.Customers _ 

Where c.Country Is "Canada" _ 

Select c 


' Retrieve the list of Canadian customers from the EDM 

Dim customers = From c In saEntities.Customers _ 

Where c.Country Is "Canada" _ 

Select c 

' Bind the customers object to the data grid 

CustomersDataGridView.DataSource = customers 

11. Run the project and verify that only Canadian customers appear. 

12. Close the sample application. 



Extend the Entity Data Model 

The code generated for the Entity Data Model indicates that it is a partial class entity. Database application 

developers can extend a partial class entity to include properties and methods that complete business 

objects. 

Use the following procedure to add new class files with two methods of retrieving information to the 

sample application. This procedure assumes that the developer cannot change the database schema. So, the 

logic is added by extending the Entity Data Model. 

1. Add a new class file to the project and change the code to the following: 

C# 

namespace SA12EntityFramework 

{ 

} 

public partial class Entities 

{ 

} 


public List AvailableColours() 

{ 

} 

var colours = (from Products p in this.Products 

orderby p.Color 

return colours.ToList(); 

select p.Color).Distinct(); 

public List GetColourProducts(string colour) 

{ 

} 

var prods = from Products p in this.Products 

where p.Color == colour 

select p; 

return prods.ToList(); 

Partial Public Class Entities 

Public Function AvailableColours() As List(Of String) 

Dim colours As IQueryable(Of String) 

colours = (From Products In Me.Products _ 

Order By Products.Color _ 



7

Select Products.Color).Distinct() 

Return colours.ToList() 

End Function 

Public Function GetColourProducts(ByVal colour As String) _ 

As List(Of Products) 

Dim prods As IQueryable(Of Products) 

prods = From Products In Me.Products _ 

Where Products.Color Is colour _ 

Select Products 

Return prods.ToList() 

End Function 

End Class 

2. In the pane below the data grid, add a combo box, a list box, and a Get Products button to the main 

form. These controls display the results of the two methods added in step 1. 

3. In the Load event pane of the main form, add the following code: 

C# 


var colours = saEntities.AvailableColours(); 

// Add each colour to combo box 

foreach (var c in colours) 

{ 

comboBox1.Items.Add(c.ToString()); 

} // foreach 

Dim colours = saEntities.AvailableColours() 

' Add each colour to the combo box 

For Each c In colours 

Next 

ComboBox1.Items.Add(c.ToString()) 

4. Add the following code to the button click event: 

C# 

listBox1.Items.Clear(); 

string colour = comboBox1.SelectedItem.ToString(); 


var available = saEntities.GetColourProducts(colour); 

// Add product to list box 




foreach (var a in available) 

{ 

listBox1.Items.Add(a.Name.ToString()); 

} // foreach 

ListBox1.Items.Clear() 

Dim colour = ComboBox1.SelectedItem.ToString() 


Dim available = saEntities.GetColourProducts(colour) 

' Add product to list box 

For Each a In available 

Next 

5. Run the project. 

ListBox1.Items.Add(a.Name.ToString()) 

The AvailableColours method retrieves a unique list of the colours in the Products table and 

populates the combo box. The GetColourProducts method retrieves a list of the Products entity type 

that matches the LINQ query. 



9

Other Data Access Methods 

In addition to LINQ to Entities, developers can use Object Services and the EntityClient Provider to access 

SQL Anywhere data. 

Object Services 

For this method, Entity SQL is used to query the Entity Data Model. Using Object Services minimizes the 

amount of code required to write data access modules, and results in an object whose contents can easily 

be retrieved using a “for each” loop. For example, drag another Listbox to the form and replace the lines in 

the From1_Load event with the following: 

C# 



// Query EDM using the Object Services 

var contacts = 

saEntities.CreateQuery( 

@"select c.GivenName, c.Surname 

from Entities.Contacts as c"); 

// Add the contact's first name and last name to the list box 

foreach (var record in contacts) 

{ 

listBox2.Items.Add( 

record.GetString(0) + " " + record.GetString(1)); 

} // foreach 


' Query EDM using Object Services 

Dim contacts = saEntities.CreateQuery( _ 

Of System.Data.Common.DbDataRecord) _ 

("select c.GivenName, c.Surname from Entities.Contacts as c") 

' Add the contact's first name and last name to the list box 

For Each record In contacts 

Next 

ListBox2.Items.Add(record.GetString(0) + " " _ 

+ record.GetString(1)) 



EntityClient Provider 

For this method, Entity SQL is used in a manner similar to the method used to access data with the ADO.NET 

provider. Before the development of the Entity Framework, programmers developed SQL Anywhere 

applications with ADO.NET with connection, command, and data reader objects. The EntityClient Provider 

offers a similar way of accessing data, but the Entity Data Model is queried instead of the database. When 

using the EntityClient Provider, programmers can use connections and commands in the form of 

“EntityConnections” and “EntityCommands”. For example, drag another Listbox to the form and replace the 

lines in the From1_Load event with the following: 

C# 



// Query EDM using the EntityClient provider and Entiry SQL 

var saConn = new 

System.Data.EntityClient.EntityConnection("Name=Entities"); 

var saCmd = new System.Data.EntityClient.EntityCommand( 

@"select distinct p.Name from Entities.Products as p", saConn); 

saConn.Open(); 

var saReader = saCmd.ExecuteReader( 

System.Data.CommandBehavior.SequentialAccess); 

// Loop through result set and add product name to the list box 

while (saReader.Read()) 

{ 

listBox3.Items.Add(saReader.GetString(0)); 

} // while 


' Query EDM using the EntityClient provider and Entity SQL 

Dim saConn As New _ 

System.Data.EntityClient.EntityConnection("Name=Entities") 

Dim saCmd = New _ 

System.Data.EntityClient.EntityCommand( _ 

"select distinct p.Name from Entities.Products as p", saConn) 

saConn.Open() 

Dim saReader = saCmd.ExecuteReader _ 

(System.Data.CommandBehavior.SequentialAccess) 

' Loop through result set and add product name to the list box 

While saReader.Read() 

ListBox3.Items.Add(saReader.GetString(0)) 

End While 



11

Summary and Additional Resources 

Database application developers can use SQL Anywhere 12 to take advantage of the ADO.NET Entity 

Framework technology. The SQL Anywhere integration components for Visual Studio can be used to 

generate Entity Data Models from a SQL Anywhere database and manipulate records. Records can be 

manipulated with control data binding, Object Services, the EntityClient provider, and LINQ to Entities. 

Database application developers can extend the generated Entity Data Model to implement the robust 

business logic required by today’s enterprise solutions. 

For additional resources such as whitepapers, tutorials, and sample code, please visit the SQL Anywhere 

.NET Development Center available at this location: 

http://www.sybase.com/developer/library/sql-anywhere-techcorner/microsoft-net 

SYBASE, INC. 

WORLDWIDE HEADQUARTERS 

ONE SYBASE DRIVE 

DUBLIN, CA 94568-7902 USA 

Tel: 1 800 8 SYBASE 

www.sybase.com/ianywhere 

Copyright © 2010 Sybase, Inc. All rights reserved. Unpublished rights reserved under U.S. copyright 

laws. Sybase, and the Sybase logo are trademarks of Sybase, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other 

trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ® indicates registration in the United 

States. Specifications are subject to change without notice. 3/10.

SQL Anywhere and the ADO.NET Entity Framework - Sybase

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