dotConnect Universal

dotConnect Universal is based on ADO.NET technology and can be used in the same way as the SQL Server .NET Data Provider. The main feature of dotConnect Universal is an access to multiple database servers at the same code. With dotConnect Universal it is possible to avoid writing conditional code for different providers or using ADO.NET interfaces directly. dotConnect Universal implements full support of design-time development and integration with IDE, which allows to reduce development time greatly.

dotConnect Universal doesn't implement database specific access layer for all databases, it uses native ADO.NET providers and depends on their functionality. The Professional Edition of dotConnect Universal includes bundled data providers for Oracle, MySQL and PostgreSQL (see diagram below). For all other servers you need a native data provider.

dotConnect Universal provides functionality for connecting to a database, executing commands, and retrieving results. These results can be processed directly or placed in an ADO.NET DataSet for further processing in disconnected state. While in the DataSet, data can be exposed to the user, combined with other data from multiple sources, or passed remotely between tiers. Any processing performed on the data in the DataSet can then be reconciled with the database.

The following diagram illustrates dotConnect Universal architecture. The green area represents some of dotConnect Universal components. The lime area unites bundled providers in the Professional Edition. The rest of the diagram objects represent data access elements inside and outside of the .NET Framework.