* ADO.NET

** Data Access in Mono

<ul>
	<li>Today, our goal is to be compatible with .NET 1.0 and .NET 1.1.  We also would like
   to extend data access beyond what is included with .NET 1.0 and .NET 1.1,
   such as, including access to more databases, such as, PostgreSQL and MySQL,
   but also provide classes that help in creating data source-agnostic code, such as, Mono.Data.ProviderFactory.</li>
   <li>In the future, we would like to be compatible with .NET 1.2. This
   would include features like:
	<ul> 
		<li><a href="http://longhorn.msdn.microsoft.com/lhsdk/ndp/daconworkingwithobjectspacesarchitecture.aspx">ObjectSpaces</a></li>
		<li>provide support for hosting Mono languages (C-Sharp, MonoBASIC, etc...)
            within a DBMS engine, such as, MySQL or PostgreSQL.</li>
		<li>implement .net 1.2 classes, such as, those found in System.Data.ProviderBase</li>
		<li>other stuff which can be brought up on the mono-list</li>
	</ul></li>
</ul>

** Bugs and Feature Requests

<ul>

	<li>Bugs with Mono or any data provider in Mono should be reported 
	    in Mono's Bugzilla <a href="http://bugzilla.ximian.com/">here</a>.  If you
	    do not have a Bugzilla user account, it is free 
	    and easy to create 
	    one <a href="http://bugzilla.ximian.com/createaccount.cgi">here</a>.</li>
	
	<li>Any requests for new features or missing functionality
	    can entered as a bug in Bugzilla too</li>

</ul>
	
** ADO.NET Data Providers
	
<p>Mono has many ADO.NET Data Providers to get you connected:
			
<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.go-mono.com/ibmdb2.html">IBM DB2 Universal Database</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.go-mono.com/mysql.html">MySQL</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.go-mono.com/odbc.html">ODBC</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.go-mono.com/oracle.html">Oracle</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.go-mono.com/oledb.html">OLE DB</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.go-mono.com/postgresql.html">PostgreSQL</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.go-mono.com/sqlclient.html">Microsoft SQL Server</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.go-mono.com/sqlite.html">SQL Lite</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.go-mono.com/sybase.html">Sybase</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.go-mono.com/tdsclient.html">TDS Generic</a></li>
</ul>

<p>Providers which we do not have, but we would like to have.  Currently,
	some of these databases are supported via the ODBC or OLE DB providers.

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnsql2k/html/sqlxml_intromanagedclasses.asp?frame=true">Managed Classes for SqlXml</a> which is
		a .NET data provider for retrieving XML data from a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database.  The System.Data.SqlClient provider
		in Mono can be used as a starting point at mcs/class/System.Data/System.Data.SqlClient.</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.hughes.com.au/">miniSQL</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.sleepycat.com/">BerkeleyDB (Sleepycat)</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.sapdb.org/">SapDB</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www-3.ibm.com/software/data/informix/">Informix</a></li>	
	<li><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/vfoxpro/">Foxpro</a></li>	
	<li>Microsoft Access - could be done by creating C# bindings to <a href="http://mdbtools.sourceforge.net">MDB Tools</a></li>
	<li>dbase or xbase type database files</li>
	<li>Others are welcome</li>
</ul>

<p>External Projects that have created ADO.NET Providers that work on Mono:

<ul>

	<li><a href="http://www.go-mono.com/firebird.html">Firebird Interbase</a></li> is a
	   Firebird SQL Managed data provider. It can be used with Interbase databases too.  It
	   is written in 100%C# and does not require a client library. Works on .NET and Mono.</a>
	<li><a href="http://gborg.postgresql.org/project/npgsql/projdisplay.php">Npgsql</a> is a 
	   PostgreSQL Managed data provider written 
	   in 100% C#, does not require a client library, and works on .NET and Mono</li>
	<li><a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/mysqlnet/">MySQLNet</a> is a 
	   MySQL Managed data provider written in 100% C#, does not
	   require a client library, and works on .NET and Mono</li>
</ul>

** Tools

<p>Some tools that can be used for ADO.NET and other technologies (ASP.NET, XML, etc).

