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Entity Framework Beta 2 & the 1st Entity Framework Tools CTP Released!

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The long awaited Entity Framework Beta 2 and the accompanying Entity Framework Tools CTP have been released!

Beta 2 of the Entity Framework includes many great improvements and added features since the last release of the June CTP, including:

  • Events to customize code generation
  • Abstract types in EDM models
  • Complex types
  • <Using> support in metadata files
  • Entity key serialization
  • Increased persistence ignorance in entity data classes
  • Improved connection management in ObjectContext
  • Improved DataBinding usability
  • Metadata annotations
  • Better support for span over LINQ to Entities queries
  • Improvements to LINQ queries: additional canonical functions and automatic mapping from CLR functions to server functions
  • A new event for extensibility of SaveChanges
  • Usability and consistency improvements
  • Polymorphic results from stored procedures

 

Along side the Entity Framework Beta 2, we are releasing the ADO.NET Entity Framework Tools Preview. The main purpose of this, the first release of the Entity Framework Tools (CTP1) , is to get feedback from you.

Specifically in this release, we have focused on "database first" scenarios and worked hard on the core designer and mapping user experience. Here's a list of features in this release:

Entity Designer

  • Generate a model from a database (via wizard) and display it on the designer surface
  • Edit conceptual model properties (namespace, alias, etc.)
  • Control visual aspects of the design surface (layout) and persist changes
  • Add, Delete, and Edit Entities; Scalar properties; Associations; and Inheritance
  • Automatic set management
  • Automatic Navigation property management
  • Error reporting
  • Validate model and mappings using Entity Framework Runtime

Entity Mapping

  • View the mapping for a C-Side Entity or Association
  • Rename or delete C-Side objects without  worrying about mapping
  • Map an EntityType to multiple tables
  • Apply multiple conditions to a table mapping
  • Map associations
  • Automatic generation of conditions and referential constraints on associations
  • TPH: Map an Entity hierarchy to a single table
  • TPT: Map an Entity hierarchy to multiple tables

Entity Model Browser

  • Understand and visualize the model in a tree hierarchy
  • Visually relate shapes on the designer surface with hierarchy in model

Visual Studio Integration

  • Support for C# and VB in multiple project types: ASP.NET Web site, ASP.NET Web Application Project, Console, WinForms, and Library
  • Project system integration: item template for .edmx file, model generation wizard, EdmxDeploy.exe, and Entity Framework validation on build
  • Support for multiple Visual Studio editions: Express, Standard, Pro, and VSTS.

 

The Entity Framework Beta 2 & Entity Framework Tools Docs can be found here.

And Samples for the Entity Framework Beta 2 can be found here.

Questions about the new release? Check out the ADO.NET Forums.

Elisa Flasko
Program Manager, Data Programmability

Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Entity Framework Beta 2 Released

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Yay! I can't wait to play with it later this evening ~desu!

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Today the ADO.NET team released Beta 2 of the Entity Framework and the accompanying Entity Framework

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Rilasciato l'Entity Framework Beta 2 e i Tools

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Docs and Samples weren't available at the advertised locations as of 6/27/2007 at 18:00 PDT. --rj

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Today, the ADO.NET team announced the release of the long awaited Entity Framework Beta 2 and the NEW

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    It doesn't show any thing in my VS.net 2008 beta 2 project template ? can you tell me what's worng with that?

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    About the docs and samples: they were both up earlier today. Something has happened on the MSDN Online Library. CodePlex was doing an upgrade this evening but that appears to be finished and I can access the samples now. But the docs are still missing. We have escalated the problem.

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Vincent: there are no project templates for the Entity Framework in Beta 2 / CTP1. Instead, you add a new item to an existing project. Try that and you should see the item template. That will then start the database wizard. Once you have gone through the wizard, you should have a <<somename>>.edmx file in your solution. Double-click on this file in Solution Explorer to open the Entity Designer to explore and modify the model.

