Business Objects and Persistence

DevForce builds on the strengths of the Entity Framework, and then extends them with n-tier architecture, multiple data sources, non-relational data sources, and superior client application performance.

Full Entity Framework Integration

DevForce isn't just compatible with the Entity Framework, it extends the Entity Framework with numerous features like n-tier architecture, non-relational data sources, superior client application performance, and security.

Code First

Code First lets developers build their entity model classes without struggling with EDMX, visual designer, or database changes that put the model at risk.

Full LINQ: including subqueries, aggregation, and projections

DevForce LINQ is a comprehensive implementation with unique capabilities. It can execute synchronously and asynchronously, applies to remote data sources, local cache, or both simultaneously, works in 2-tier and n-tier modes, and can be composed statically or dynamically to accommodate user-defined query criteria that can only be known at runtime.

The range and power of DevForce LINQ may best be appreciated by taking a tour of the Entity Framework's 101 LINQ Samples. Every sample works in DevForce: 2-tier, n-tier, sent to the database, or applied to the local cache.

Dynamic queries

DevForce dynamic query building components help you build and execute LINQ queries on the fly based on information supplied at runtime.

Single domain model for multiple clients

Develop and deploy a single back-end to support multiple front-end UIs.

DevForce's shared domain model makes it easy to develop, test, and deploy applications across multiple client technologies. (Think Silverlight, WPF, iOS, Android, HTML/JavaScript, etc.)

It also makes it easy to standardize your development environment onto a single framework that lets developers move seamlessly across projects.

Client-side caching

The DevForce Entity Manager maintains two caches that are used to dramatically improve performance: An entity cache that contains every entity that gets added to an Entity Manager and a query cache that contains every query that has been processed against a backend datastore.

Disconnected and offline operation

DevForce’s client-side cache enables applications to operate in a partially connected or fully disconnected environment.

You can query, modify, and even create new entities while offline , and you can save the cache to the file system to preserve the state of the entities if the application or computer needs to be shut down.

Cross-platform support with OData (Open Data Protocol)

DevForce can also expose business objects to other platforms using an OData service. OData is a REST service that has client libraries for most platforms, including iOS/Objective-C, Android/Java, Ruby, PHP, and JavaScript.

Paging

DevForce has an EntityQueryPager which is an integrated paging engine that can fetch pages from a combined view of the server-side datasource plus the client-side cache.

It can operate either synchronously or asynchronously, and can be used in both WinClient and Silverlight applications.

Include queries

Make your application more responsive for your customers by fetching the data they need now—and the data they're going to need next—all at once with include queries.

Named queries

A named query is a server-defined query that makes it easy to consolidate the logic to authorize, restrict, or modify a query into a single method.

Inheritance and polymorphic queries

DevForce supports inheritance as well as polymorphic queries , letting you query for multiple subtypes with the same LINQ statement.

Validation engine

The validation infrastructure provided by DevForce is made up of a collection of interoperating validation components that are both easy to use and capable of handling sophisticated scenarios like cross-field, cross object, and dynamic validation.

Property interception

DevForce property interception provides a mechanism to intercept and either modify or extend the behavior of any property on a DevForce entity.

Entity lifecycle events

DevForce provides several points along the entity lifecycle where developers can intercept queries and/or modify saves —both on the client and the server.

Dynamic live lists

Provide live-list management capabilities to any list containing DevForce entities. Membership to the list is kept continuously updated based on changes to entities in an Entity Manager's entity cache.

Customizable T4 code generation templates

Customize the DevForce code generation template when you need fine control over the entity class code generated for your Entity Data Model (EDM).

Plain Old CLR Object (POCO) support

DevForce supports POCO. If the objects have an identified (primary) key value, they will operate fully as first-class citizens in the DevForce local cache.

Database

Whether you prefer a Database First, Model First, or Code First development style, ultimately your model will be wired to data. DevForce's database features will improve your productivity … and your applications performance.

Supports all mainstream databases

DevForce supports all ADO.NET data providers that work with the Entity Framework.

Stored procedures and triggers

DevForce supports querying for entities using stored procedure queries and will requery entities after executing triggers.

Custom ID generators

If you have special logic needed to generate IDs, you can accomplish this with the DevForce IIdGenerator interface. You can even generate IDs while offline and DevForce will remap them and fix all foreign key references when saved.

Pass-through Entity SQL

DevForce supports Entity SQL (ESQL) queries with its PassthruEsqlQuery() class.

Multi-database

Connect to multiple databases/entity models simultaneously with DevForce. You can use a separate Entity manager for each model or use the same Entity Manager for multiple models. DevForce also provides transactional integrity when saving entities to two or more data sources.

Entity Server

The DevForce Entity Server mediates between client applications and server-side services. The Entity Server enables:

N-tier internet deployment

In an n-tier DevForce application, the client tier communicates with an Entity Server on a separate application server tier, and the application server in turn communicates with the data tier.

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)

DevForce handles all the essential WCF configurations for you automatically. DevForce figures out what you need by interpreting your application solution structure in combination with artifacts added by DevForce Visual Studio project templates. Configuration for deployment can be as simple as identifying the server address.

IIS integration

The most typical, and most robust, deployment of the Entity Server is with Internet Information Services (IIS).

Deploying the Entity Server as a Windows service is a good choice in intranet and trusted domain environments, especially if you're not familiar with IIS.

ASP.NET integration

DevForce provides out-of-the-box integration withASP.NET security services.

Network data compression (10:1 typical)

DevForce dramatically reduces the amount of data that must be transported, because it compresses business objects by as much as a 10:1 compression ratio.

Remote server method calls

A remote server method is a server-side method that is defined and deployed in an assembly on the server. This type of method can return any serializable object and can be passed any serializable parameters.

Server-side events

DevForce supports events that allow you to add server-side logic (such as audit trails) to the query and save pipelines.

Multi-tenant support

DevForce supports both single tenant per database as well as multiple tenants per database SaaS hosting. Add query filters to the server to guarantee tenant isolation and to simplify client-side programming. Host multiple environments, in the same application server … and then load balance that server.

Data Center

Available for DevForce Universal, the Data Center upgrade is required for all Azure and multi-instance deployments. It includes all the features of the standard business object server and adds enterprise-class scalability, high availability, and security for business-critical applications.

Clustering and load balancing

With the encryption key set, DevForce enables automatic session transfer from one machine to another, enabling any server in the cluster to serve any client. If any machine fails, another can pick up the load and the load balancing is more easily distributed evenly across multiple servers.

Distributed transactions

When enabled DevForce will automatically escalate to Microsoft’s Distributed Transaction Coordinator for reliable transactions across multiple data sources.

Advanced authentication scenarios

Our support team will help you configure deployments that have special authentication needs, such as authenticating against a Windows Domain Controller, forwarding an ASP.NET security token through a DMZ, etc.

Windows Azure

Save money in the cloud. Windows Azure promises to reduce the costs and risks of managing the IT infrastructure that supports your application. DevForce reduces your Azure costs even more.