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Introducing Oracle Data Provider for .NET

This chapter introduces Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET), an implementation of a data provider for the Oracle database.

This chapter contains these topics:

Overview of Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET)

Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET) is an implementation of a data provider for the Oracle database.

ODP.NET uses Oracle native APIs to offer fast and reliable access to Oracle data and features from any .NET application. ODP.NET also uses and inherits classes and interfaces available in the Microsoft .NET Framework Class Library.

For programmers using Oracle Provider for OLE DB, ADO (ActiveX Data Objects) provides an automation layer that exposes an easy programming model. ADO.NET provides a similar programming model, but without the automation layer, for better performance. More importantly, the ADO.NET model allows native providers such as ODP.NET to expose Oracle-specific features and datatypes.

ODP.NET Assembly

Oracle.DataAccesss.dll assembly provides two namespaces:

The Oracle.DataAccess.Client namespace contains ODP.NET classes.
The Oracle.DataAccess.Types namespace contains the Oracle Data Provider for .NET Types (ODP.NET Types).

Oracle.DataAccess.Client Classes

This namespace is the Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET). Table 1-1 lists the client classes:

Table 1-1 Oracle.DataAccess.Client Classes

Class	Description
OracleConnection Class	An `OracleConnection` object represents a connection to an Oracle database
OracleTransaction Class	An `OracleTransaction` object represents a local transaction
OracleParameter Class	An `OracleParameter` object represents a parameter for an `OracleCommand`
OracleParameterCollection Class	An `OracleParameterCollection` object represents a collection of `OracleParameter`s
OracleCommand Class	An `OracleCommand` object represents a SQL command, a stored procedure, or a table name
OracleDataReader Class	An `OracleDataReader` object represents a forward-only, read-only, in-memory result set
OracleDataAdapter Class	An `OracleDataAdapter` object represents a data provider object that communicates with the `DataSet`
OracleCommandBuilder Class	An `OracleCommandBuilder` object provides automatic SQL generation for the `OracleDataAdapter` when updates are made to the database
OracleError Class	The `OracleError` object represents an error reported by an Oracle database
OracleErrorCollection Class	An `OracleErrorCollection` object represents a collection of `OracleError`s
OracleException Class	The `OracleException` object represents an exception that is thrown when Oracle Data Provider for .NET encounters an error
OracleRowUpdatedEventHandler Delegate	The `OracleRowUpdatedEventHandler` delegate represents the signature of the method that handles the `OracleDataAdapter.RowUpdated` event
OracleRowUpdatedEventArgs Class	The `OracleRowUpdatedEventArgs` object provides event data for the `OracleDataAdapter.RowUpdated` event
OracleRowUpdatingEventArgs Class	The `OracleRowUpdatingEventHandler` delegate represents the signature of the method that handles the `OracleDataAdapter.RowUpdating` event
OracleRowUpdatingEventArgs Class	The `OracleRowUpdatedEventArgs` object provides event data for the `OracleDataAdapter.RowUpdating` event
OracleInfoMessageEventHandler Delegate	The `OracleInfoMessageEventHandler` delegate represents the signature of the method that handles the `OracleConnection.InfoMessage` event
OracleInfoMessageEventArgs Class	The `OracleInfoMessageEventArgs` object provides event data for the `OracleConnection.InfoMessage` event
OracleInfoMessageEventHandler Delegate	The `OracleFailoverEventHandler` delegate represents the signature of the method that handles the `OracleConnection.Failover` event
OracleFailoverEventArgs Class	The `OracleFailoverEventArgs` object provides event data for the `OracleConnection.Failover` event
OracleGlobalization Class	The `OracleGlobalization` class is used to obtain and set the Oracle globalization settings of the session, thread, and local computer (read-only)

Oracle.DataAccess.Types Classes and Structures

The Oracle.DataAccess.Types namespace provides classes and structures for Oracle native types that can be used with Oracle Data Provider for .NET. Table 1-2 lists these structures and classes:

Table 1-2 Oracle.DataAccess.Types Classes and Structures

Classes and Structures	Description
ODP.NET Type Structures
OracleBinary Structure	The `OracleBinary` structure represents a variable-length stream of binary data
OracleDate Structure	The `OracleDate` structure represents the Oracle `DATE` datatype
OracleDecimal Structure	The `OracleDecimal` structure represents an Oracle `NUMBER` in the database or any Oracle numeric value
OracleIntervalDS Structure	The `OracleIntervalDS` structure represents the Oracle `INTERVAL` `DAY` `TO` `SECOND` datatype
OracleIntervalYM Structure	The `OracleIntervalYM` structure represents the Oracle `INTERVAL` `YEAR` `TO` `MONTH` datatype
OracleString Structure	The `OracleString` structure represents a variable-length stream of characters
OracleTimeStamp Structure	The `OracleTimeStamp` structure represents the Oracle `TimeStamp` datatype
OracleTimeStampLTZ Structure	The `OracleTimeStampLTZ` structure represents the Oracle `TIMESTAMP` `WITH` `LOCAL` `TIME` `ZONE` data type
OracleTimeStampTZ Structure	The `OracleTimeStampTZ` structure represents the Oracle `TIMESTAMP` `WITH` `TIME` `ZONE` data type
ODP.NET Type Exceptions (thrown only by ODP.NET Type structures)
OracleTypeException Class	The `OracleTypeException` object is the base exception class for handling exceptions that occur in the ODP.NET Type classes
OracleNullValueException Class	The `OracleNullValueException` represents an exception that is thrown when trying to access an ODP.NET Type structure that is `null`
OracleTruncateException Class	The `OracleTruncateException` class represents an exception that is thrown when truncation in an ODP.NET Type class occurs
ODP.NET Type Classes
OracleBFile Class	An `OracleBFile` is an object that has a reference to `BFILE` data. It provides methods for performing operations on `BFile`s
OracleBlob Class	An `OracleBlob` object is an object that has a reference to `BLOB` data. It provides methods for performing operations on `BLOB`s
OracleClob Class	An `OracleClob` is an object that has a reference to `CLOB` data. It provides methods for performing operations on `CLOB`s
OracleRefCursor Class	An `OracleRefCursor` object represents an Oracle REF CURSOR

Using ODP.NET in a Simple Application

The following is a very simple C# application that connects to an Oracle database and displays its version number before disconnecting.

using System; 
using Oracle.DataAccess.Client; 

class Example 
{ 
  OracleConnection con; 

  void Connect() 
  { 
    con = new OracleConnection(); 
    con.ConnectionString = "User Id=scott;Password=tiger;Data Source=oracle"; 
    con.Open(); 
    Console.WriteLine("Connected to Oracle"); 
  } 

  void Close() 
  { 
    con.Close(); 
    con.Dispose(); 
  } 
  
  static void Main() 
  { 
    Example example = new Example(); 
    example.Connect(); 
    example.Close(); 
  } 
}

Note:
Additional samples are provided in the ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\ODP.NET\Samples directory.

1 Introducing Oracle Data Provider for .NET