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Update on the docs: it appears to be a transient issue, or possibly a problem that some of the servers in the MSDN server pool don't have the updates on them yet. By repeatedly trying to load the URL, you should be able to see the docs. We hope to resolve this for good tomorrow.

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Sorry, I mean after I create a website by using .net framework 3.5,  then I try to add a new item, but I can't see ADO.NET entity item in the item list.

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    refer to last comment, I checked C:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFrameworkv3.5ADO.NET Entity Framework (Pre-Release Version) folder, I couldn't find any thing except license.rtf file.

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Link Listing - August 27, 2007

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Entity Framework Beta 2 and Entity Framework Tools CTP (both compatible with Orcas Beta 2 release) are

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    The ADO.NET Team announced the release of Entity Framework Beta 2 and a CTP for a set of Entity Framework

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    ADO.Net Entity Framework Beta 2 is available The ADO.Net Entity Framework bits for Visual Studio 2008

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    ADO.Net Entity Framework Beta 2 is available The ADO.Net Entity Framework bits for Visual Studio 2008

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    ADO.NET Entity Framework Beta 2 and Entity Framework Tools CTP Released

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Sorry for the dearth of blog posting folks, but now that the August CTP is out, it seems like I really

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Sorry for the dearth of blog posting folks, but now that the August CTP is out, it seems like I really

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    I was just wondering if you guys have some more information about the "Events to customize code generation" feature. I looked through the assemblies and the only reference I could find were the events in EntityClassGenerator (OnTypeGenerated event) but don't know how to use this events because no instance is ever made public.

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    any support for disconnected, seralizable entities with tracking via remoting, wdf, etc.?

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Se acaba de anunciar la disponibilidad de la Beta 2 del Entity Framework de Microsoft: Entity Framework

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Yesterday the ADO.NET team announced Beta 2 of the much anticipated Entity Framework and support tools

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    Does support the ADO.NET entity data model SQL Server Compact Edition ? It seems to be unsupported (only SQL 2005/Express or mdf files)

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    По-перше підтримка Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2. А це в свою чергу означає що можна чекати на версію Astoria.

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2007
    I can't understand how to generate database tables from model. Is it at all possible?

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    ADO.NET Entity Framework Beta 2とADO.Net Entity Framework Tools Aug 07 CTPが公開されています。

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    こんにちは、こだかです。 次期ADO.NETであるADO.NET Entity Framework Beta 2がリリースされました。 詳細はADO.NET team blogを参照して下さい。 （ http://blogs.msdn.com/adonet/archive/2007/08/27/entity-framework-beta-2-the-1st-entity-framework-tools-ctp-released.aspx

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    这是比LINQToSQL更Pro的东西..Orcasbeta1的时候没研究它,beta2了也应该看看微软是如何专业地ORM了. DownloadADO.NETEntityFr...

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    Anyone else getting a "Package Load Failure" starting Orcas Beta 2 with this new release? Error: Package Load Failure Package 'Microsoft.Data.Entity.Design.Package.MicrosoftDataEntityDesignPackage, Microsoft.Data.Entity.Design.Package, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' has failed to load properly ( GUID = {8889E051-B7F9-4781-BB33-2A36A9BDB3A5} ). Please contact package vendor for assistance. Application restart is recommended, due to possible environment corruption. Would you like to disable loading this package in the future? You may use 'devenv /resetskippkgs' to re-enable package loading.

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    Catch the fever on the MSDN Data Platform page on MSDN. The ADO.NET team blog also has a post here ,

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    Michael B, do you happen to have had Orcas beta 1 installed on this machine?

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    My news favorite drink: A StarBucks Black Eye . SOA Service Oriented Infrastructure Building Justifying

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    Did a clean install of XP after Orcas Beta 1. This system is 100% Orcas Beta 2. Ran into a permissions problem during install of the tools: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareClasses It's odd because I have full local admin rights. I added the Key to the Everyone group and gave it Full Control, hit Retry in the EF Tools setup and it finished installing with no errors. I have since uninstalled the tools and framework, restarted, reinstalled each one independently (with a restart between), and have the same Visual Studio error. Perhaps it's time for yet another clean install of XP. The joys of Beta software.

