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In this article Barry Mavin, CEO and Chief Software Architect for Recital provides details on how to use the Recital Universal .NET Data Provider with the Recital Database Server.

Overview

A data provider in the .NET Framework serves as a bridge between an application and a data source. A data provider is used to retrieve data from a data source and to reconcile changes to that data back to the data source.

Each .NET Framework data provider has a DataAdapter object: the .NET Framework Data Provider for OLE DB is the OleDbDataAdapter object, the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server is the SqlDataAdapter object, the .NET Framework Data Provider for ODBC is the OdbcDataAdapter object, and the .NET Framework Data Provider for the Recital Database Server is the RecitalDataAdapter object.

The Recital Universal .NET Data Provider can access any data sources supported by the Recital Database Server. It is not restricted to only access Recital data. It can be used to access server-side ODBC, JDBC and OLE DB data sources also.

Core classes of the Data Provider

The Connection, Command, DataReader, and DataAdapter objects represent the core elements of the .NET Framework data provider model. The Recital Universal .NET Data Provider is plug compatible with the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server. All SQL Server classes are prefixed with "Sql" e.g. SqlDataAdaptor. To use the Recital Universal Data Adaptor, simply change the "Sql" prefix to "Recital" e.g. RecitalDataAdaptor.

The following table describes these objects.

Object Description
RecitalConnection Establishes a connection to a specific data source.
RecitalCommand Executes a command against a data source.
RecitalDataReader Reads a forward-only, read-only stream of data from a data source.
RecitalDataAdapter Populates a DataSet and resolves updates with the data source.

Along with the core classes listed in the preceding table, a .NET Framework data provider also contains the classes listed in the following table.


Object Description
RecitalTransaction Enables you to enlist commands in transactions at the data source.
RecitalCommandBuilder A helper object that will automatically generate command properties of a DataAdapter or will derive parameter information from a stored procedure and populate the Parameters collection of a Command object.
RecitalParameter Defines input, output, and return value parameters for commands and stored procedures.

The Recital Universal .NET Data Provider provides connectivity to the Recital Database Server running on any supported platform (Windows, Linux, Unix, OpenVMS) using the RecitalConnection object. The Recital Universal .NET Data Provider supports a connection string format that is similar to the SQL Server connection string format.

The basic format of a connection string consists of a series of keyword/value pairs separated by semicolons. The equal sign (=) connects each keyword and its value.

The following table lists the valid names for keyword values within the ConnectionString property of the RecitalConnection class.


Name Default Description
Data Source
-or-
Server
-or-
Servername
-or-
Nodename
  The name or network address of the instance of the Recital Database Server which to connect to.
Directory   The target directory on the remote server where data to be accessed resides. This is ignored when a Database is specified.
Encrypt
-or-
Encryption
false When true, DES3 encryption is used for all data sent between the client and server.
Initial Catalog
-or-
Database
  The name of the database on the remote server.
Password
-or- Pwd
  The password used to authenticate access to the remote server.
User ID
-or-
uid
-or-
User
-or-
Username
  The user name used to authenticate access to the remote server.
Connection Pooling
-or-
Pool
false Enable connection pooling to the server. This provides for one connection to be shared.
Logging false Provides for the ability to log all server requests for debugging purposes
Rowid true When Rowid is true (the default) a column will be post-fixed to each SELECT query that is a unique row identifier. This is used to provide optimised UPDATE and DELETE operations. If you use the RecitalSqlGrid, RecitalSqlForm, or RecitalSqlGridForm components then this column is not visible but is used to handle updates to the underlying data source.
Logfile   The name of the logfile for logging
Gateway  

Opens an SQL gateway(Connection) to a foreign SQL data source on the remote server.
Using Gateways, you can transparently access the following local or remote data sources:

  • Recital
  • Oracle
  • ODBC (Server-side ODBC data sources)
  • JDBC (Server-side JDBC data sources)
  • ADO (Use this to connect to SQL Server and other Native Windows OLEDB data sources)
  • MySQL
  • PostgreSQL

The gateway can be specified in several formats:
servertype@nodename:username/password-database
e.g.
oracle@nodename:username/password-database
mysql@nodename:username/password-database
postgresql@nodename:username/password-database
-or-
odbc:odbc_data_source_name_on_server
oledb:oledb_connection_string_on_server
jdbc:jdbc_driver_path_on_server;jdbc:Recital:args


Populating a DataSet from a DataAdaptor

The ADO.NET DataSet is a memory-resident representation of data that provides a consistent relational programming model independent of the data source. The DataSet represents a complete set of data including tables, constraints, and relationships among the tables. Because the DataSet is independent of the data source, a DataSet can include data local to the application, as well as data from multiple data sources. Interaction with existing data sources is controlled through the DataAdapter.

