Updated Free IBProvider supporting Firebird v3 and InterBase XE7

We decided to improve functionality of the free version of OLE DB provider for Firebird and InterBase. Now it supports all current versions of InterBase and Firebird including IB XE7 и FB v3!

«Free IBProvider» is based on «IBProvider Professional Edition» and inherits its key features like reliability, performance and workability.

Main specifications of the Free IBProvider

• Compiled in VS2013 Community Edition
• Support of all Firebird versions
• Support of all InterBase versions
• Query pool support
• Connection pool support
• DTC support
• ODBC query support
• Support of asynchronous data download
• Support of multithreaded applications
• Support of the replacement of the provider's CLSID and ProgID components
• Localization of error messages and UI
• And much more!

In addition, you can use «Free IBProvider» together with «LCPI ADO.NET Data Provider for OLE DB»!

The ProgID of the «Free IBProvider» is «LCPI.IBProvider.3.Free».

Restrictions of the free version

• 32-bit version only
• Metadata schemes not available
• Updatable sets not supported

Download

«Free IBProvider» is available for download from your personal area. If you don't have an account yet, you may create it by your own.

IBProvider 3.23.1 Release

1. New parameters in the PROG_REG_PARAMS resource:
   • provider_prog_id
   • provider_prog_id_no_ver
   • provider_descr
   • error_service_descr
   • data_link_page_descr
   • adv_data_link_page_descr
   
   You can modify PROG_REG_PARAMS resource for creation of isolated provider,which will be supplied as part of your application.
   
   
2. A lot of internal changes in the provider's code has been done.
   
   
3. In the installation package was added a new command-line utility _Win32ResUpdater.exe, which allows you to modify resources of modules.
   
   
4. In the installation package was added a new example, which demonstrates the using of isolated IBProvider without registration in the system («Registration Free COM» technology) from AnyCPU .NET applications.
   
   Catalog of example: "Samples\oledb_net\Collection_001\Sample_0023__UsingIBProviderWithoutRegistration".

Release of ADO.NET provider for OLE DB engines!

We are pleased to announce the release of our ADO.NET provider and we want you to rethink the word "freedom".

Freedom in choosing access technology

Our .NET provider doesn't force you to use ADO.NET as the exclusive access technology in application. You can use ADODB and work with OLE DB provider directly. Simultaneously!

Freedom in choosing programming language

You can use any .NET programming language and any programming language that supports COM or ActiveX. All at once!

Freedom from problems

Don't spend your time searching for potential problems in our solutions. We have developed an enormous number of automated tests with which we killed a couple hard disk kits and burned a lot of electricity. All this was done so you and we be sure of the quality!

Don't be afraid to be "left out" and face additional problems in a few years. We have been addressing the issues of FB and IB interaction for already 15 years regularly producing updates. We love our job. And we have a lot of new ideas that we very much want to implement!

ADO.NET provider fundamentals

• Integration with ADODB and OLE DB infrastructure (examples 21 and 22)
• Full compatibility with System.Data.OleDb
• Availability of DDEX provider
• Support of all versions of Firebird and InterBase including Firebird v3
• 100% support of all types of Firebird, InterBase and OLE DB data
• Target platforms: .NET FW 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1
• Unified support of 32bit и 64bit
• Full support of parameter queries
• Support of multithreaded applications
• Localization
• Distribution in the form of MSI and EXE installers and NUGET packages
• Total automated testing
• 100% readiness for use in industrial software
• 100% satisfaction with architecture and coding quality
• There will be no second version, only local improvements and functionality expansion

ADO.NET provider project statistics

• Total development time from research to release: 4 years (~1.4K days)
• Source code of the ADO.NET provider: 5MB, 40.8K of lines, 9.2K of asserts
• Source code of the DDEX provider: 1.2MB, 9.8K of lines
• Source code of the instrumental library (lcpi.lib): 1.3MB, 11.4K of lines
• Test system of the provider: 7.5MB of code, 5.8K of tests
• Total volume of the installers source code (Wix, C++): 0.9MB

The result

With the .NET provider presented, we tried to resolve all the issues reported to us by our users.

We have perfected the ADO.NET technology itself.

And we tried very much to avoid creating a "project" that is easier to rewrite from scratch than to correct.

We have created a finished product in a literal sense. And we are very proud that we have managed to create it!

IBProvider 3.23 Release

• The information properties «IB ODS Version» and «IB ODS Minor Version» removed.
• The management of database connection resources improved.
• The code of database detaching and removing improved.

The current version of IBProvider is defined as the minimum for ADO.NET provider.

IBProvider 3.22 Release

• New information property «IB Database ODS Version».
• The initialization property «cmessages» removed.
• The information property «IB Base Level» removed.
• [Bug Fix] Restored ability of connection to IB4 и IB5.
• IBProvider no longer supports IB4 server's client (gds32.dll). The reason is: this DLL does not contain the VERSIONINFO resource. You can connect to IB4 through other IB/FB clients.
• [Bug Fix] Corrections in module's resources.
• [Bug Fix] Other specific errors fixed.

