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Fill a datagrid with a table from a GeoDB - is it really that hard?

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09-16-2010 11:41 AM
WilliamCharles
by
New Contributor
‎09-16-2010 11:41 AM
Okay, I know that you have to use a WCF RIA Service to serve/consume data from an Access DB (GeoDB) using Entity Framework (ADO.NET). I've seen examples and have downloaded and run them and proved the concept. My problems are as follows:


  • I'm new to Silverlight, WCF/RIA/SOAP, etc.

  • The examples I've been able to find on the web have been VS2008/SL3 and I'm using VS2010/SL4 and therefore they don't convert over to VS2010 such that I can pick them apart.

  • Everything in VS2010 is centered around SQL Server and therefore I will have to build the model, etc. by hand to hit an Access table.

I need a good (simple) example of the steps involved in doing what I want to do or a pointer to this on the web or a helping hand from one of ya'll. I've perused the resources here and truthfully, I find it hard to believe that no one has done this (at least discussed it in this forum). As well, I find it hard to believe that the folks at ESRI think this is either a no-brainer or unnecessary given the huge installed base of Access-based datasets.

Am I missing something here?

Thanks in advance, any help would be appreciated.

WC
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2 Replies
ScottFriedrich
by
Regular Contributor
‎09-17-2010 10:18 AM
William,

There is no Access Provider for the Entity Framework.  Can you migrate up to Sql Server Express?
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WilliamCharles
by
New Contributor
‎09-21-2010 11:19 AM
Okay,

I've finally figured this out.


  • Create a service interface.

  • Code the service implementation using ADO.NET to serve the table out.

  • Set up the bindings and behaviors in the configuration files correctly.

  • Code the application to consume the data.


Though it looks relatively simple, I'm new to WCF so it wasn't as straight forward as it looks above. I had to cobble together several resources and then gut a lot of code to understand it and then to get it to work. Certain steps in VS2010 have to be done in a certain order. Because it's Access you can't use Drop-n-Drag modeling in VS2010, the debugging is cryptic (as usual), etc.

All told it's pretty simple though. I just can't believe that ESRI wouldn't have a simple sample or a good tutorial on how to do this available - once again - given the HUGE installed base of MS Access geodatabases out there. Many of us have a need to serve up our existing data (MDBs) without moving hundreds or thousands of geodbs to SQL Server, changing our business model, designing new schemas, installing new hardware and software, etc, etc.

WC
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