DevForceAndTheEntityFramework

DevForce Data Services fills a gap in the application infrastructure stack between where your Data Access Layer (DAL) ends and your client application begins. The gap concerns your “business logic layer”. The gap concerns your “business logic layer”. How your raw data become business objects with behavior, logic, and rules. How your raw data become business objects with behavior, logic, and rules. How your business objects traverse tiers and cross the network … securely and reliably. How your business objects traverse tiers and cross the network … securely and reliably. How you query for them with LINQ and save changes transactionally. How you query for them with LINQ and save changes transactionally. How you do all of this at scale and with maximum performance. How you do all of this at scale and with maximum performance. DevForce Data Services fills this gap so you don’t have to reinvent it, cobble it, maintain it, and defend it. DevForce Data Services fills this gap so you don’t have to reinvent it, cobble it, maintain it, and defend it. We’ve got eight years of tough customer experience, with production applications in the field spanning the spectrum of .NET client technologies: WinForms, ASP.NET, WPF, and now Silverlight. We’ve got eight years of tough customer experience, with production applications in the field spanning the spectrum of. NET client technologies: WinForms, ASP.NET, WPF, and now Silverlight.

Features

Why DevForce? Why DevForce?
Data Access

N-tier data access is hard. N-tier data access is hard. Constructing a remote domain model for your data is hard. Constructing a remote domain model for your data is hard. DevForce simplifies n-tier persistence and provides a rich domain model on which to build your application. DevForce simplifies n-tier persistence and provides a rich domain model on which to build your application. Stop writing plumbing and infrastructure code and focus on your business logic and user experience. Stop writing plumbing and infrastructure code and focus on your business logic and user experience.

Single Domain Model

You should not have to duplicate your business logic in multiple places. You should not have to duplicate your business logic in multiple places. The mobile business objects in DevForce enable you to use a single domain model whether you are writing client-side or server-side. The mobile business objects in DevForce enable you to use a single domain model whether you are writing client-side or server-side. The same domain model works with all of our DevForce products, so you can have multiple faces for your application in different technologies such as WPF, WinForms, ASP.NET, or Silverlight. The same domain model works with all of our DevForce products, so you can have multiple faces for your application in different technologies such as WPF, WinForms, ASP.NET, or Silverlight.

Rich Domain Model

DevForce provides you with rich business objects with real behavior. DevForce provides you with rich business objects with real behavior. Use a domain model that represents your problem, not just flat data transfer objects, where you have to do all the bookkeeping and re-implement your logic. Use a domain model that represents your problem, not just flat data transfer objects, where you have to do all the bookkeeping and re-implement your logic.

Verification Engine

Verify the correctness of your business objects and provide helpful error messages to the user. Verify the correctness of your business objects and provide helpful error messages to the user. Supports cross-field, cross-object, and dynamic validation, and seamlessly integrates with Silverlight validation. Supports cross-field, cross-object, and dynamic validation, and seamlessly integrates with Silverlight validation. This keeps your business logic in your business objects and out of the UI. This keeps your business logic in your business objects and out of the UI.

Entity Framework Integration

Standardize on Microsoft’s next generation ORM framework. Standardize on Microsoft’s next generation ORM framework. DevForce is built upon the Entity Framework, enables it to work in n-tier, makes it easier to use, and adds all the features you see here plus more. DevForce is built upon the Entity Framework, enables it to work in n-tier, makes it easier to use, and adds all the features you see here plus more.

Security

DevForce is integrated with the ASP.NET Membership, Roles, and Profiles services so you can reuse your existing security infrastructure. DevForce is integrated with the ASP.NET Membership, Roles, and Profiles services so you can reuse your existing security infrastructure. If you require a custom authentication strategy, DevForce provides an interface so you can implement your own custom logic. If you require a custom authentication strategy, DevForce provides an interface so you can implement your own custom logic. Also, no connection string is exposed on the client and server-side security checks prevent unauthorized access even if the client is compromised. Also, no connection string is exposed on the client and server-side security checks prevent unauthorized access even if the client is compromised.