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    It is not possible to generate database tables from the model in this tools CTP. We are looking to add this functionality in a future release

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    I have some problems with this tools CTP. If I generate a model from database, tables with inheritance are linked with association, not with inheritance. If I try to delete the association and set the base class for inherited ones, I get a lot of entity mapping errors on various relations. Is this a known issue? I'm very excited about Entity Framework so I would like to understand and use it as soon as possible.

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    URL Changed The Entity Framework Beta 2 & Entity Framework Tools Docs can be found here.==> http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb399572(vs.90).aspx ^^ Have a nice day!!!

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    Entity Framework Beta 2 &amp; the 1st Entity Framework Tools CTP Released! Entity Frameworkのベータ２がリリースされたようです。個人的には製品がでてくるまで静観してたんでいいかなー、と思いはじめた技術なので、進捗状況をチェックのみ。.NET...

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    ADO.NET team blog : Entity Framework Beta 2 &amp; the 1st Entity Framework Tools CTP Released! (소식) Download

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    ADO.NET team blog : Entity Framework Beta 2 &amp; the 1st Entity Framework Tools CTP Released! (소식) Download

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2007
    Comme l'équipe ADO.NET l'avait annoncée précédemment, les téléchargements de l' Entity Framework Beta

  • Anonymous
    August 29, 2007
    After adding the entity data model to an existing project, I try to set up a connection. I select SQL Server, choose the local machine as the server, and I can browse for the database. I test the connection, and it tests fine. When I click "OK", I get the error message: "This server version is not supported. Only servers up to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 are supported.". I thought this was supposed to be one of the new big things about SQL Server 2008? It really doesn't support SQL Server 2008 yet?

  • Anonymous
    August 29, 2007
    Visual Studio Orcas Beta 2 shipped a few weeks ago and folks have been asking how to work with the Entity

  • Anonymous
    August 29, 2007
    Rilasciata la beta 2 dell'Entity Framework installabile sulla Beta 2 di Visual Studio 2008.Informazioni

  • Anonymous
    August 29, 2007
    ADO.NET Entity Framework Beta 2とADO.Net Entity Framework Tools Aug 07 CTPが公開されています。

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2007
    I get the same error as mentioned  above. Any solution, other then reinstalling? Error: Package Load Failure Package 'Microsoft.Data.Entity.Design.Package.MicrosoftDataEntityDesignPackage, Microsoft.Data.Entity.Design.Package, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' has failed to load properly ( GUID = {8889E051-B7F9-4781-BB33-2A36A9BDB3A5} ). Please contact package vendor for assistance. Application restart is recommended, due to possible environment corruption. Would you like to disable loading this package in the future? You may use 'devenv /resetskippkgs' to re-enable package loading.

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2007
    Some old Data Programmability teammates of mine, Britt Johnston, Pablo Castro and Mike Pizzo (well, Mike

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2007
    re: SQL2008 not supported - further searching reveals that VS2008 beta 2 in general does not support SQL2008. I would think that this would be a big problem with getting both of these products reasonable testing.

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2007
    Time for another weekly roundup of news that focuses on .NET and general development related content

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2007
    Does ADO.NET EDM support SQL Server Compact Edition 3.5? It seems it only provides support for SQL2005? Is there any tweak to get the thing running? Will the RTM support SQLCE 3.5?

  • Anonymous
    August 31, 2007
    Interesting.. I do not like some of the API though... it can be made to be more intuitive.... objectQuery.First() and objectQuery.Exists() should be properties, not methods.. and Exists would be more clear if it said ResultsExists... If want to keep as method, the First() should get GetFirst().. Also, when I copied and pasted the EDM files to a new project, I had to manually set the Custom Tool property of the .edmx file to "EntityModelCodeGenerator".. but the files did not get associated properly to each other (I had to drag the files to a new direcory, only then did the Designer.cs file get attached to the edmx file).  Also, building did not create the 3 .csdl, .msl, .ssdl files in the bin/debug directory.. what part am i missing if i want to manually copy the EDM files over? tks -chauey

  • Anonymous
    August 31, 2007
    How will LINQ and EF each handle lazy loading (eager loading?) and what are the best practices/pitfalls?

