Apollo 7 - .NET Data Provider

Applies to Visual Studio 2003, 2005 and 2008, .NET 1.1, .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0 and .NET 3.5

Installing Apollo into Visual Studio 2005 or Visual Studio 2008

1. Run Visual Studio 2005 (or Visual Studio 2008)
2. Create a new project or new form solution or use the one made by the Editor Wizard
3. Select View Designer mode to see the application form in the editor
4. Select the Toolbox icon and select the Data tab on the Toolbox
5. Right-click and select "Add/Remove Items..."
6. In the Customize Toolbox dialog, press the Browse button and select one of the following:
   for Visual Studio 2005 (.NET 2.0):
     C:\Program Files\Apollo7\NET 2.0\Provider\Apollo.Provider.DLL
   
7. Click ok on the hilited items ApolloCommand, ApolloConnection, ApolloDataAdapter, ApolloDatabase, ApolloDataSet
8. VS will hilite and install the Apollo components into the Toolbox dialog

Creating your first .NET application

1. Run VS 2005 (or VS 2008)
2. Create a new Visual Studio C# or VB.NET WinForms application
3. Drop ApolloDataAdapter onto the form. This will display the Apollo wizard.
4. Click the Browse button and select the database "Test.DBF" and click OK.
5. Click Continue and enter the following SQL statement:
     SELECT * FROM test
6. Check "[x] Create UPDATE, INSERT and DELETE command automatically" to create update, insert and delete command objects automatically
7. Check "[x] Auto-create DataSet" to automatically create the DataSet for the SQL query
8. Drop a DataGrid control on the form and set its DataSource property to:
   apolloDataSet1.customer
9. Drop a Button on the form and name it "Fill". Double click on the button and enter the following code to fill the dataset with data from from database:
     apolloDataSet1.Clear();
     apolloDataAdapter1.Fill(apolloDataSet1, "customer");
10. Drop a 2nd Button on the form and name it "Update". Double click on the button and enter the following code to update the database from data set:
      apolloDataAdapter1.Update(apolloDataSet1, "customer");

Apollo .NET Data Provider is compatible with the ADO.NET architecture and provides SQL-92 support for disconnected SQL-based data management, exactly like the SqlClient Provider. The Apollo .NET Data Provider components include ApolloConnection, ApolloDataAdapter, ApolloDataReader, ApolloCommand and each work with databound controls and 3rd party products that support ADO.NET.

C# sample using the Apollo Data Provider

// Use the Apollo Data Provider as you would any other Data Provider
// Create a connection to a Apollo database
ApolloConnection conn = new ApolloConnection();
conn.ConnectionString = "Data Source = C:\\MyData\\MyDB.DBF";

// Set up a DataAdapter and Dataset for a table
ApolloDataAdapter adapterPerson = new ApolloDataAdapter();
DataSet dsPerson = new DataSet();
adapterPerson.SelectCommand = new ApolloCommand("SELECT * FROM Person", conn);

// Fill the DataAdapter with data and show it in the grid
dsPerson.Clear();
adapterPerson.Fill(dsPerson,"Person");
gridPerson.DataSource = dsPerson;
gridPerson.DataMember = "Person";

DDA is unique to Apollo. DDA consists of 3 .NET objects: ApolloDatabase, ApolloTable and the ApolloDataSet. Together, these objects give you total control over a DBF/Xbase database and provide an intuitive, yet powerful object-oriented method of managing data, sometimes referred to as "live cursors" or "navigational control". DDA lets you navigate dynamically through data tables without having to load the entire table or dataset into memory. This gives DDA a big boost in performance over ADO.NET's disconnected data model. The ApolloDataSet allows DDA to be fully comaptible with all databound controls.

C# sample using the Apollo DDA objects

// Use the Apollo Direct Data Access objects
// Create a connection object to a Apollo database
ApolloDatabase vDB = new ApolloDatabase("C:\\MyData\\MyDB.DBF");

// Create a table object
ApolloTable vTable = new ApolloTable(vDB);
vTable.TableName = "Person";

// Define local vars to hold the data
string fname;
string lname;
boolean married;
integer age;

// Connect to the database and open the table
vDB.Connect();
vTable.Open();

// Traverse the table to get the records
while( !vTable.EndOfSet() ){
   fname = vTable.GetString( "FirstName");
   lname = vTable.GetString( "LastName");
   married = vTable.GetBoolean( "Married");
   age = vTable.GetInt32( "Age");
   WriteToScreen( fname, lname, married, age);

   // move to the next record
   vTable.Next();
};

// Close our connections
vTable.Close();
vDB.Close();