.NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server (SqlClient) for the Entity Framework
This section describes the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server (SqlClient) that enables the Entity Framework to work over Microsoft SQL Server.
Provider Schema Attribute
Provider is an attribute of the Schema element in the storage model file of an Entity Data Model (EDM). The storage model file is written in the store schema definition language (SSDL).
To use SqlClient, assign the string "System.Data.SqlClient" to the Provider attribute of the Schema element.
ProviderManifestToken Schema Attribute
ProviderManifestToken is a required attribute of the Schema element in the storage model file (SSDL) of EDM. This token is used to load the provider manifest for offline scenarios. For more information about ProviderManifestToken attribute, see ProviderManifestToken Attribute (SSDL).
SqlClient can be used as a data provider for different versions of SQL Server. These versions have different capabilities. For example, SQL Server 2000 does not support varchar(max) and nvarchar(max) types that were introduced with SQL Server 2005.
SqlClient produces and accepts the following provider manifest tokens for different versions of SQL Server.
SQL Server 2000 |
SQL Server 2005 |
SQL Server 2008 |
2000 |
2005 |
2008 |
Provider Namespace Name
All providers must specify a namespace. This property tells the Entity Framework which prefix is used by the provider for specific constructs, such as types and functions. The namespace for SqlClient provider manifests is SqlServer. For more information about namespaces, see Namespaces (Entity SQL).
Types
The SqlClient provider for the Entity Framework provides mapping information between Entity Data Model (EDM) types and SQL Server types. For more information, see .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server Types (Entity Framework)
Functions
The SqlClient provider for the Entity Framework defines the list of functions supported by the provider where parameter and return types are expressed in EDM terms. For a list of the supported functions, see .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server (SqlClient) for the Entity Framework Functions.
See Also
Concepts
Entity SQL Language
.NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server (SqlClient) for the Entity Framework
ADO.NET Metadata