Caching & Performance

DevForce applications are snappy because the domain model executes inside the Silverlight client. DevForce applications are snappy because the domain model executes inside the Silverlight client. Client-side caching greatly reduces the number of trips to the server and simplifies asynchronous programming. Client-side caching greatly reduces the number of trips to the server and simplifies asynchronous programming. Data compression further reduces network latency and improves performance. Data compression further reduces network latency and improves performance.

Full n-tier LINQ Support

Get the full power of LINQ in an n-tier application. Get the full power of LINQ in an n-tier application. LINQ-to-Entities only operates 2-tier, and other LINQ implementations only support a narrow range of queries. LINQ-to-Entities only operates two-tier, and other LINQ implementations only support a narrow range of queries. DevForce supports them all including subqueries, projections, and aggregation. DevForce supports them all including subqueries, projections, and aggregation.

MVVM and Best Practices

DevForce is built around good architectural practices such as MVC and MVVM and enables you to conveniently keep your UI and business logic where they belong without sacrificing usability or functionality. DevForce is built around good architectural practices such as MVC and MVVM and enables you to conveniently keep your UI and business logic where they belong without sacrificing usability or functionality.

Offline Execution

Use your application while disconnected or partially connected to the internet. Use your application while disconnected or partially connected to the internet. Save your work in isolated storage and resume working later. Save your work in isolated storage and resume working later.

Multiple Data Sources

Use multiple back-end databases in a single domain model. Use multiple back-end databases in a single domain model. Navigate cross-database relations using object properties. Navigate cross-database relations using object properties. Save all your changes safely in a distributed transaction. Save all your changes safely in a distributed transaction.

Scalability

Client-side caching, connection pooling, and a stateless and multi-core enabled server provide DevForce applications with excellent scalability and fault-tolerant characteristics. Client-side caching, connection pooling, and a stateless and multi-core enabled server provide DevForce applications with excellent scalability and fault-tolerant characteristics.

Lifecycle Events

In addition to writing static business logic, you can dynamically modify behavior at runtime by injecting your logic before or after a get or set, and by hooking into the object lifecycle events (fetching, fetched, saving, saved). In addition to writing static business logic, you can dynamically modify behavior at runtime by injecting your logic before or after a get or set, and by hooking into the object lifecycle events (fetching, fetched, saving, saved).

The Web is a collection of loosely coupled servers that rely on simple, stateless interactions between client and server. Standard access protocols (TCP/HTTP), stateless access methods (GET/PUT/POST/DELETE) and simple data formats (HTML) make it possible for any client (e.g., a browser) to render any Web page.

Technically, this is known as a REpresentational State Transfer, or REST architecture. Adopting the REST architectural style is gaining popularity and is sometimes referred to as a Resource-Oriented Architecture, or ROA.

The complexity of the nearly unlimited combinations of protocols, methods and schemas required for traditional data integration creates a morass of integration protocols, access methods and data schemas that results in massive investments that lack the four fundamentals required.

Is it any wonder that data integration solutions eventually collapse under their own weight? The ongoing maintenance required to support application revisions on different platforms can eventually consume all available development resources.

Often, for commercial integration solutions, the complexity of the connectivity matrix expands to the point where core product innovation suffers.

Adopting Internet standards like HTTP and a REST provide the technology foundation for interoperability as well as the ability to take advantage of the wide
range of infrastructure technologies built for the Web. Inexpensive — sometimes even commoditized — caching, load balancing, security, access control, logging, as well as search indexing all make this web-based approach to data integration significantly cheaper and powerful than traditional approaches.
Additionally, when these deployment technologies are combined with an open development model and a store for sharing and reselling snaps developed by an ecosystem of application and API experts, sharing and reuse multiplies exponentially as well.

When a community of developers collaborate, share and re-use each other’s components, and deploy them on a common infrastructure, technology and
methodology reinforce one another to realize the full potential of resource-oriented data services.

