Need _easily deployable_ C#/.NET Oracle connectivity
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I am writing an application that needs to connect to an Oracle 9i database, select rows from one table, and insert some in another. It needs to be easily deployable. The goal is to have an installation program that is able to setup anything the user needs, coming from a fresh install of windows (win2k and XP are the only ones I’m worrying about supporting). This includes setting up the .NET runtime, Oracle data provider, and oracle client if necessary. This is just a simple application that automates some daily tasks people do around the office here. I started trying to use Microsoft's Oracle data provider that ships with the 1.1 SDK. This works fine on a machine with an oracle9 client installed, but I need to be able to run this without installing a client - or be able to automatically install the client when installing my application. I'm not sure if this is possible - can anyone help? Thinking the above might not be feasible, I looked into Data Tech's Data Providers: http://www.datadirect-technologies.com/products/dotnet/dotnetrelhigh.asp this worked great and you didn’t need an oracle client installed on the client PC. HOWEVER, the licensing scheme for this product is less than ideal, and you have to pay per client license. That just isn’t something we want to worry about (and they don’t offer unlimited use). Furthermore, you still need to install their data providers through their installation program, so really I'm not gaining what I really wanted from their product. Are there any other options? Am I making myself clear? I just want to write a program that connects to an oracle database, without having to worry about what the client has or doesn’t have on their pc (though if I can automate a client install of oracle, that would work). Like Oracle's thin driver for java. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you Dave Ratti
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I am writing an application that needs to connect to an Oracle 9i database, select rows from one table, and insert some in another. It needs to be easily deployable. The goal is to have an installation program that is able to setup anything the user needs, coming from a fresh install of windows (win2k and XP are the only ones I’m worrying about supporting). This includes setting up the .NET runtime, Oracle data provider, and oracle client if necessary. This is just a simple application that automates some daily tasks people do around the office here. I started trying to use Microsoft's Oracle data provider that ships with the 1.1 SDK. This works fine on a machine with an oracle9 client installed, but I need to be able to run this without installing a client - or be able to automatically install the client when installing my application. I'm not sure if this is possible - can anyone help? Thinking the above might not be feasible, I looked into Data Tech's Data Providers: http://www.datadirect-technologies.com/products/dotnet/dotnetrelhigh.asp this worked great and you didn’t need an oracle client installed on the client PC. HOWEVER, the licensing scheme for this product is less than ideal, and you have to pay per client license. That just isn’t something we want to worry about (and they don’t offer unlimited use). Furthermore, you still need to install their data providers through their installation program, so really I'm not gaining what I really wanted from their product. Are there any other options? Am I making myself clear? I just want to write a program that connects to an oracle database, without having to worry about what the client has or doesn’t have on their pc (though if I can automate a client install of oracle, that would work). Like Oracle's thin driver for java. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you Dave Ratti
If you have the oracle client installed, you can peruse the Oracle Universal Installer Concepts Guide Release 2.2 (Part Number A96697-01), particularly the section in Chapter 3 on creating and using a response file. Essentially, you can run through the installer, having oracle installer keep track of your responses, then create an silent install using those parameters. You can start with a simple hardcoded install, then move toward customizing the response file. I've used installshield installs to let the user decide where to install oracle, then modify the RSP file accordingly. But it's definitely best to let Oracle handle the guts of the install. HTH On the road of life, there are passengers, drivers, and those guys with steamrollers.