OpenAccess ORM - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

OpenAccess ORM is an object-relational mapping

Object-relational mapping

Object-relational mapping in computer software is a programming technique for converting data between incompatible type systems in object-oriented programming languages. This creates, in effect, a "virtual object database" that can be used from within the programming language...

tool (O/R mapper, ORM) and code generator for the Microsoft .NET

.NET Framework

The .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...

platform. It provides a framework

Software framework

In computer programming, a software framework is an abstraction in which software providing generic functionality can be selectively changed by user code, thus providing application specific software...

for mapping an object-oriented

Object-oriented programming

Object-oriented programming is a programming paradigm using "objects" – data structures consisting of data fields and methods together with their interactions – to design applications and computer programs. Programming techniques may include features such as data abstraction,...

domain model

Domain model

A domain model in problem solving and software engineering can be thought of as a conceptual model of a domain of interest which describes the various entities, their attributes, roles and relationships, plus the constraints that govern the integrity of the model elements comprising that problem...

to a traditional relational database

Relational database

A relational database is a database that conforms to relational model theory. The software used in a relational database is called a relational database management system . Colloquial use of the term "relational database" may refer to the RDBMS software, or the relational database itself...

. Its purpose is to relieve the developer from a significant portion of relational data persistence

Persistence (computer science)

Persistence in computer science refers to the characteristic of state that outlives the process that created it. Without this capability, state would only exist in RAM, and would be lost when this RAM loses power, such as a computer shutdown....

-related programming tasks.

The tool operates within Visual Studio 2005, 2008, or 2010 and helps in creating the data access layer

Data access layer

A data access layer is a layer of a computer program which provides simplified access to data stored in persistent storage of some kind, such as an entity-relational database....

for desktop and web applications, based on the application's object model and the database used. It does this by mapping domain objects to database tables, and vice versa.

OpenAccess ORM is developed by the .net solutions provider Telerik.

Uses and benefits

OpenAccess ORM addresses the Object-relational impedance mismatch

Object-Relational impedance mismatch

The object-relational impedance mismatch is a set of conceptual and technical difficulties that are often encountered when a relational database management system is being used by a program written in an object-oriented programming language or style; particularly when objects or class definitions...

encountered when a relational database management system

Relational database management system

A relational database management system is a database management system that is based on the relational model as introduced by E. F. Codd. Most popular databases currently in use are based on the relational database model....

(RDBMS) is being used by a program written in an object-oriented programming language

Programming language

A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....

. Using OpenAccess ORM, .NET Framework-based developers can implement data access and data management with significantly less coding efforts. By following object-oriented concepts, OpenAccess ORM enables developers to focus on the business logic instead of time-consuming data access issues. Similar to all object-relational mapping

Object-relational mapping

tools, OpenAccess ORM automatically generates the needed SQL commands and relieves the developer from manual data set handling and object conversion . A Visual Entity Designer allows for building and editing domain models and mapping objects visually, within Visual Studio.

The tool keeps the application portable to (and usable with) most databases, with no or little performance overhead, depending on the scenario.

Features

Map database tables to .NET classes (known as Database-first approach, Schema-First approach, and Reverse Mapping approach)
Create database tables from .NET classes (known as Model-first approach, and Forward Mapping approach)
Define model via classes (known as Code-first approach, and Fluent Mapping)
Stored Procedure support
Map from CLR
Common Language Runtime
The Common Language Runtime is the virtual machine component of Microsoft's .NET framework and is responsible for managing the execution of .NET programs. In a process known as just-in-time compilation, the CLR compiles the intermediate language code known as CIL into the machine instructions...

data types to QL] data types
Data query and retrieval (CRUD
CRUD
CRUD or Crud may refer to:* A sticky substance, especially when dirty and/or encrusted.* Create, read, update and delete, basic functions of a computer database* Crud , played on a billiard table...

