ProviderManifestToken Attribute (SSDL)
Provider Manifest Token is a required attribute of the Schema element in store schema definition language (SSDL) within the Entity Data Model (EDM). This token is used to load the provider manifest for offline scenarios.
When a storage connection is opened, the provider can get all the needed information to choose the right manifest to return. This may not be possible in offline scenarios where either connection information is not available or when it is impossible to connect to storage. For these cases, the Entity Framework stores a Provider Manifest Token in SSDL that is sufficient for the provider to identify a manifest.
There is no specific schema for the token; it is up to the provider to choose the minimum information needed to identify a manifest without having to open a connection to storage.
Example
The following Provider Manifest Token example shows version information for SQL Server captured in the ProviderManifestToken attribute.
<Schema Namespace="Test.Simple.Target" Alias="Self"
Provider="System.Data.SqlClient"
ProviderManifestToken="2005"
xmlns:edm="https://schemas.microsoft.com/ado/2006/04/edm/ssdl"
xmlns="https://schemas.microsoft.com/ado/2006/04/edm/ssdl">
</Schema>
See Also
Concepts
Storage Metadata Schema (SSDL)