<ul>	
		<li><p><b>SQL# command line query tool</b> is a command-line tool to
		    enter and execute SQL statements or 
		    execute a batch of SQL commands from a file.
		  <p>It can
		  be used to test connection strings, connect to various ADO.NET
		  providers, save output to text, html, or xml.
		  <p>The SQL# CLI is distributed with the
		  Mono runtime and class libraries as an executable assembly sqlsharp.exe.
		  <p>The source to SQL# CLI can be found in the mcs source at
		  mcs/tools/SqlSharp/SqlSharpCli.cs
		  </li>
		  
		<li><p><b>SQL# For GTK#</b> - is a graphical SQL database query tool</b> allows a user
		  to enter SQL commands in a top panel which is a text editor.
		  <p>It has a toolbar and menu for various tasks, such as, executing
		  SQL commands one-at-a-time or in a batch.  The results would appear
		  in a bottom panel in a grid or could be saved to a file (xml, html, csv).
		  <p>Also, the bottom panel would allow logging of SQL command executed.
		  Here is a screenshot of <a href="http://go-mono.com/images/sqlsharp.png">SQL# For GTK#</a> which
		  provides a GUI interface using the <a href="http://gtk-sharp.sourceforge.net">Gtk#</a> toolkit.
		  <p>SQL# For GTK# can be found in mono cvs as sqlsharpgtk.</li>  
</ul>

<p>Tools we would like to have, but they have not been created yet:

<ul>
		<li>Mono has an <b>XML Schema Definition tool</b> (xsd.exe).</b>
					
			<ul>
				<li>This tool
					would works like the xsd.exe tool included with 
					the .NET Framework.  The Xsd.exe tool has the
					following uses:
					<ul>
					<li><b>XDR to XSD</b> - used to generate an XML schema from an XDR (XML Data Reduced schema) file. 
						XDR was used by Microsoft prior to XSD becoming a W3C recommendation.  So, this needs
						to be supported for legacy reasons</li>
					<li><b>XML to XSD</b> - used to generate an XML schema from an XML file</li> 
					<li><b>XSD to DataSet</b> - used to generate DataSet classes from an XSD schema file.  The
						DataSet classes created can then be used with XML data</li>
					<li><b>XSD to Classes</b> - used to generate classes from an XSD schema file. The 
					    classes created can be used with System.XML.Serialization.XMLSerializer 
					    to read and write XML code that follows the schema</li>
					<li><b>Classes to XSD</b> - used to generate an XML schema 
						from type(s) in a assembly file. The 
						XML schema created by the tool defines the XML format used 
						by System.XML.Serialization.XMLSerializer</li>
					</ul>
				<li>Xsd.exe is used to manipulate XML schemas that 
					follow the http://www.w3.org/XML/Schema">XML Schema Definition (XSD)</a> language 
					recommended	by the <a href="http://w3.org/">World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)</a></li>
					
				<li>How this tool could be created:
					<ul>
						<li>Write xsd.exe in C# and run on Mono</li>
						<li>Make sure we have XML Schema support in System.Xml.Schema.  Currently,
						it is wrapped around libxlst</li>
						<li>XML serialization support in System.Data classes</li>
						<li>Create the TypedDataSetGenerator class in System.Data</li>
						<li>Using CodeDOM or Reflection.Emit to create code</li>
						<li>Make sure DataSet, XmlDataDocument, and related classes 
						are implemented fully</li>
					</ul>
				</li>	
				
			</li>
			</ul>
		</li>
		
		<li><b>Application XML Configuration File Editor</b> - a tool
		to create and edit an application configuration file, such as,
		we have a .net application named Accouting.exe, the tool could edit
		the application configuration file Accounting.exe.config so a user could
		connect to the database used by the program.  This tool has not
		been created.</li>
		