A DataAdapter is used to retrieve data from a data source and populate tables within a DataSet. The DataAdapter also resolves changes made to the DataSet back to the data source. The DataAdapter uses the Connection object of the .NET Framework data provider to connect to a data source and Command objects to retrieve data from and resolve changes to the data source.

The SelectCommand property of the DataAdapter is a Command object that retrieves data from the data source. The InsertCommand, UpdateCommand, and DeleteCommand properties of the DataAdapter are Command objects that manage updates to the data in the data source according to modifications made to the data in the DataSet.

The Fill method of the DataAdapter is used to populate a DataSet with the results of the SelectCommand of the DataAdapter. Fill takes as its arguments a DataSet to be populated, and a DataTable object, or the name of the DataTable to be filled with the rows returned from the SelectCommand.

The Fill method uses the DataReader object implicitly to return the column names and types used to create the tables in the DataSet, as well as the data to populate the rows of the tables in the DataSet. Tables and columns are only created if they do not already exist; otherwise Fill uses the existing DataSet schema.

Examples in C#:
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// include the references below
using System.Data;
using Recital.Data;

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// The following code example creates an instance of a DataAdapter that 
// uses a Connection to the Recital Database Server Southwind database 
// and populates a DataTable in a DataSet with the list of customers. 
// The SQL statement and Connection arguments passed to the DataAdapter 
// constructor are used to create the SelectCommand property of the DataAdapter.
public DataSet SelectCustomers()
{
	RecitalConnection swindConn = new
		RecitalConnection("Data Source=localhost;Initial Catalog=southwind");
	RecitalCommand selectCMD = new
		RecitalCommand("SELECT CustomerID, CompanyName FROM Customers", swindConn);
	selectCMD.CommandTimeout = 30;
	RecitalDataAdapter custDA = new RecitalDataAdapter();
	custDA.SelectCommand = selectCMD;
	swindConn.Open();
	DataSet custDS = new DataSet();
	custDA.Fill(custDS, "Customers");
	swindConn.Close();
	return custDS;
}

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// The following example uses the RecitalCommand, RecitalDataAdapter and 
// RecitalConnection, to select records from a database, and populate a 
// DataSet with the selected rows. The filled DataSet is then returned. 
// To accomplish this, the method is passed an initialized DataSet, a 
// connection string, and a query string that is a SQL SELECT statement
public DataSet SelectRecitalRows(DataSet dataset, string connection, string query) 
{
	RecitalConnection conn = new RecitalConnection(connection);
	SqlDataAdapter adapter = new RecitalDataAdapter();
	adapter.SelectCommand = new RecitalCommand(query, conn);
	adapter.Fill(dataset);
	return dataset;
}
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Subclipse is an Eclipse Team Provider plug-in providing support for Subversion within the Eclipse IDE. This plugin is required in order to use the recital eclipse workspace.
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SE Linux is a feature of the Linux kernel that provides mandatory access control. This policy based access control system grants far greater control over the resources on a machine than standard Linux access controls such as permissions.

Many modern Linux distributions are shipping with SELinux enabled by default, Fedora 14 and Rhel 6 both install with it enabled.

When you run Recital Web on a SELinux enabled machine and navigate to the default.rsp page you will see something similar to the screen shot below.

1
If you launch the SELinux troubleshooter you will see the following problem.

SELinux is blocking the apache server from accessing the Recital server running on port 8001.

2
To manage you SELinux policy you must have the policycoreutils package group installed. The policycoreutils contains the policy core utilities that are required for basic operation of a SELinux system.

If you wish to use a GUI tool, you must install the policycoreutils-gui package.

At the command prompt execute the following:

As root

$ yum install policycoreutils

$ semanage port -a -t http_port_t -p tcp 8001

$ service recital restart

$ service httpd restart 
 

We use the semanage command here to allow the http server access to port 8001. Once you have completed the steps detailed above you can go and navigate back to the default.rsp page in your borwser, where you will find the permission denied message is now replaced by the default.rsp page.


