WCF Data Services Resources
Important
WCF Data Services has been deprecated and will no longer be available for download from the Microsoft Download Center. WCF Data Services supported earlier versions of the Microsoft OData (V1-V3) protocol only and has not been under active development. OData V1-V3 has been superseded by OData V4, which is an industry standard published by OASIS and ratified by ISO. OData V4 is supported through the OData V4 compliant core libraries available at Microsoft.OData.Core. Support documentation is available at OData.Net, and the OData V4 service libraries are available at Microsoft.AspNetCore.OData.
RESTier is the successor to WCF Data Services. RESTier helps you bootstrap a standardized, queryable, HTTP-based REST interface in minutes. Like WCF Data Services before it, Restier provides simple and straightforward ways to shape queries and intercept submissions before and after they hit the database. And like Web API + OData, you still have the flexibility to add your own custom queries and actions with techniques you're already familiar with.
WCF Data Services introductory topics can be found in the following locations. Many of these topics also contain links to related topics that contain more detailed information.
Overview
Provides an overview of the features and functionality available in WCF Data Services.
Getting Started
Describes how to design and access a data service by using WCF Data Services, as illustrated by the quickstart.
Application Scenarios
Provides a task-based approach to creating WCF Data Services and applications that access Open Data Protocol (OData) feeds.
.NET Glossary
Includes terms used in WCF Data Services and OData documentation.
External Resources
The following external resources provide additional information and support for creating WCF Data Services applications that expose and consume OData feeds.
WCF Data Services Forum
Data programming support for WCF Data Services developers.
WCF Data Services Team Blog
Blog that contains updates and discussion of WCF Data Services features and functionality.
OData website
The primary source of information about OData.
OData SDK - Sample Code
Contains sample services, samples, and programming libraries that enable you to work with OData feeds.
OData Blog
Blog that contains discussions about OData programming.
Overview: WCF Data Services
A white paper that provides more high-level information about the benefits of WCF Data Services.
Using Microsoft WCF Data Services
A white paper that provides additional information and examples for creating data services and accessing data services in client applications.
The Entity-Relationship Model: Toward a Unified View of Data by Peter Pin-Shan Chen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Describes the basis for the entity-relational model that is implemented by WCF Data Services. Written in 1976, this is one of the most frequently cited papers in the computer field.