Q3 Data Tools Webinar Wrap Up and Video

I want to thank everyone that joined me on Monday for the What’s New in Q3 2011 for Data Tools webinar.  We had a lot of great questions, and saw many of the new awesome features available in Telerik Reporting and OpenAccess ORM for Q3.  In such a short time span it is not possible to cover everything; so make sure to stay tuned to my blog, or the team blog.  Over the next few weeks we will cover even more of the awesome Q3 features!

For those of you that missed out on the fun, the webinar is now live on Telerik TV. Make sure to go watch it… go ahead…I will wait :)

Q&A

I promised to post all the great questions from the webinar; so here they are in all their glory!  I tried to consolidate, and answer, all questions. If I missed any feel free to shoot me an email :)

OpenAccess

• Can the OpenAccess Profiler be used to analyze a project or projects that don't use an OpenAccess data model?

  No, profiler requires an OpenAccess-based log.

• Is there a converter for existing LINQ to SQL, or Entity Framework projects?

  Yes! You can read more about them both here.

• Thank you so much for the Stored Procedure Editor!! This was the final missing feature for people switching from EF.

  Thanks! We know! :) Give it a spin and let us know what you think!

• What about code first in open access?

  It is supported! We call it the Fluent API, and it works very well. You can learn more about in this documentation article, and this video series. The brand new NuGet Packages make it a breeze to get started with the Fluent API. So give it a spin! :)

• Can I create an abstraction layer for data access using OpenAccess?

  Yes :)

• Does OpenAccess have different model approach same with EF?

  Not really - we cover the same model creation principles. However we provide many tools that make it easier to work with your data.  To see some of the key features we provide over EF check out this webinar, and to see a full comparison take a look at this page.

• Can you briefly discuss the difference of each of the project templates?

  You can find a brief description here, and a more complete guide here.

• How does OpenAccess differ from any ORM tools such as EF or NHibernate?

  We tend to think that it is much easier to use - we have many wizards and tools which help you build your data access layer. Feel free to try it out!

• Does OpenAccess support DB2?

  Unfortunately, OpenAccess ORM does not support IBM DB2 at the moment.

• Are there future tools for entity framework?

  We are not planning any tools for EF at this time. I will pass your suggestion to the team though!

• When will you have MVC 3 and MVC 4 (for VS11 beta) templates for open access? When I downloaded the released it looked like you only had an MVC 2 template

  We are working on MVC3 templates. Hopefully we will have them later this year. MVC4 templates will be available as soon as Visual Studio goes out of beta.

• What databases does OpenAccess support?

  You can see a full list of the supported databases on this page.

• Is the profiler included in the free edition of OpenAccess?

  Yes, the profiler is free with OpenAccess ORM Q2 2011+

• Who are the main competitors for OpenAccess ???

  Interesting question :) Entity Frameowrk is one, Linq 2 SQL is another :)

• We use WCF RIA services, how would you go about converting meta data generated from an EF model?

  We have an EF to OpenAccess converter which should help you convert your EF model to OpenAccess model.

• Are there any plans for Windows Phone provider?

  Not at this time. We are focused on web development, but I will pass your suggestion to the team.

• Are there any step-by-step guides to use OpenAccess with any of the Telerik UI control libraries?

  It is in the works! We will have a quick getting started guide in a few weeks. Please use the updated documentation, SDK, and awesome support services until then!

• Can you re-run the dynamic data wizard if you want to add tables later?

  Of course! You can run it from the context menu in design time.

• Can the OpenAccess Profiler be used for Entity Framework as well?

  No, it operates with OpenAccess logs and data only.

• Does OpenAccess also work with MySQL ODBC 3.51?

  You can check all supported databases here.

Reporting

• Just want to get this question out there before I forget. Are there any official plans to release a standalone or an end user report designer? Thanks!

  We have such plans. The team is working on the first version. Fingers crossed, we will have it next year!

• Is this same interactive layout mode available for Silverlight as well?

  Yes, although there is a slight issue which will be addressed in SP1

• What's the essence of Watermark?

  Watermarks allow you to embed information (image and/or text) into the report. Such information can be (but is not limited to) verifying the report's authenticity, the identity of its owner, or the sensitivity of the data in the report. For example: CONFIDENTIAL or DRAFT

• Can you turn the interactive layout on and off?

  Yes, you turn the interactive layout off.

• When generating a report across multiple pages and expanding a group, are the headers in both top row and side column automatically acquired to the second and further multiple pages?

  This is based on a setting in Telerik Reporting - you can set the group to be expanded or collapsed by default.

• I'm creating a WPF application. Should I be using Reporting to generate print previews, or does WPF handle that as well?

  Telerik Reporting will auto-generate the print preview for the report, yes. Note: that this is for reports created with Telerik reporting - it cannot do print previews for WPF forms.

• Can the new RadChartView be used in Telerik Reporting?

  No, Telerik Reporting uses another charting engine, which will be improved next year.

Misc

• Need Joshua’s twitter handle please?

  http://twitter.com/#!/jholt456

Upcoming Blogs

We also had some great questions I plan to answer in upcoming blogs.  Listed below are a few of the blog topics brought up during the webinar. Make sure to check back for updates, and I will make sure to update the links as I publish them. :)

• Schema Change Management with OpenAccess
• Swapping Databases at Runtime with OpenAccess
• Using OpenAccess ORM with MySql
• OpenAccess Profiler Settings In-Depth

Happy Coding!