  • Anonymous
    September 02, 2007
    Today it looks like it can only auto generate entities from tables and views. But waht about Sprocs? Why can I not seem to get a entity representation for a sprocs that returns a resultset. I have this same problem with LINQ to SQL. This is a big missing piece and hopefully will not be ignored. Thanks!

  • Anonymous
    September 03, 2007
    I'm also very interested about "Events to customize code generation". Can I find more information about that somewhere?

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2007
    Alexander: See Danny's blog post about CodeGen events here: http://blogs.msdn.com/dsimmons/archive/2007/09/01/ef-codegen-events-for-fun-and-profit-aka-how-to-add-custom-attributes-to-my-generated-classes.aspx

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2007
    Entity framework Beta 2 (with tools) released

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2007
    Is there any recommendation/guideline in developing an application using the features which will be released in VS2008 so that a migration to Entity Framework will be smoother?  

  • Anonymous
    September 09, 2007
    A little feedback. Today I have been playing with it. I think it is very very good, the model designer is easy to use and you can learn fast how to use it. Inheritance is really cool. But I would like to request something that I think it would be nice for developers and very easy to implement. As I see Entities are concentrated in the data, are like classes but only in its data field. If you want to add functionality (functions) to the entities you need to implement a parcial class manually. I propose you to put another +: we have +scalar properties, +navigation properties and you could put functions into another+. Automatically designer will put that functions in a partial class out of the .designer (like c# events in windows forms, our functions are into a partial class and the delegates, window structure are in the .designer). That functions will be implemented for programmers to provide functionality to the entities. Well, that's just a request for a very good product. Entities are really good, and playing with them using linq is fantastic!!

  • Anonymous
    September 13, 2007
    Late but... I'm already testing this tools. They're really great!!! I've using NHibernate and this is much easier to use... i'm trying to pass an old NH project to EMD to give some feedback to you. See u!! Agustín Mariano Catellani

  • Anonymous
    September 17, 2007
    Poslední reinkarnace LINQu, o které jsem se zmínil v přehledovém článku , je LINQ to ADO.NET Entities,

  • Anonymous
    September 17, 2007
    Poslední reinkarnace LINQu, o které jsem se zmínil v přehledovém článku , je LINQ to ADO.NET Entities,

  • Anonymous
    September 20, 2007
    The tools package doesnt install for me. It complains vs 2008 beta 2 is not installed, but that is working flawlessly. If I trace the regdb activity I can see the last thing the installer does is check for the install key of the 3.5 .NET framework, which exists just fine and yet it still says it is not installed.

  • Anonymous
    September 21, 2007
    There should be an easy way to update an Entity Mapping or model when the mapped database changes.  The only way I have found so far is to delete and then recreate the entire EDMX entity model.  That is actually a step back from working with Data Source (XSD) Schema files.

  • Anonymous
    October 08, 2007
    In addition to all of the above there can be wild data type changes on the fields like float -> decimal, integer -> float, etc. Also name changes for tables and fields.

  • Anonymous
    October 08, 2007
    The EDM mapper fails when tables don't have primary keys.  In addition to the intended model the database can contain "temporary tables", load tables, trash tables and also can lack constraints, have mistakenly designed constraints.

  • Anonymous
    October 08, 2007
    I need a way to maintain a list (in the Entity Model browser of VS) of the good things in my database: good tables, good views, good constraints, good stored procedures, etc. I guess what I'm saying is that it would be convenient to load all the selected (in the wizard) tables, views, sps available on the database. And the tool when it finds a bad one (no constraints or other errors) should not load it but must continue processing without stopping. And after that be able to edit the contens of the "Store" section on the "Entity Model Browser" in VS. In the "Store" section I would like to be able to: delete the items I want, "refresh" the items listed in the store, through a panel/wizard go back to the db and choose items to load. And after all that magic is done, I want to be able to tell the Entity Framwork mapping tool to regenerate the C# classes.

