ADO.NET Provider Overview
The Active Directory ADO.NET Provider offers the most natural way to access Active Directory data from any .NET application. Simply use Active Directory Data Provider objects to connect and access data just as you would access any traditional database. You will be able to use the Active Directory Data Provider through Visual Studio Server Explorer, in code through familiar classes, and in data controls like DataGridView, GridView, DataSet, etc.
Using the Active Directory Data Provider
The Active Directory Data Provider wraps the complexity of accessing Active Directory services in an easy-to-integrate, fully managed ADO.NET Data Provider. Applications then access Active Directory through the Active Directory Data Provider with simple Transact-SQL.
The CData ADO.NET Provider for Active Directory hides the complexity of accessing data and provides additional powerful security features, smart caching, batching, socket management, and more.
Working with DataAdapters, DataSets, DataTables, etc.
The Active Directory Data Provider has the same ADO.NET architecture as the native .NET data providers for SQL Server and OLEDB, including: ActiveDirectoryConnection, ActiveDirectoryCommand, ActiveDirectoryDataAdapter, ActiveDirectoryDataReader, ActiveDirectoryDataSource, ActiveDirectoryParameter, etc. Because of this you can now access Active Directory data in an easy, familiar way.
For example:
using (ActiveDirectoryConnection conn = new ActiveDirectoryConnection("...")) {
string select = "SELECT * FROM Users";
ActiveDirectoryCommand cmd = new ActiveDirectoryCommand(select, conn);
ActiveDirectoryDataAdapter adapter = new ActiveDirectoryDataAdapter(cmd);
using (adapter) {
DataTable table = new DataTable();
adapter.Fill(table);
...
}
}
More Than Read-Only: Full Update/CRUD Support
Active Directory Data Provider goes beyond read-only functionality to deliver full support for Create, Read Update, and Delete operations (CRUD). Your end-users can interact with the data presented by the Active Directory Data Provider as easily as interacting with a database table.
using (ActiveDirectoryConnection connection = new ActiveDirectoryConnection(connectionString)) {
ActiveDirectoryDataAdapter dataAdapter = new ActiveDirectoryDataAdapter(
"SELECT Id, Where FROM Users", connection);
dataAdapter.UpdateCommand = new ActiveDirectoryCommand(
"UPDATE Users SET Where = @Where " +
"WHERE Id = @ID", connection);
dataAdapter.UpdateCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Where", "Where");
dataAdapter.UpdateCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Id", "80000173-1387137645");
DataTable UsersTable = new DataTable();
dataAdapter.Fill(UsersTable);
DataRow firstrow = UsersTable.Rows[0];
firstrow["Where"] = "New Location";
dataAdapter.Update(UsersTable);
}
ADO.NET Provider Performance
With traditional approaches to remote access, performance bottlenecks can spell disaster for applications. Regardless if an application is created for internal use, a commercial project, web, or mobile application, slow performance can rapidly lead to project failure. Accessing data from any remote source has the potential to create these problems. Common issues include:
- Network Connections - Slow network connections and latency issues are common in mobile applications.
- Service Delays - Delays due to service interruptions, resulting in server hardware or software updates.
- Large Data - Intentional or unintentional requests for large amounts of data.
- Disconnects - Complete loss of network connectivity.
The CData ADO.NET Provider for Active Directory solves these issues by supporting powerful smart caching technology that can greatly improve the performance and dramatically reduce application bottlenecks.
Smart Caching
Smart caching is a configurable option that works by storing queried data into a local database. Enabling smart caching creates a persistent local cache database that contains a replica of data retrieved from the remote source. The cache database is small, lightweight, blazing-fast, and it can be shared by multiple connections as persistent storage.
Caching with our ADO.NET Providers is highly configurable, including options for:
- Auto Cache - Maintain an automatic local cache of data on all requests. The provider will automatically load data into the cache database each time you execute a SELECT query. Each row returned by the query will be inserted or updated as necessary into the corresponding table in the cache database.
- Explicit Cache - Cache only on demand. Developers decide exactly what data gets stored in the cache and when it is updated. Explicit caching provides full control over the cache contents by using explicit execution of CACHE statements.
- No Cache - All requests access only live data and no local cache file is created.
This powerful caching functionality increases application performance and allows applications to disconnect and continue limited functioning without writing code for additional local storage and/or data serialization/deserialization.
More information about ADO.NET Provider caching and best caching practices is available in the included help files.
Getting Started with Microsoft Active Directory ADO.NET Provider
Working with the new Active Directory ADO.NET Provider is easy. As a fully-managed .NET Data Provider, the Active Directory Data Provider integrates seamlessly with the Visual Studio development environment as well as any .NET application.
Visual Studio Integration - Server Explorer
As an ADO.NET Data Provider, Active Directory ADO.NET Provider can be used to access and explore Microsoft Active Directory data directly from the Visual Studio Server Explorer.
It's easy. As a standard ADO.NET adapter, developers can connect the Server Explorer to Active Directory ADO.NET Provider just like connecting to any standard database.
- Add a new Data Connection from the Server Explorer and select the Microsoft Active Directory Data Source
- Configure the basic connection properties to access your Microsoft Active Directory account data.
Explore all of the data available! Active Directory ADO.NET Provider makes it easy to access live Microsoft Active Directory data from Visual Studio.
- After configuring the connection, explore the feeds, views, and services provided by the Microsoft Active Directory Data Source.
- These constructs return live Microsoft Active Directory data that developers can work with directly from within Visual Studio!
Winforms DataGrid Integration
Connecting Web, Desktop, and Mobile .NET applications with Microsoft Active Directory is just like working with SQL Server. It is even possible to integrate Active Directory ADO.NET Provider into applications without writing code.
Developers are free to access the Active Directory ADO.NET Provider in whatever way they like best. Either visually through the Visual Studio Winforms or Webforms designers, or directly through code.
- Developers can connect the Microsoft Active Directory Data Source directly to form components by configuring the object's smart tags.
- Add a new Data Connection from the Server Explorer and select the Microsoft Active Directory Data Source. Then, select the feed, view, or services you would like to connect the object to.
Done! It's just like connecting to SQL Server.
- Once the object is bound to the data source, applications can easily interact with Microsoft Active Directory data with full read/write (CRUD) support.
