I have a project with SQL Server CE as the database using Linq-to-SQL.
How can I replace SQL Server CE with another DBMS? (preferably SQLite)
I looked around the net for some info but nothing about replacing an RDBMS in a Linq-to-SQL scenario.
Best regards and thanks in advance!
Salih Goncu
Editing to reflect the comments:
The name of the product is "SQL Server Compact Edition" if you want the full name, or if abbreviated form is preferred, then SQL CE, as the Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition team prefers to use in their own blog. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlservercompact/
Second, Linq to Sql is not specific to SQL Server only. It is supported by many different RDBMS, including SQLite. The annoying fact is, when you create your schema, a code behind is also generated and there are SQL statements auto-generated in that code behind which needs to be converted. Doing that manually is tedious.
My revised question is, "is there an easy way of doing this conversion process?"
Thank you very much.
Did you try to install this package to make linq work with sqlite?
https://www.nuget.org/packages/linq2db.SQLite/
Related
I have a problem with in choosing a database for desktop applications.
The application will work offline, and require a relational database.
My first idea was to create a strong typed dataset and keeping data in xml. But this is not a safe option.
The second idea is to place the SQL Express on computer, but it will be a exhausting.
Which option should I use? Maybe you have other ideas?
You can either use SQLite with SQLite-NET or SQL Server Compact Edition for an offline database.
Quick edit: here and here is a comparison of SQL Server CE vs SQLite.
You should use standard *.mdf in-file-database with EF using LINQ. Client won't need anything other than .NET installed on his machine.
I am developing a small application with ASP and C# in .NET and I want to have a small local database next to it where I can save and retrieve records by either SQL queries or Linq queries. I don't need anything powerful, just something to use instead of keeping records in .txt files.
So what's your suggestion?
Use SQLite
It does not have to be installed and is just a DB File and there are connectors to .Net available.
And you can use LINQ
I would go with either SQLLite or with XML since you are saying very small database.
And with xml you can use Linq to xml
You can use SQL CE or SQLite.
Best to use SQL Express edition since it comes for free. Try using .NET entity framework code first for rapid application development.
In any case application is very small consider using SQL express since you can write neat and clean stored procedures and can play with other database objects.
Please refer http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/editions/express.aspx for more details.
I'll consider SQLite for this purposes.
If you are more comfortable with MS tools, or for some reason (i.e. your company already has a well formed mdb database file) you can use MS Access too, for local and small applications.
I recommend you to use SQL Server Express, becuase
It is free to use and easy to install
You can easily use either Entity Framework or LINQ TO SQL to manipulate your data
It can easily communicate with your company's DB ( if it is also SQL Server), for example, one day in the future, you may need to test the replication.
No one's mentioned it yet so here it is. mySQL and the .Net mySQL client.
In your case I would consider the following:
XML if you don't with more than a couple hundred records in all tables. And #Ali mentioned already LINQ to XML what will be handy.
VistaDB, because it's 100% managed code and require deployment of just one small assembly for both 32- and 64-bit.
SQL CE, just because it's the most popular one. Of course, it supports LINQ and concurrency.
SQLite as an alternative for SQL CE :)
Don't go with SQL Express unless it's been already provided by your hoster. It increases complexity of distributing/installing of your solution.
I need a lightweight database engine for a desktop application. The application is not data centric, although it needs some persistent data. Which one would you use MS SQL Server express edition or SQLite?
EDIT
Is SQL Server Compact edition free? If it is the case, what about SQLite vs SQL Server Compact edition to develop this kind of application?
Definitely NOT Sql Server Express. That's a server class engine. You want an in-process engine. In that regard, SQLite is fine. So is Sql Server Compact Edition. Both are free and either should be adequate for your needs.
If you're working with C# and Visual Studio simply right-click on your project and select "Add Item..." and in the dialog select the "Local database", this will create a SQL CE (Compact Edition) database. It's got most of the functionality of SQL Express/Server as far as tables, data types, views but doesn't allow stored procs. It also works with Linq-to-SQL so it's a snap to integrate.
Go with SQL Server Compact - you get to use LINQ that way, which itself is worth the effort.
While SQLite is an option, you'll need to get an ORM layer, and the performance gain will be minimal / non-existent compared to SQL Server.
Firebird is a well known database and support the latest Microsoft framework
SQLite, especially if it's single-user. One data file and one DLL.
