This section discusses Oracle components and products that work together to provide .NET data access to Oracle Database, how they relate to each other, and what documentation is provided.
These Oracle products provide .NET integration on the Windows operating system:
Oracle Data Provider for .NET provides fast data access from .NET clients to Oracle databases. ODP.NET enables .NET applications to take advantage of Oracle advanced features, such as Real Application Clusters (RAC) and XML DB. It is accessible through any .NET language, including C#, Visual Basic .NET, and C++ .NET.
Oracle Data Provider for .NET Developer's Guide describes Oracle Data Provider for .NET features, their use, installation, requirements, and classes. The guide distinguishes which classes are supported in .NET stored procedures and which classes are supported for .NET clients.
Additionally, Oracle Data Provider for .NET Dynamic Help, which is context-sensitive online help, contains the same reference sections available in Oracle Data Provider for .NET Developer's Guide, this guide. Oracle Data Provider for .NET Dynamic Help is integrated with Visual Studio Dynamic Help.
Oracle Developer Tools is an add-in to Visual Studio that provides graphical user interface (GUI) access to Oracle functionality. It provides improved developer productivity and ease of use. Oracle Developer Tools provide the ability to build .NET stored procedures using Visual Basic .NET, C#, and other .NET languages.
Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio Help describes Oracle Developer Tools. This help is in the form of dynamic help, which installs as part of the product.
Additionally, the Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio Help includes the following documentation:
Access to Oracle Data Provider for .NET Dynamic Help
Access to Oracle Providers for ASP.NET Dynamic Help
Oracle Database Extensions for .NET provides the following:
Hosting of Microsoft Common Language Runtime (CLR) in an external process on the server side, to execute .NET stored procedures.
ODP.NET data access on the server side, from within the .NET stored procedure.
Oracle Database Extensions for .NET features, their use, installation, and requirements are described in Oracle Database Extensions for .NET Developer's Guide.
Oracle Data Provider for .NET Developer's Guide describes all ODP.NET classes. Classes that are not supported by Oracle Database Extensions for .NET are described as Not Supported in a .NET Stored Procedure.
See Also:
Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio Help
Oracle Database Extensions for .NET Developer's Guide for more information about .NET stored procedures and functions
"Oracle Data Provider for .NET Assembly" for class listings
Chapter 4, "Oracle Data Provider for .NETServer-Side Features"
Oracle Providers for ASP.NET offer ASP.NET developers an easy to use method to store state common to web applications within an Oracle database. These providers are modeled on existing Microsoft ASP.NET providers, sharing similar schema and programming interfaces to provide .NET developers a familiar interface. Oracle supports the following providers:
Cache Dependency Provider
Membership Provider
Profile Provider
Role Provider
Session State Provider
Site Map Provider
Web Events Provider
Web Parts Personalization Provider
Oracle Providers for ASP.NET classes, their use, installation, and requirements are described in Oracle Providers for ASP.NET Developer's Guide, which is also provided as dynamic help.