4
SELinux does a great job of restricting services and daemons so rather than simply disabling it, why not work with it!

When it comes to security, every little bit helps...

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Recital 10 introduced a FOREACH command, much like PHP and some other languages. This simply gives an easy way to iterate over arrays. foreach works on arrays and objects, and will issue an error when you try to use it on a variable with a different data type or an uninitialized variable. There are two syntaxes; the second is a minor but useful extension of the first:
FOREACH array_expression AS value
    statements...
ENDFOR
FOREACH array_expression AS key => value statements... ENDFOR
The first form loops over the array given by array_expression. On each loop, the value of the current element is assigned to value and the internal array pointer is advanced by one (so on the next loop, you'll be looking at the next element).
The second form does the same thing, except that the current element's key will be assigned to the variable key on each loop. This form works only on associative arrays and objects.
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Yes, your FoxPlus and FoxPRO applications should run under Recital with little to no changes at all. We provide expert product support if you have any questions or problems. If you lack the resources to move your applications into Recital we can provide that service to you also if required.
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Subclipse is an Eclipse Team Provider plug-in providing support for Subversion within the Eclipse IDE. This plugin is required in order to use the recital eclipse workspace.
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In an interesting article at Linux Magazine, Sam Ockman discusses the origin of the term "Open Source". Check it out here.
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In this article Barry Mavin, CEO and Chief Software Architect for Recital provides details on how the Recital Database Server can be used to provide a solution for Universal Data Integration.

Overview

The Recital Database Server handles universal cross-platform data access to a wide range of data sources. The database server natively handles full remote SQL data access to Recital, Visual FoxPro, FoxPro, FoxBASE, Clipper and older dBase data. Using Bridges, it handles full remote SQL data access to C-ISAM and OpenVMS RMS. Using gateway connections, it handles full remote SQL data access to Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, server-side ODBC, server-side JDBC and server-side OLE DB data sources. With its ability to access data using server-side ODBC, JDBC and OLE DB drivers from clients on all supported operating systems (Windows, Linux, Unix, OpenVMS), the Recital Database Server is an ideal Data Integration Solution for applications of all sizes and complexity.

Universal Data Integration Solutions

There are several ways in which data may be accessed by the Database Server.

Table 1:

Client Universal Data Access solutions for accessing local or remote data.


Client Solution
Recital Use remote gateway connections
Visual FoxPro Use the Universal ODBC Driver
Java (all platforms) Use the Universal JDBC Driver
.NET Framework Use the Universal .NET Data Provider
Microsoft Office Use the Universal ODBC Driver
Windows Mobile Use the Universal Compact Framework .NET Data Provider
PHP on Linux Use the Universal ODBC Driver for Linux
Mono on Linux Use the Universal .NET Data Provider
Others If the data source you want to access is not in the list above, then you can use a remote ODBC, JDBC or OLE DB gateway.
You can find examples of connection strings for most ODBC and OLE DB data sources by clicking here.

Table 2:

Windows Server Universal Data Access solutions accessible from any remote client running on Windows, Linux, Unix or OpenVMS:


