Enterprise Library (what should I use...)

[Guest]

Hi, what is really worthwhile to use of Ent Library framework (e.g. Data Access
Application Block) ? Who has used in practice ?

Thanks a lot !

 

[William \(Bill\) Vaughn]

I'm of the opinion that the DAB is more trouble than it's worth. It requires
just as much training, experience and troubleshooting as just coding
ADO.NET. Behind the scenes it uses some dubious practices and AFAIK does not
support the enhancements in the 2.0 Framework. Just stick with ADO.NET.

--
____________________________________
William (Bill) Vaughn
Author, Mentor, Consultant
Microsoft MVP
INETA Speaker
www.betav.com/blog/billva
www.betav.com
Please reply only to the newsgroup so that others can benefit.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
__________________________________

 

[Matt Noonan]

Hi, what is really worthwhile to use of Ent Library framework (e.g.
Data Access Application Block) ? Who has used in practice ?

Thanks a lot !

I use it in practice, but I also use my O/RM on top of it to simplify the
usage.

 

[Matt Noonan]

Behind the scenes it uses some dubious practices
and AFAIK does not support the enhancements in the 2.0 Framework.
Just stick with ADO.NET.

Hi Bill, can you elaborate on those two comments a bit? Just curious, since
MS bills the EntLib as a "best practices" library.

 

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Matt,

As Microsoft says that there is a best practise, than in my idea they should
delete all the rest from Visual Studio Net what is not well to use and cut
the prices accoording to that.

(I always get the idea that these best practises are written by persons, who
are not able to get the same idea in their own organisation or in the rest
of the world).

It remembers me once a discussion with some developer if two parallel lines
exist. I left the discussion in half an hour, but they were goin on about
that the next day as well. Our organisation had nothing to do with parallel
lines.

Just my opinion,

Cor

 

[Miha Markic [MVP C#]]

Matt,

Did you consider using an ORM product such as LLBLGen Pro?
http://www.llblgen.com/

 

[Guest]

Well, as I could understand for what I have read so far, DAB is not so
helpful, it might even get worse the overall performance .
But what about the other blocks (criptography, security...) ? Have u used
any of them for real?

 

[Cowboy \(Gregory A. Beamer\)]

The DAAB is definitely a pain in the butt, but it is NOT the Enterprise
library. The data bits in the Enterprise library are as different from DAAB
as LLBLGen Pro is from LLBLGen (the original free tool).

Having said that, I am a bit torn over Ent Lib or not. Overall, I am aiming
more for an ORM, but the Ent Library does give you a lot of bang for the
buck.

--
Gregory A. Beamer

*************************************************
Think Outside the Box!
*************************************************

 

[Cowboy \(Gregory A. Beamer\)]

DAAB and the Enterprise Library are two completely different things. There
is a learning curve for each, but the provider/factory model in the new
Enterprise Library is preferable to the old DAAB way of doing things.

I have use DAAB in projects, but found that it went counter to the direction
I wanted to go, at least on most. It is possible to add a "generic" wrapper
to the front, to have DAAB database agnostic, but some of the methods, esp.
the DataReader methods, are painful.

--
Gregory A. Beamer

*************************************************
Think Outside the Box!
*************************************************

 

[Miha Markic [MVP C#]]

Having said that, I am a bit torn over Ent Lib or not. Overall, I am
aiming
more for an ORM,

Yep, me too. Out of curiosity, which one?

 

[Guest]

Got it, but what about the other aspects of Ent Library (criptography,
security, Error Handling...), is it interesting? Or it would be better to use
framework 2.0 package only...?

 

[Guest]

For the records, I use MyGeneration O/M, which besides having its own format
(Dooads), I can create my own templates...LLBGEN is better??

 

[Matt Noonan]

Matt,

As Microsoft says that there is a best practise, than in my idea they
should delete all the rest from Visual Studio Net what is not well to
use and cut the prices accoording to that.

(I always get the idea that these best practises are written by
persons, who are not able to get the same idea in their own
organisation or in the rest of the world).

I won't argue with you there! ;-)

It remembers me once a discussion with some developer if two parallel
lines exist. I left the discussion in half an hour, but they were
goin on about that the next day as well. Our organisation had nothing
to do with parallel lines.

Yeah, sometimes the purists don't understand that you have work that needs
to get done, even if it isn't the ideal solution.

 

[Matt Noonan]

Matt,

Did you consider using an ORM product such as LLBLGen Pro?
http://www.llblgen.com/

I do use an ORM, but I didn't ask the original question...

 

[Matt Noonan]

Well, as I could understand for what I have read so far, DAB is not so
helpful, it might even get worse the overall performance .

There is a reflection hit for figuring out which data provider to use, but
other than that the performance is acceptable. But obviously, you can beat
it by writing straight ADO.NET. Using the EntLib DAAB, you should choose
carefully if you need some of the built-in features (perf counters, WMI,
database independence). If you need pure speed, you'll probably need
something more lightweight.

But what about the other blocks (criptography, security...) ? Have u
used any of them for real?

They work great, but again, if you need to analyze which of the features of
the EntLib you need. If you are already using DAAB, then using the Caching
Block fits right in. It's really a question of how much you want to "buy-in"
to using the EntLib.

 

[Matt Noonan]

The DAAB is definitely a pain in the butt, but it is NOT the
Enterprise library. The data bits in the Enterprise library are as
different from DAAB as LLBLGen Pro is from LLBLGen (the original free
tool).

I'm starting to wonder, are we talking about the same thing? Are you
thinking of the SqlHelper class, which was the original DAAB? There is also
a DAAB in the EntLib, but it's completely different from SqlHelper.

Having said that, I am a bit torn over Ent Lib or not. Overall, I am
aiming more for an ORM, but the Ent Library does give you a lot of
bang for the buck.

Then check out EasyObjects.NET (http://www.easyobjects.net), which is built
on top of the EntLib.

 

[Miha Markic [MVP C#]]

I do use an ORM, but I didn't ask the original question...

I wonder which one. ;-P

 

[Miha Markic [MVP C#]]

For the records, I use MyGeneration O/M, which besides having its own
format
(Dooads), I can create my own templates...LLBGEN is better??

No idea, as I never used MyGen. Anyway, why do you need DAAB then (if you
are using an ORM)?
For complicated queries?

 

[Matt Noonan]

I wonder which one. ;-P

:-D

 

[ECathell]

Isn't that kind of what the TableAdapters are? I know they sure are a nice
piece of work. I used to use EntLib in 2003, but with 2005 I haven't really
found a need for them.