operations)
Transparent persistence for Plain Old CLR Objects (POCOs)
Visual Entity Designer with numerous wizards
Data performance profiling
Database-independent code
Full entity type inheritance
Flexible concurrency mechanism
LINQ
LINQ
Linq is a word-based card game from Endless Games, introduced at the American International Toy Fair in 2005.Game play requires at least four players, two of whom are dealt cards with the same word, while the others receive blanks. The goal is to gain points by correctly naming the players with...

support
Disconnected Data support
Caching
Cache
In computer engineering, a cache is a component that transparently stores data so that future requests for that data can be served faster. The data that is stored within a cache might be values that have been computed earlier or duplicates of original values that are stored elsewhere...

support
Medium Trust environment support
Multi-tier Support
Pre-fetch paths
WCF Rich Internet application
Rich Internet application
A Rich Internet Application is a Web application that has many of the characteristics of desktop application software, typically delivered either by way of a site-specific browser, via a browser plug-in, independent sandboxes, extensive use of JavaScript, or virtual machines...

(RIA) Services support

Supported Databases

Microsoft SQL Azure
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...

2000, 2005, 2008, and 2008 R2 (incl. Express versions)
Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5
MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...

5.x
Firebird Server
Firebird (database server)
Firebird is an open source SQL relational database management system that runs on Linux, Windows, and a variety of Unix. The database forked from Borland's open source edition of InterBase in 2000, but since Firebird 1.5 the code has been largely rewritten ....

2.x
Advantage Database Server
Advantage Database Server
Advantage Database Server is a relational database management system for small to medium sized businesses by Sybase iAnywhere. Database author Cary Jensen describes Advantage as follows: "Advantage has been around since 1993, when it was introduced to provide a stable solution for Clipper...

8.1
SQL Anywhere Server
SQL Anywhere
SQL Anywhere is a relational database management system product from the company Sybase iAnywhere, a subsidiary of Sybase.- Features :...

10.x, 11.x
Oracle Database Server
Oracle Database
The Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....

9.2, 10.x, 11.x (incl. Oracle Database 10g Express Edition)
SQLite
SQLite
SQLite is an ACID-compliant embedded relational database management system contained in a relatively small C programming library. The source code for SQLite is in the public domain and implements most of the SQL standard...
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL, often simply Postgres, is an object-relational database management system available for many platforms including Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, MS Windows and Mac OS X. It is released under the PostgreSQL License, which is an MIT-style license, and is thus free and open source software...

8.4+
VistaDB

Supported .NET frameworks

ASP.NET
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is a Web application framework developed and marketed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic Web sites, Web applications and Web services. It was first released in January 2002 with version 1.0 of the .NET Framework, and is the successor to Microsoft's Active Server Pages ...
ASP.NET AJAX
ASP.NET MVC
ASP.NET MVC Framework
The ASP.NET MVC Framework is a web application framework that implements the model-view-controller pattern. Based on ASP.NET, it allows software developers to build a Web application as a composition of three roles: Model, View and Controller. A model represents the state of a particular aspect of...
Silverlight
WPF
Windows Presentation Foundation
Developed by Microsoft, the Windows Presentation Foundation is a computer-software graphical subsystem for rendering user interfaces in Windows-based applications. WPF, previously known as "Avalon", was initially released as part of .NET Framework 3.0. Rather than relying on the older GDI...
Windows Forms
Windows Forms
Windows Forms is the name given to the graphical application programming interface included as a part of Microsoft .NET Framework, providing access to native Microsoft Windows interface elements by wrapping the extant Windows API in managed code...

History

OpenAccess was first developed by Vanatec, a German company based in Munich which specialized in Object Relational Mapping (ORM) software .

On October 10, 2008 Vanatec was acquired by Telerik, a leading vendor of developer tools and UI components for .NET . It was then that Vanatec OpenAccess was officially renamed to Telerik OpenAccess ORM, and was re-focused to target the .NET platform only.

The release cycle of OpenAccess ORM follows Telerik's release cycle of 3 major releases per year, with several minor releases (service packs) in between .

The latest version of the product is Q2 2011 (version 2011.2.713) released on July 13, 2011 .

External links