  • Anonymous
    November 13, 2007
    Hello, Toolkit doesn't work on my Orcas Beta2 under Windows Longhorn CR1 x86. Wizard closes automatically when i try to create new connection to my DB.

  • Anonymous
    November 21, 2007
    Hi, When will be get a new version for VS2008 RTM?

  • Anonymous
    November 22, 2007
    install entity framework tools on vs 2008 rtm

  • Anonymous
    November 23, 2007
    When I try to create a new connection, the wizard closes, just like the person above said. I have the release version of VS 2008, and a fresh download of the toolkit. No warning, no error message, the wizard dialogue just goes away.

  • Anonymous
    November 23, 2007
    BTW, just as a followup - clicking on ANY button (such as the Previous button) closes the Wizard. If anyone fixes this or has a suggestion, please contact toddhd@gmail.com

  • Anonymous
    November 27, 2007
    When will a version of ADO.NET Entity be released to work with the release versions of VS 2008?

  • Anonymous
    November 29, 2007
    Hi, When I copy the edmx file to a new class library project and build it doesn't generate the .csdl etc.. in the output dir. any ideas why? i've manually set 'custom tool' option for the edmx file to 'EntityModelCodeGenerator'. Somebody else has asked this ques above also. any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

  • Anonymous
    November 29, 2007
    I've just found the answer to my ques from earlier "When I copy the edmx file to a new class library project and build it doesn't generate the .csdl etc.. in the output dir. any ideas why? i've manually set 'custom tool' option for the edmx file to 'EntityModelCodeGenerator'." Ques: When manually copying an edmx file to a new project Answer:

  1. solution explorer > click on the EDMX file > 'custom tool' = 'EntityModelCodeGenerator' This auto re-generates the class from the EDMX file (CSDL more accurately i think)
  2. project properties > compile > click 'build events' > 'edit post-build' and paste the following including all double-quotes "%windir%Microsoft.NETFrameworkv3.5EdmxDeploy.exe" "$(ProjectDir) " "$(TargetDir) " this re-generates the .csdl etc. into the output dir on project build. hope this helps somebody. Thanks

  • Anonymous
    December 24, 2007
    I am using Entity Frameworks Beta 3.  In the AdventureWorks database the generated ssdl may have an error in the EntitySet tag.  It is missing a Schema tag for Production tables.  Interstingly the Container name is Production.   Is this something that will change in the released version?  Likewise in the Nortwind database no schema tags exist in the EntitySet tags and the Container name is "dbo". email: RichHarrigan@hotmail.com.

  • Anonymous
    December 31, 2008
    실내 온도를 빨리 올리고 싶다면 가습기를 튼다 외출 후 돌아와서 집이 추울 때 보일러 온도를 무작정 높이지 말고 적당한 온도로 맞춘다. 대신 가습기를 틀어 집에 습기를 더한다. 보일러를 작동시키면 바닥이 덥혀지면서 집이 따뜻해지는데, 습도가 높으면 공기 순환이 빨라져 집이 빨리 데워지는 효과가 있다. 출처:다음카페 생활의지혜!

  • Anonymous
    August 11, 2009
    진짜와 가짜 꿀을 구별하는 방법. 가짜 꿀은 숟가락에 담아 떨어뜨렸을 때 물엿처럼 흘러 꿀을 숟가락에 떠서 아래로 떨어뜨려 보면 된다. 이 때 물엿처럼 주르르 흘러내리면 가짜이고, 응축력이 있어 또박또박 잘려서 떨어지면 진짜가 틀림없다. 그리고 꿀을 살 때는 봄에 따낸 첫 꿀과 가을에 따낸 것은 피하는 것이 좋다. 출처:다음카페 생활의지혜! 4321