Data Source Solution
Recital Native support (See table 1)
Visual FoxPro Native support (See table 1)
FoxPro Native support (See table 1)
FoxBASE Native support (See table 1)
Clipper Native support (See table 1)
dBase Native support (See table 1)
C-ISAM Use a bridge (See table 1)
Access Use a gateway connection
gateway="oledb:Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=\somepath\mydb.mdb;User Id=admin;Password=;"
Exchange Use a gateway connection
gateway="oledb:Provider=ExOLEDB.DataSource;Data Source=http://servername/publicstore"
Excel Use a gateway connection
gateway="oledb:Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=C:\MyExcel.xls;"
Oracle Use a gateway connection
gateway="oledb:Provider=msdaora;Data Source=TheOracleDB;User Id=xxxxx;Password=xxxxx;"
SQL Server Use a gateway connection
gateway="oledb:Provider=sqloledb;Data Source=Aron1;Initial Catalog=pubs;User Id=sa;Password=asdasd;"
MySQL Use a gateway connection
gateway="oledb:Provider=MySQLProv;Data Source=mydb;User Id=xxxxx;Password=xxxxx;"
IBM DB2 Use a gateway connection
gateway="oledb:Provider=DB2OLEDB;Network Transport Library=TCPIP;Network Address=XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX;Initial Catalog=MyCtlg;Package Collection=MyPkgCol;Default Schema=Schema;User ID=MyUser;Password=MyPW"
Sybase ASA Use a gateway connection
gateway="oledb:Provider=ASAProv;Data source=myASA"
Sybase ASE Use a gateway connection
gateway="oledb:Provider=Sybase.ASEOLEDBProvider;Srvr=myASEserver,5000;Catalog=myDBname;User Id=username;Password=password"
IBM Informix Use a gateway connection
gateway="oledb:Provider=Ifxoledbc.2;password=myPw;User ID=myUser;Data Source=dbName@serverName;Persist Security Info=true"
Ingres Use a gateway connection
gateway="odbc:dsn=data_source_name"
Firebird Use a gateway connection
gateway="odbc:dsn=data_source_name"
IBM AS400 iSeries Use a gateway connection
gateway="oledb:PROVIDER=IBMDA400; DATA SOURCE=MY_SYSTEM_NAME;USER ID=myUserName;PASSWORD=myPwd"
Interbase Use a gateway connection
gateway="oledb:provider=sibprovider;location=localhost:;data source=c:\databases\gdbs\mygdb.gdb;user id=xxxxx;password=xxxxx"
Others

If the data source you want to access is not in the list above, then you can use server-side ODBC, JDBC or OLE DB.
You can find examples of connection strings for most ODBC and OLE DB data sources by clicking here.
Full details on using server-side JDBC drivers can be found here.
Full details on using server-side ODBC drivers can be found here.
Full details on using server-side OLE DB drivers can be found here.


Table 3:

Linux and Unix Server Universal Data Access solutions accessible from any remote client running on Windows, Linux, Unix or OpenVMS:


Data Source Solution
Recital Native support (See table 1)
Visual FoxPro Native support (See table 1)
FoxPro Native support (See table 1)
FoxBASE Native support (See table 1)
Clipper Native support (See table 1)
dBase Native support (See table 1)
C-ISAM Use a bridge (See table 1)
Oracle Use a gateway connection
gateway="oracle:Connection_String"
MySQL Use a gateway connection
gateway="mysql:Connection_String"
IBM DB2 Use a gateway connection
gateway="db2:Connection_String"
PostgreSQL Use a gateway connection
gateway="postgres:Connection_String"
Others

If the data source you want to access is not in the list above, then you can use a server-side JDBC driver.
Full details on using server-side JDBC drivers can be found here.


Table 4:

OpenVMS Server Universal Data Access solutions accessible from any remote client running on Windows, Linux, Unix or OpenVMS:


Data Source Solution
Recital Native support (See table 1)
Visual FoxPro Native support (See table 1)
FoxPro Native support (See table 1)
FoxBASE Native support (See table 1)
Clipper Native support (See table 1)
dBase Native support (See table 1)
RMS Use a bridge (See table 1)
Others

If the data source you want to access is not in the list above, then you can use a server-side JDBC driver.

Supported Data Sources

Native Data Access

The Recital Database Server has native built-in support for the following data sources:

  • Recital
  • Visual FoxPro
  • FoxPro
  • FoxBASE
  • Clipper
  • dBase

You can setup tables to work with using the Database Administration Tool in Recital Enterprise Studio.

Bridges

Using Bridges, you can access the following data sources as if they were standard Recital/FoxPro tables:

  • CISAM
  • OpenVMS RMS

You can setup bridges using the Database Administration Tool in Recital Enterprise Studio.

Gateways/Connections

Using Gateways, you can transparently access the following local or remote data sources:

  • Recital
  • Oracle
  • ODBC (Server-side ODBC data sources)
  • JDBC (Server-side JDBC data sources)
  • OLEDB Use this to connect to SQL Server and other Windows OLE DB data sources)
  • MySQL
  • PostgreSQL

Remote Data Object functions

Recital 10 includes a complete and robust set of data source independent functions for accession MySQL, Oracle, DB2 and Postgres. This article explains how to use them.

Client Data Access drivers

Included with the Recital Database Server are three Client drivers. These Client drivers can access any data sources supported by the Recital Database Server. They are not restricted to accessing only Recital data. They can be used to access server-side ODBC, JDBC and OLE DB data sources also.