		<li><b>Configuration Command-Line and GUI Tools for ADO.NET</b>.  
		  These tools have not been started.  The tools would be written in
		  C# and run on Mono. The
		  configuration tool can be used to do the following:
		  <ul> 
			<li>bebased on the Application XML Configuration File Editor</li>
			<li>setup DSNs for the ODBC and OLE-DB
				providers and configurations for 
				their underlying libraries (unixODBC and libgda)</li>
		    <li>setup configurations for the Mono.Data.ProviderFactory
				that Brian Ritchie created</li>
		    <li>setup native database client library configurations too, such as,
				freetds.conf for Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase</li>
		  </ul>
		</li>

</ul>

** Extra Classes in Mono ADO.NET

 <p>An ADO.NET <a href="http://www.go-mono.com/provider-factory.html">Provider Factory</a> 
    was created by Brian Ritchie.  The 
	Provider Factory is a way to dynamically create
	connections, commands, parameters, and data adapters based on configuration 
	information.
	
** Current Status

	<p>Various ADO.NET Providers have been created at various stages of 
	development including: 
	Firebird/Interbase, IBM DB2 Universal Database, MySQL, ODBC, OLE DB, Oracle,
	PostgreSQL, SQL Lite, Sybase, Microsoft SQL Server, and TDS Generic.  
	See their respective web page for more information.
	
	<p><b>Data Relations</b> via DataRelation, DataRelationCollection, and
	other classes have not been implemented
	
	<p><b>Constraints</b> need lots of work
	
	<p><b>XML Schema Definition tool</b> xsd.exe that is included
	in the .NET Framework has not been created for Mono
	
	<p><b>TypeDataSetGenerator</b> needs to be stubbed and implemented.
		
	<p><b>DataSet, DataAdaptor, DataTable, DataRelation, DataRow, DataColumn,
	DataColumnCollection, DataRowCollection, and others</b> need more work.  There are
	many classes that are just stubs and need to be implemented.  Ville Palo has been
	doing much testing here.

	<p><b>XML support in System.Data</b> needs work.  This involves working on
	the classes: DataSet, XmlDataDocument, and the method ExecuteXmlReader() that
	exists in a provider's class that implements IDbCommand, and others.
	Stuart Caborn has started the XML support in a DataSet.  Tim Coleman started
	XML support in the ExecuteXmlReader() in a SqlCommand.  Ville Palo has been
	heavily modifying DataSet, XmlDataDocument, and other classes for reading
	and writing XML.  XML Serialization support in DataSet needs to be implemented.
		
	<p><b>Integration with ASP.NET</b> has been created.  Data binding of
	a DataTable in a DataSet to a System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataGrid works.  Data binding
	of other types works too.
	
	<p><b>Database Access from ASP.NET</b>:
	<ul>
		<li>Take a look at xsp in cvs and look at the examples in test: dbpage1.aspx
		and dbpage2.aspx:
			<ul>
				<li>Notice that the namespace System.Data is imported via <b>import</b></li>
				<li>A NameValueCollection is gotten using ConfigurationSettings.AppSetings. These
				settings are gotten from the file server.exe.config which is a XML file.   The XML
				file has a section appSettings.  In the appSettings section, you have keys 
				for DBProviderAssembly, DBConnectionType, and DBConnectionString.
				<ul>
					<li><b>DBProviderAssembly</b> is the assembly of the ADO.NET provider.  
					      For example: 
					      "Mono.Data.PostgreSqlClient"</li>
					<li><b>DBConnectionType</b> is the System.Type of the class that 
					      implements System.Data.IDbConnection that is found
				          in the DBProviderAssembly.  
				          For example: 
				          "Mono.Data.PostgreSqlClient.PgConnection"</li> 
				    <li><b>DBConnectionString</b> is the ConnectionString to set to the
				          IDbConnection object to use in opening a connection to a data source.
				          For Example: 
				          "hostaddr=127.0.0.1;user=monotest;password=monotest;dbname=monotest"</li>
				</ul>
				<li>The function GetConnectionData() gets the database provider assembly, connection type,
				and connection string parameters if they exist; otherwise, it uses default values.  This is
				done during the loading of the web page.</li>
				<li>With the connection parameters, the assembly is loaded, the connection type is verified that
				it implements IDbConnection and an instance of the class can be created, creates a instance
				of the class, sets the connection string, and opens the connection.</li>
			</ul>
		</li>
	</ul>
	
	<p><b>Integration with Windows.Forms</b> has not been started, such as, data binding 
	to a System.Windows.Forms.DataGrid.  This may involve implementing many classes
	in System.Windows.Forms and System.Data.
	