Deployments

Integrations take a variety of forms from building a data warehouse to creating ad hoc reports and analyses, to Enterprise Mashups or deploying Rich Internet Applications.

Analytic Data Integration

The solution can play two different roles in the world of Analytics and Business Intelligence.

First, it can provide the lightweight, flexible, and affordable data services access layer that enterprises desperately need, in order to take full advantage of their substantial investments in data warehouses for Business Intelligence, Customer Data Integration, and Master Data Management projects.

In many organizations, IT has worked hard to create centralized data warehouses with “clean,” up-to-date customer records and other vital data. Unfortunately, they often find that there’s no affordable, efficient way to distribute the data out to departments and divisions, where it needs to be used, limiting the utility and return on their investment. Lacking a downstream data services access layer, organizations begin duplicating data and investing in duplicate infrastructure: local databases built from extracts of the core data records.

In some large organizations, IT workers rely on tens of thousands of local databases and thousands of daily FTP transmissions to make up for the lack of real-time, downstream data services. By providing secure, real-time access to core data warehouses, can improve the quality and timeliness of data, while reducing the need for duplicate IT resources and timeconsuming management tasks.

Solutions can:
Provide secure data services from centralized data warehouses, such as MDM data warehouses
Transform data as needed for consumption by downstream applications
Eliminate the need for costly infrastructure and processes, such as duplicate databases and daily extracts and FTP transmissions

Summary

RESTful interface

Leverages existing consumer Web investment in hardware, software, and training

Supports enterprise security controls

Simplifies development through loose coupling

Scales across every enterprise

Data access from any source: enterprise applications, hosted applications, SOA, databases, data warehouses, MDM/CDI, Web sites, RSS, etc.

Eliminates needs for costly data extracts, duplicate databases, time-consuming custom development, etc.

Provides a consistent framework for data integration (ubiquitous access to data)

Searchable distributed repositories of reusable components Accelerates development

Supports best practices, security policies, etc.

Increases ROI

Reduces errors

Index-able distributed metadata and browser-based design tools

Supports self-service by IT engineers and business analysts (ubiquitous access of data)

Accelerates delivery of data to business users

Reduces IT workload, while still providing control and governance ?

ingredients:

• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 (Nov CTP):
  http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/R2.aspx
• Microsoft Office 2010 :
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/default.aspx
• PowerPivot for Excel (make sure to download the plugin for the right platform, depending on your version of Microsoft Office 2010):
  http://powerpivot.com/download.aspx

Report Builder 3.0 generates reports that display the information in an easily consumable format. Because the data is published in SharePoint, your IT administrators can both version it for consistency and ensure that only authorized personnel can access it. For more information, see Publishing Report Parts (Report Builder 3.0).

How to Create reusable report parts and Performance Point components for end users? Reporting Services 2008 R2 has enabled the reuse of individual components such as charts and datasets, with a report part gallery to present them. By combining these with Performance Point components such as the Time Intelligence filter, users can create their own mashups of different BI components.

PowerPivot for Excel: End users can now use Microsoft Excel to perform their own data extractions. This self-service BI solution gives users the ability to blend data from various internal and external sources to create more powerful insights into business events and trends. enables Excel power users to easily integrate data from multiple sources, interactively model, and analyze large amount of data from within Excel.

Report Builder 3.0 offers a number of enhancements to the report design experience. For example, you can add maps, sparklines, and indicators to your reports, rotate text 270 degrees, control page breaks, and create report parts and shared datasets and save them to a report server for others to use. You can include data from new data source types: SharePoint lists, Microsoft SQL Azure, and SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse. You can do more with expressions, including calculate aggregates of aggregates. For exporting to Excel, you can now set names for worksheets, and you can produce data feeds from your reports.

Of course, you must migrate to SQL Server 2008 R2 to gain access to these key features

Empower Users with Self Service BI – SQL Server Team Blog – Site Home – TechNet Blogs

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