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==  Using Microsoft Entity Frameworks to Access Firebird Schema Objects with Virtuoso==

This document details the steps required to provide Microsoft Entity Framework access to Firebird Schema Objects using the <nop>OpenLink Virtuoso Universal Server. This is achieved by linking the required Firebird Schema objects into Virtuoso using its built in Virtual Database engine, and then using the Virtuoso ADO.NET Entity Framework provider to query the remote Firebird Schema objects linked into the Virtuoso Server.

=== Prerequisites===

The following prerequisites must be in place for this solution to be possible.

==== Firebird DBMS====

A Firebird DBMS hosting the required Schema Objects needs to be available. In this document a <b>Firebird demo</b> database will be used to demonstrate the process.

==== ODBC Driver for Firebird====

A Firebird ODBC Driver is required for Linking the Firebird Schema Objects into the Virtuoso Server. The <b><nop>OpenLink ODBC Driver for Firebird</b> will be used in this document, for which a functional ODBC Data source name of "<code>fbma</code>" will be assumed to exist on the machine hosting the Virtuoso Server.

==== Virtuoso Universal Server ====

An Virtuoso installation including the Virtuoso Universal Server and ADO.NET Entity Framework Provider is required. The Virtuoso components used must be Release 5.10.x or above, this being the minimum version containing support for Microsoft Entity Frameworks.

==== Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 SP1====

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 is required, this being the only version containing the necessary Entity Framework support available at the time of writing.

=== Tasks===

==== Ensure Firebird Primary Keys (PKs) are not nullable  ====

The Visual Studio 2008 Entity Data Model (EDM) requires that all primary keys are  *NOT* Nullable, and will fail to generate an EDM if any are. Thus ensure any tables to be used are defined as not nullable in the Firebird database schema before attempting to generate an EDM. In the case of the Firebird demo database all tables are not nullable, thus this should not be an issue in this case.

==== Install and configure <nop>OpenLink ODBC Driver for Firebird====

The Virtuoso Virtual Database engine uses ODBC as the connectivity mechanism for linking remote database objects into its local schema. Thus a Firebird ODBC Driver must be available with a suitably configured DSN for connecting to the target database. The <nop>OpenLink ODBC Drivers for Firebird have been used in this document, although in theory any Firebird ODBC Driver can be used.

Installation instructions for the <nop>OpenLink ODBC Driver for Firebird are available from:

* [[http://wikis.openlinksw.com/dataspace/owiki/wiki/UdaWikiWeb/InstallConfigODBC|Product Installation & Basic Configuration (ODBC)]] 

==== Install and configure <nop>OpenLink Virtuoso Universal Server====

* [[VirtADOClientServInstall|Install and configure OpenLink Virtuoso Universal Server]]

==== Linking Firebird tables into Virtuoso====

* [[VirtFBLinkingObjects|Linking Firebird tables into OpenLink Virtuoso]]

==== Creating Visual Studio hosted Entity Data Model (EDM)====

* [[VirtFBEDM|Creating EDM in Visual Studio 2008]]
* [[VirtFBAssociations|Manually creating EDM Associations (FKs)]]

====Using <nop>EDM to create Entity Framework based applications====

Now that a Microsoft Entity Data Model has been created for the Firebird Human Resources database, Entity Framework applications can be created to make use of it.

===== Entity Frameworks based ADO.NET Data Service=====

* [[VirtEntityFrameworkFBDatService|Entity Framework Data Service]]