Home Products VistaDB 3.3

Overview

	Truly embedded ADO.NET 2 SQL database for .NET 2+, CF 2 and Mono Less than 1 MB single assembly deployment Cross-platform Windows, Linux and Mac OS X support using the Mono Project Easy migration from SQL Server TSQL Royalty-free distribution

Introduction

VistaDB 3 is the world's first fully managed and typesafe embedded SQL database engine designed specifically for Microsoft .NET Framework, Compact Framework and Mono. VistaDB 3 lets you build fully managed and typesafe ASP.NET and WinForms database applications using any CLR compliant language, such as C# or VB.NET. Applications developed with VistaDB can run on desktops, mobile devices and web servers. VistaDB is a lightweight alternative to SQL Server for databases that do not need the Enterprise features of SQL Server 2005.

Who needs VistaDB?

Developers building small to midsize database applications for the Microsoft .NET Framework, Compact Framework or Novell's Mono Framework should take a serious look at VistaDB 3.3. VistaDB was designed specifically for these next generation, managed and typesafe development platforms. If you need the following features in a database engine, then VistaDB is the solution for you.

• Runs natively on .NET, Compact Framework 2 and Mono 1.2
• Easy-to-use (fully ADO.NET 2 compliant) - Works using the same object model as Microsoft SQL Server (fully supports managed database provider factory objects).
• Very small footprint with less than 1 MB total redistribution! This means smaller downloads for your product.
• No complicated setups during deployment. A single DLL, less than 1 MB, XCopy'd with your product is all that you need! No need to gain admin rights or install services on the user machine.
• 100% embeddable using ILMerge. If you merge our DLL into your product using the Microsoft ILMerge tool there are no DLL's to distribute. You can also change the name of the database file to a custom extention.
• Fully managed and verifiably typesafe architecture (100% PEVerify). This means we can run in a partially trusted caller environment (shared hosting) or as a guest user. Perfect for running under Windows Vista from a DVD-ROM. No elevated security privilidges are required.
• SQL Server 2005 Compatible TSQL data types and T-SQL syntax support. VistaDB strives to provide TSQL datatypes, functions, and syntax to allow you to support both VistaDB and SQL Server from a single project build. Anyone who has ever tried to migrate an Access database to SQL Server will appreciate how much easier migration is with VistaDB.
• GUI Databuilder application ( includes source code ). VistaDB gives you the choice to build your database strictly through code or using our Data Builder graphical interface. We even include the source to show you how it all works.
• Full Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 Server Explorer integration. Visual Studio 2005 / VS 2008 Standard edition or higher supports plugins to the Server Explorer pane. VistaDB fully integrates with the Server Explorer providing you drag and drop capability just like SQL Server.
• Local access, LAN shared drive, read only media, isolated storade and in memory database access supported. Not sure where your product will deployed? We support the database file being on a local drive (single user or multi user), a network drive for LAN multi user support, or in Memory (virtual memory backed) storage for quicker temporary database access.
• Single data file for easy backup and management. Need to backup your database? XCopy it and you are done. No complex directory structures or multi file databases. Restoration is just as simple, replace the VDB3 file and done.
• TSQL Stored Procedures and User Defined Functions - now you can run powerful TSQL procs without SQL Server!

SQL Server 2005 compatible

SQL Server 2005 compatible data types and T-SQL syntax support lets you get up and running quickly with VistaDB by re-using existing source code and SQL statements designed for SQL Server 2005. And when it comes time to ship your software, ZeroClick™ deployment lets VistaDB be fully embedded into your EXEs and DLLs for the ultimate in hassle-free deployment. VistaDB's embedded architecture makes it very easy-to-use and eliminates administration hassles found in other database solutions.

Visual Studio 2005 & Visual Studio 2008 Support

Full integration into the Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008 IDEs allows you to become highly productive with VistaDB very quickly. VistaDB 3 integrates directly with the Server Explorer under Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 (Beta 2) (on both 32 and 64 bit platforms). This level of integration with Visual Studio is achieved because VistaDB is fully ADO.NET 2 compliant.

Cross-Platform support

Since VistaDB is veryfiably typesafe, applications developed with VistaDB fully PEVerify and run on any CLR-compliant framework such as .NET, Compact Framework and Mono. This means that VistaDB applications run unchanged on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Sun Solaris and BSD operating systems .

ASP.NET and WinForms for Windows Build fully managed and typesafe ASP.NET and WinForms database applications that run on all .NET platforms. The small 700KB footprint of VistaDB's single-file assembly makes it very easy to build and deploy .NET applications for desktops and web servers. VistaDB's support for ADO.NET and high degree of compatibility with SQL Server 2005 T-SQL syntax and data types make it easy for developers to reuse code designed for SQL Server. And support for Allow Partially Trusted Callers (APTC attribute) lets ASP.NET developers run applications on both shared hosting and dedicated servers. No registry or GAC access is required for deployment.

Compact Framework and Mobile Devices Mobile is the future, and VistaDB 3 lets developers build mobile database applications that run natively on devices with Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone and Pocket PC Editions today. The Compact Framework 2.0 (CF) is part of Windows Mobile 5.0 and VistaDB 3 includes a fully managed assembly for CF 2.0 that is less than 1 MB in size and that runs on both the PocketPC and Smartphone editions of Windows Mobile 5.0. That is, the exact same VistaDB applications can run unchanged on both the Motorola Q Smartphone and Palm Treo 700w Smartphone, which run Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone Edition and Pocket PC Edition respectively.

Mono for Linux, Mac OS X and BSD VistaDB's support for Mono lets developers build cross-platform database applications that run on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Sun Solaris and BSD operating systems. In fact, the same VistaDB assembly runs on both .NET and Mono unchanged! For example, this means that the same ASP.NET application developed with VistaDB can run on both a Windows hosted IIS web server and a Linux hosted Apache Web Server without changing your code to detect the environments. VistaDB and Mono give developers endless possibilities in building cross-platform database applications.

100% C# Database Engine - no unsafe or unmanaged calls

VistaDB 3 was not ported from our previous unmanaged VistaDB 2.x code base. Instead, VistaDB 3 was completely redesigned and redeveloped using fully managed and typesafe C# to maximize integration with the .NET Framework, Compact Framework and Mono. The core VistaDB database engine, the built-in T-SQL compatible query processor, ADO.NET Data Provider, Direct Data Access™ objects and the VistaDB data management tools are all developed in C#. The result of VistaDB's purely managed and typesafe architecture is that applications developed using VistaDB 3 fully PEVerify and can run on any CLR compliant platform. Because we are a fully managed database we fully support 64 bit Windows platforms in native 64 bit mode.

Furthermore, VB.NET developers and people using other CLR-compliant languages such as Delphi.NET and J# can use VistaDB just as easily as C# developers. There is no technical difference between using VB.NET, Delphi.NET, J#. and C# applications since all languages are equal under .NET. The only difference is language specific syntax. The compiled binary IL code produced by each language is the same. The VistaDB .NET assemblies have been tested thoroughly with C# and VB.NET and samples are included for both of these popular .NET languages.

Need in memory database support for your Dot Net application?

VistaDB supports both SQL and DDA technologies with in memory databases for C# or VB.net. The database is created using only virtual memory backed filestreams in dot net. Closing the database automatically releases it from committed RAM. All features all fully supported, even multi threaded access.