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Hi,
May I know where I can find a compatibility matrix between SQL Server versions and ADO.NET versions?
Also where can I find a compatibility matrix between Windows Operating System versions and ADO.NET version?
I am looking for something similar to what we can fin here for ODBC: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/install/hardware-and-software-requirements-for-installing-sql-server?view=sql-server-ver15
Best regards.
Carl
I made a mistake: The correct link for ODBC compatibility matrix is: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/connect/driver-feature-matrix?view=sql-server-ver15
Hi coodadtx,
"The only thing you need is the underlying database driver installed on the OS".
What is the name of the driver for SQL Server?
Best regards.
Carl
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It's the Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server now (used to be the SQL Server Native Client. That should be automatically installed as part of the .NET Framework though. However you can get the latest version from the SQL downloads. Note that this is automatically installed if you install any SQL client tools on your machine such as SQL Server or SQL Server Management Studio.
For non-Windows platforms you can go here to get started.
There is no compatibility matrix. ADO.NET works with any database for which you have installed the appropriate driver. It is a wrapper around the DB driver provided by the database and therefore has no versioning requirements. ADO.NET will work with any version of SQL Server from 2000+, for example.
The only thing you need is the underlying database driver installed on the OS. You can get to that by going to the DB provider's site (IBM for Oracle, MS for SQL, etc) and searching for their .NET driver. The provider-specific driver may have compatibility requirements though. For example Oracle's ODP.NET driver works with all versions of Oracle from 8 on. However IIRC their newer ODP.NET Managed driver only works with Oracle 10+. It is up to each database provider's Windows driver to determine version requirements, ADO.NET doesn't care.
There is also no compatibility between Windows and ADO.NET. ADO.NET is part of the .NET Framework so any OS that it runs on works with ADO.NET. The .NET Framework OS support matrix is here.
Hi cooldadtx ,
If we are using the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server (System.Data.SqlClient), is your answer still the same (about the driver that is used)?
Best regards.
Carl
Yes. ADO.NET is driver/version agnostic. It doesn't care. The compatibility is determined by the driver that ADO.NET uses. System.Data.SqlClient is just a wrapper around the driver so you will use whatever version of the framework you have installed (most likely 4.7.2 or 4.8). That assembly relies on the driver Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server which is what determines what version(s) of SQL it works with. You can, and likely will, update the native driver over time as you install SQL components. Refer to this and this for articles on the topic.
The "current" driver system requirements and compatibility is given here.
Hi cooldadtx,
To be sure to really understand : What will happen if both drivers (OLE DB and SQL Server native Client) are installed on a ADO.NET client? Which one will be used? Based on what?
Best regards.
Carl
To be honest it is complicated to figure out. ADO.NET uses connection pooling so your SqlConnection isn't actually a connection but a wrapper around the underlying connection pool connection. Looking just a little bit into the code ultimately it uses SqlAccess to create the connection. It does so through reflection so it can work with whatever version is installed. That assembly is installed as part of SQL. Therefore I'll say that the version used depends upon the driver you installed. It is possible that it'll use the last one installed but if it is using versioning during installation then it'll use the latest version which would be the newer OLE DB if that is installed. But without digging deep into how SQL client installs and whatnot it is hard to tell.
To be clear though you shouldn't make assumptions on the underlying driver that is being used as it can change based upon what is installed on the client machine.