	<p><b>Integration with <a href="http://gtk-sharp.sourceforge.net/">GTK#</a></b> 
	has not been started, such as, data binding
	to a GtkTreeView.  This may involve creating new classes
	to go between the glist data model and the ADO.NET data model.
	Mike Kestner or Rachel Hestilov would be the best people to ask for help on GTK#.
	
	<p><b>Integration with QT#</b> has not been started.  Any information on 
	how this can be done is appreciated.  Marcus would be the best 
	person to ask about QT#.
	
	<p><b>Building System.Data</b>
	
	<p>The System.Data.dll gets built with the rest of the class library.
	To compile the System.Data.dll assembly separately, you need:

	<b>On Unix</b>

	<ul>
		* update your mono sources. Be sure you have latest mcs.exe
		  and .dll's, since there have been many fixes needed for
		  compilation on Linux.

		* compile System.Data.dll:
<pre>
 cd mcs/class/System.Data<br>
 mcs --target library -o \
    System.Data.dll @list
</pre>
	</ul>

	<b>On Windows</b>

	<ul>
		* update your mono sources. Be sure you have latest mcs.exe
		  and .dll's.  You can use the same method as Linux, 
		  or you can use NAnt.

		* To use NAnt:

<pre>
 cd mcs/class/System.Data
 ../../nant/NAnt.exe
</pre>
			
		* This will automatically copy the System.Data.dll to Test.
		  If you need to do a clean for the System.Data.dll assembly,<br><br>

<pre>
 cd mcs/class/System.Data
 ../../nant/NAnt.exe clean 
</pre>
	</ul>

** Testing

<ul>
	<li>Testing connection-oriented classes are done 
	via the provider specific tests
	found in the mcs source at mcs/class</br>
		<table border=1>	
			<tr>
				<td><b>Name</b></td>
				<td><b>Assembly /</br> Namespace</b></td>
				<td><b>Test</b></td>	
			</tr>		
			
			<tr>
				<td>Microsoft</br> SQL</br> Server</br></td>
				<td>System.Data /</br> System.Data.SqlClient</td>
				<td>SqlTest.cs at</br> System.Data/Test</td>
			</tr>
			
			<tr>
				<td>PostgreSQL</br> (Mono)</td>
				<td>Mono.Data.PostgreSqlClient /</br> Mono.Data.PostgreSqlClient</td>
				<td>PostgresTest.cs at</br> System.Data/Test</td>
			</tr>

			<tr>
				<td>MySQL</br> (Mono)</td>
				<td>Mono.Data.MySql /</br> Mono.Data.MySql</td>
				<td>MySqlTest.cs at</br> Mono.Data.MySql/Test</td>
			</tr>

			<tr>
				<td>Oracle</br> (Mono)</td>
				<td>System.Data.OracleClient /</br> System.Data.OracleClient</td>
				<td>TestOracleClient.cs at</br> System.Data.OracleClient</td>
			</tr>

			<tr>
				<td>ODBC</br> (Mono)</td>
				<td>System.Data.OracleClient /</br> System.Data.OracleClient</td>
				<td>TestOracleClient.cs at</br> System.Data.OracleClient</td>
			</tr>
			
		</table>
	

	<li><a href="http://www.go-mono.com/testing.html">Testing non-connection classes</a> are 
	done via mono's modified version of NUnit.
		<ul>
			<li>To run all the NUnit tests for Mono, you need the mcs source.  cd to the root
			of the mcs source.  To run it:
				<ul>
					<li>On Linux: make -f makefile test</li>
					<li>On Windows: make test</li>
				</ul>
			</li>
			<li>If you just want to run the NUnit tests for System.Data, you would cd into
			the mcs source at class/System.Data/Test and run it:
				<ul>
					<li>On Linux: make -f makefile test</li>
					<li>On Windows: make test</li>
				</ul>
			</li>
		</ul>
	</li>
		
</ul>