Recital Universal .NET Data Provider

Use this client driver when building .NET applications with Visual Studio .NET. A data provider in the .NET Framework serves as a bridge between an application and a data source. A data provider is used to retrieve data from a data source and to reconcile changes to that data back to the data source.

Key features of the Recital Universal .NET Data Provider:

  • Fully Internet enabled
    The Recital Universal .NET Data Provider works across the internet providing access to a wide range of data sources located on remote servers running Windows, Linux, Unix and OpenVMS.
  • SQL Server compatible
    The Recital Universal .NET Data Provider is plug compatible with the .NET Framework SQL Server Data Provider.
  • Cross-platform Data Integration
    Using the Recital Universal .NET Data Provider, you can connect to remote Windows, Linux, Unix or OpenVMS servers and access any data source supported by the Recital Database Server.
  • Managed code
    The Recital Universal .NET Data Adaptor written in C# is 100% .NET Framework managed code.
  • Runs on Windows Mobile
    The Recital Universal .NET Data Adaptor runs under the .NET Compact Framework on Windows Mobile.
Recital Universal JDBC Driver

The JDBC API is the industry standard for database-independent connectivity between the Java programming language and a wide range of databases. The JDBC API provides a call-level API for SQL-based database access. JDBC technology allows you to use the Java programming language to exploit "Write Once, Run Anywhere" capabilities for applications that require access to enterprise data.

Key features of the Recital Universal JDBC Driver:

  • Fully Internet enabled
    The Recital Universal JDBC driver works across the internet providing access to a wide range of data sources located on remote servers running Windows, Linux, Unix and OpenVMS.
  • JDBC 3.0 API
    The Recital Universal JDBC driver supports the JDBC 3.0 API.
  • Pure Java Type 3 Driver
    The Recital Universal JDBC driver is a 100% pure Java Type 3 driver.
  • Full Access to Metadata
    The JDBC API provides metadata access that enables the development of sophisticated applications that need to understand the underlying facilities and capabilities of a specific database connection.
  • Cross-platform Data Integration
    Using the Recital Universal JDBC driver, you can connect to remote Windows, Linux, Unix or OpenVMS servers and access any data source supported by the Recital Database Server.
  • No Installation
    A pure JDBC technology-based driver does not require special installation; it is automatically downloaded as part of the applet that makes the JDBC calls. The Recital Universal JDBC Driver is 100% java.
Recital Universal ODBC Driver

Connect to remote data from Microsoft Office or other applications that support ODBC data access. The Recital Universal ODBC Driver is also available for Linux and Unix.

Key features of the Recital Universal ODBC Driver:

  • Fully Internet enabled
    The Recital Universal ODBC driver works across the internet providing access to a wide range of data sources located on remote servers running Windows, Linux, Unix and OpenVMS.
  • Works with Crystal Reports
    The Recital Universal ODBC driver supports the SQL syntax generated by Crystal Reports.
  • Works with Microsoft Office
    The Recital Universal ODBC driver works with Microsoft Office products.
  • Works with PHP on Linux
    The Recital Universal ODBC driver is available for Linux and works with PHP.
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Hdparm can be used to view or set many hardware characteristics of IDE or SATA drives including optical drives (and even some SCSI drives).  For example, the read-lookahead feature can be enabled or disabled.  Also of interest is that the on board write caching can be disabled.  This may or may not be of use when trying to optimize the writing of data to the drive especially when the operating system and/or file system itself may also perform write caching.

Some options of hdparm are dangerous and are generally listed as such in the man page.

Hdparm is available from SourceForge and there is even a version for Windows.
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After installing nomachine, if you get an error connecting whereby nomachine errors out after  "Negotiating link parameters"
 

When installing nomachine on redhat 5.3 64-bit be sure to:

  1. Make sure you have installed the 64-bit packages as the 32-bit ones will not work.
  2. add the hostname to /etc/hosts
  3. Check "Disable encryption of all traffic" (in configuration / advanced tab)
On Centos 32-bit:
  1. add the hostname to /etc/hosts
  2. make sure the host IP is not specified as 127.0.0.1 line
  3. Uncheck "Disable encryption of all traffic" (in configuration / advanced tab)
 
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