VfpEntityFrameworkProvider2 won't work with VS2017

[horch004]

I had VfpEntityFrameworkProvider2 installed with VS2015 and it worked fine. Now I upgraded to VS2017 and the model designer is not able to update the model from the database anymore.

I get the following error:
An exception of type 'System.ArgumentException' occurred while attempting to update from the database. The exception message is: 'Unable to convert runtime connection string to its design-time equivalent. The libraries required to enable Visual Studio to communicate with the database for design purposes (DDEX provider) are not installed for provider 'VfpEntityFrameworkProvider2'. Connection string: data source=".....".

I deinstalled the provider and client and reinstalled the nuget package, vfpoledb and VfpEntityFrameworkProvider.msi. Nothing helps.

Any thoughts?

[tombrothers]

It turns out that VS2017 made some significant changes that prevent me from registering the VFP EF Provider in the same way that I have for previous VS versions. I started working on a VSIX installer for VS2017 but I have yet to complete work on the installer. So currently, the VFP EF Provider will not work with VS2017's designer.

[horch004]

Thanks for your work.
We were currently testing EF6 and the vfp provider. Its no problem to wait some time. We are not in a hurry.

[pmax101]

Hi Tom, I am being forced to upgrade to VS2019 due to some other components I use that have no support for VS2015.

I see that you have a new beta version, will this version work with VS2017-2019? Thanks!

[tombrothers]

@pmax101 no, I'm not going to try to get it to work with the VS2017-2019 designer.

[mPisano]

Tom,
I think pmax101 is referring to the csproj file, not the older code first designer,
I also build in vs2017 and have reverted the prior project files. Other projects leave the originals and create newer core project files. (ie VfpEntityFrameworkProvider_NetStandard.csproj) or _Core...

Thanks for the other merge.

Regards,
Mike

[tombrothers]

@mPisano I'm don't understand the issue. Are you suggesting that I modify this repository to include _NetStandard and/or _Core projects?

[mPisano]

I would roll back the original project files for VFPEF and Client that supported Vs2015/17 and have newer Project files for vs2019/Core. Underlying Issue is VS 15/17 do not support the Microsoft.NET.Sdk\Roslyn build system.

also remember to Add:
TRACE;NET461
to the Configs and you need to put the /Properties files back

I think you will also need to exclude /Properties in the newer projects ...

HTH,
MIke

[pmax101]

Hi,

Mike's post is well beyond my level of understanding, but my idea was just to be able to use your components in VS2019 with a legacy VFox DB that unfortunately I still need to read from.

I could perfectly live with designing in VS2015 and using the generated files in VS2019 without opening/updating the designer at all.

As always, thanks to both.

[cvivieca]

I'm getting this error on VS2015. Someone else is getting same issue on this version?

[mPisano]

if you are having trouble building under VS2015 then use my fork or the .csproj files in my branch.

if your referring the to DDEX error then make sure you install the VFPOLEDB package as All Users.
Also - if by DDEX, you mean reverse engineering of tables, I think this is only supported in 2015.
I have been manually changing my POCO classes to mirror changes in my VFP tables in 2017 and 2019

If your error is at runtime not being able to find the provider, I've been adding the Following to my App.Config files

<configuration>
...
  <system.data>
    <DbProviderFactories>
      <clear />
      <add name="Vfp Entity Framework Provider" invariant="VfpEntityFrameworkProvider2" description="Vfp Entity Framework Provider" type="VfpEntityFrameworkProvider.VfpProviderFactory, VfpEntityFrameworkProvider" />
    </DbProviderFactories>
  </system.data>
</configuration>

If it's none of the above, please explain your error.

Regards,
MIke