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This article shows how to use only the Entity Framework and the CData ADO.NET provider to access OData from an ASP.NET MVC application.
In this article, we will guide you through the process of utilizing wizards within Visual Studio to seamlessly integrate the CData ADO.NET Provider for OData into a basic MVC (Model, View, Controller) project.
About OData Data Integration
CData simplifies access and integration of live OData services data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:
- Access OData versions 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0, working with legacy services and the latest features and capabilities.
- Leverage advanced query options, including $filter, $select, and $expand, enhancing data retrieval from 3rd party tools.
- Use Server-side execution of aggregation and grouping to minimize data transfer and boost performance.
- Authenticate securely using a variety of schemes, including Azure AD, digest, negotiate, NTLM, OAuth, and more means secure authentication with every connection.
- Use SQL stored procedures to manage OData service entities - listing, creating, and removing associations between entities.
Customers use CData's solutions to regularly integrate their OData services with preferred tools, such as Power BI, MicroStrategy, or Tableau, and to replicate data from OData services to their databases or data warehouses.
Getting Started
Create the Entity Framework Model
Follow the steps below to save connection properties and map tables to entities in the data model.
- Create a new MVC project in Visual Studio. In this example, the project name is MvcODataApp.
If you are using Entity Framework 6, you will need to take the preliminary step of registering the OData Entity Framework provider for your project. See the "LINQ and Entity Framework" chapter in the help documentation for a guide.
Note that MVC 3 scaffolding and MVC 4 scaffolding do not support Entity Framework 6. You can use your scaffolding with Entity Framework 6 by upgrading to the latest version of MVC.- To add the .edmx file from the designer, right-click your Models folder and click Add New Item. Select ADO.NET Entity Data Model, name the model, and click Add. In this example, the name of the model is ODataModel.
- In the Entity Data Model wizard, select the option 'EF Designer from database'. The Entity Data Model wizard is displayed.
- Click New Connection. Select CData OData Data Source in the dialog that is displayed.
Specify the required connection string properties.
The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid OData user credentials. In addition, you will need to specify a URL to a valid OData server organization root or OData services file.
A typical connection string is below:
URL=http://services.odata.org/V4/Northwind/Northwind.svc;UseIdUrl=True;OData Version=4.0;Data Format=ATOM;
Name the connection and select whether to include sensitive information, such as connection credentials, in the connection string. For simplicity, this example saves sensitive information in Web.config. The connection settings are saved as ODataEntities.
- Select the tables and views you need. In this example, Orders is imported. Also, the option to pluralize object names is deselected in this example. Click Finish to create the .edmx file.
- Build your project to complete this step.
Scaffold the Controller and Views
Once you've established the model and completed the project build, you can employ ASP.NET Scaffolding wizards to generate both the controller and the views.
- In Solution Explorer, right-click the controllers folder and click Add -> Controller. Select MVC 5 Controller with views, using Entity Framework.
- In the Add Controller dialog that is then displayed, select the following options:
- Model class: Select a table you imported; for example, Orders.
- Data context class: Select your context class.
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Leave the default values for the other fields.