In the next release:

• The following information properties will be deleted «IB ODS Version», «IB ODS Minor Version».

IBProvider (3.21.2) and .Net Provider updates

Changes in IBProvider 3.21.2.17309.

• Improved handling of errors related to inactive transaction commit and rollback.
• Error fixed: rollback retaining for an inactive transaction will now always be rejected as an erroneous operation.
• Multiple inner changes improving code quality.
• Other specific errors fixed.

In the next release:

• The «cmessages» initialization property will be deleted.

Taking into account the nature of the corrections and changes, we recommend that you update your IBProvider version to the current one.

Changes in .Net Provider (build 2286).

• On default, NetProvider disables implicit commit of nested transactions. You can change this behavior by means of the new property of the connection string «NetProv: NestedTransRules» (permitted values are listed in OleDbPropertiesValues.NetProvider.NestedTransRules) or by means of the new property OleDbConnectionStringBuilder.NetProvider.NestedTransRules.
• Fixed error handling for transaction commit and rollback.
• Other errors fixed.

Support of NuGet packages.

Now you can download release builds of .Net Provider from NuGet.org.

IBProvider 3.21.1. Improving code quality

In this update, was done many changes in the code for improving of IBProvider quality. In particular:

• Improved reliability of the code.
• Improved error handling.
• Fixed a number of errors.

Additional

• Was checked the compatibility with InterBase XE7.
• Was checked the compatibility with Firebird v3.

In next release

• Will be deleted information property «IB Base Level»
• Will be removed ability of connect to the "unknown" server. IBProvider will only work with Firebird, InterBase and Yaffil.

Go to Visual Studio 2013 Community!

On November 12, 2014, Microsoft released the new free edition of Visual Studio 2013 called Community. One of the key features of the new edition is that small teams are now allowed to create commercial applications!

The functionality of the Community edition is as good as that of the Professional edition.

We are happy that things have turned out this way and now we are ready to present the updated versions of IBProvider and NetProvider with maximum support for Visual Studio 2013.

NetProvider

• Assemblies for FW 4.5.1 added.
• DDEX provider for VS2013 added.
• Small changes in lcpi.data.oledb.OleDbParameter.
• New example added – 18.

IBProvider v3.21

• Recompiled using VS2013. File signature – vc12xp.
• Internal changes.
• Support for MSSQL 2014 added.
• Support for the Win9x systems removed.

For registered users, binaries created by VS2010 and VS2012 are also available.

Our plans

We have come up with the nearest big task in the development of IBProvider. It will have its own code for network interaction with Firebird 2.5. In other words, fbclient.dll will become unnecessary. This will not only simplify the use of our components but also substantially improve the reliability of the systems that use IBProvider, such as MSSQL for example.

IBProvider 3.20.2. Error correction

In the new release:

• One multithread error corrected. The error was detected with the help of stressed testing.
• Revision and improvement of the existing code conducted.
• Improvement of the IBProvider testing system for performance of tests in stress conditions.

The corrected error was not a critical one. However, we recommend that you upgrade your IBProvider to the current version.

Second release candidate of .Net Provider for OleDb

We are pleased to announce the second release candidate of our .NET Data Provider for interaction with Firebird and InterBase via IBProvider. By now, we have implemented all the functionality of System.Data.OleDb. If you want to transfer your .NET projects for FB/IB to the new level of functionality and quality, we recommend you to start using «LCPI .NET Data Provider for OLE DB». If you have any questions or suggestions, please write us.

Key capabilities of .NET Provider

You can have a look at the list of key components and capabilities of .NET Provider here.

Changes in .NET Provider

• Connection cloning implemented for creation of parallel transactions. See the OleDbConnection::CloneSession method. Example #17.
• The OleDbConnectionStringBuilder component improved.
• New service components:
  1. OleDbEnumeratorColumnNames
  2. OleDbMetaDataCollectionColumnNames
  3. OleDbMetaDataCollectionNames
  4. OleDbErrorSupport
  5. OleDbTypeSupport
• Support of other OLE DB providers slightly improved.

DDEX Provider

Now we have a full-fledged integration with Server Explorer from Visual Studio (2008/2010/2012). DDEX providers allow navigation through:

1. System tables
2. User tables
3. User views (VIEW)
4. Stored procedures
5. Stored functions

Visual Studio 2012. Server Explorer.

We tried to make our DDEX provider of a higher quality than the DDEX provider for System.Data.OleDb.

When you set up a connection via IBProvider, enable:

1. Automatic transactions - "auto_commit=true"
2. Inclusion of a prefix into parameter name - "named_param_rules=1"

Permit of automatic transactions.

Inclusion of a prefix into parameter name.

New EXE installer

To ensure correct registration of DDEX providers in the system, we had to create an additional shell for MSI package – Bootstrapper. The user interface was localized for your convenience.

New installer for .NET provider.

The user functionality of Bootstrapper most closely resembles that UI MSI-package. We hope you will not have any problems starting and using it.

MSI package is still available for download from user accounts. To install DDEX providers correctly, you need to run the MSI package installation with system administrator rights. Bootstrapper provides this automatically.