If its a single user system you want to look at MS SQL Server compact edition not Express (see here: http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/compact.aspx )
Compact Edition is an embedable database similar to SQLite.
Unfortunately I can't make a recommendation either way.
What about MS SQL Server Compact?
Some love for one of the up and comers in the .NET embedded db world -- VistaDb. The license is a bit more restrictive than Sql Server Compact (free to single developers only), but its a 100% managed DB with xcopy deployment and has VS tool integration.
Be aware that if you use SQL CE along with EF, you will have to generate your own id key, because SQL CE does not support multiple query.
i.e:
insert -> select key for the entity -> not good
generate and id key (GUID or something else) add it to your entity and then insert -> good
Defo SQL lite, although it has some restrictions/features that you should be aware of
if your need is data centric, what you really need is a file, if you need transaction (ACID) then your need is (rdbms) database.
Otherwise you'll have issues when up scaling.
If it's not a lot of data, and you don't need to run complicated queries (although LINQ can), why not use an XML Dataset? That way it's platform independent (could run on Linux with Mono) and doesn't require the user to install extra resource hogging software.
I use XML Datasets extensively for applications that require persistent data storage of small amounts of information. If it's only a few variables, you can also use a settings file, and it will be stored either per application or per user depending on your choices.
Think about overhead for your end users ... SQL Server Express still takes up resources, takes time to start up on a reboot and so on. For a small amount of single-user persistent data I would go with SQLite. Unless you're doing serious binding and so on you won't need an ORM between you and it.
I'm in the process of refactoring an application and I've decided to use a mobile/embedded database.
I've been reading about SQL Server Compact Edition, but I was wondering if any of you knew of any other databases that could be used and don't have huge download sizes, as my current application is about ~2MB (installer). SQLite would be nice, but AFAIK the GSoC implementation of LINQ-to-SQLite is rather buggy at the moment.
Thanks!
I have tried out db40 once (not the compact edition) - it is an object database. However, depending on your needs it may be a rather comfortable thing to use. They note that they support linq even for the compact edition:
http://www.db4o.com/s/compactframeworkdb.aspx
VistaDB and (as you mentioned) Sql Server Compact Edition are two small options for an embedded database. Sql Server Compact Edition can be used with Linq to SQL or Entity Framework. I believe VistaDB can be used with the Entity Framework.
Also, if you do not require a relational database, you may want to consider db4o. Rob Conery writes about this here.
Hope this helps!
I haven't used it myself, but you might want to look at BlackFish. I'm not sure about its Linq support though, but Delphi supports Linq so it may. Another may be Embedded Firebird - again, not sure about the Linq side of things.
I'm creating a small database application to teach myself the following concepts
C# programming
.Net 3.5 framework
WPF
LINQ ORM
I want to use Microsoft Access as the database but I can't seem to find any mention of whether its possible to use SQLMetal to generate the ORM code from a Microsoft Access database.
Does anyone know if this is possible?
If not, are there any small database or embedded databases I could use? I think SQL express would be overkill for me at this point.
For an embedded database, you can use SQL Server Compact Edition. Unlike SQL Server Express, it is not compatible with the LINQ to SQL designer, but it is fully compatible with the command-line SQLMetal. It has a few advantages over SQL Express, like to ability to use embedded or run from a file. Microsoft has a very handy chart outlining the differences between Express and Compact.
I don't think SQL Express would be overkill if you want to learn real-world skills - quite the opposite in fact! That'd be my choice, and whatever I chose, I'd stay clear of Access.
Good luck
AFAIK, Linq to SQL is MSSQL server provider specific. To be honest, SQL Express is pretty lightweight on todays machines.
BTW don't confuse LINQ with Linq to SQL. Linq is the underlying technology to provide "query" like support to .NET (amongst other things), where as L2S is effectively a Data Access technology built on top of Linq. Vanilla Linq will work with any ADO.NET provider, which of course Access is one.
Entity Framework will work with any compatible provider also but if SQLExpress is too heavy for you then I wouldn't recommend going down this path...
Thanks for all the responses. I never expected to get an answer this quick. For my test application I think SQL Server Compact Edition would be the way to go. I'm basically creating a money managment app similar to Microsoft Money and although it is an exercise to learn skills, I would eventually want to use it to manage my finances (provided its not too crap!)
This why I thought a fully blown database would be overkill.