Microsoft Entity Framework June 2011 CTP was Released
Microsoft Entity Framework June 2011 CTP was Released
Yesterday, ADO.NET team released a new EF CTP. If you attended my Sela Dev. Days EF4.1 tutorial day this week you heard about this release and the new features. Here is the list of new features to expect from EF4.2 that you can evaluate with the new EF CTP:
Runtime Features
- The Enum data-type. At last we will have support for enums. You can use either the Entity Designer within Visual Studio to model entities that have Enum properties, or use the Code First workflow to define entities that have Enum objects as properties. You can use your Enum property just like any other scalar property, such as in LINQ queries and updates.
- Geography and Geometry Spatial data-types which are natively supported by the Entity Framework.
- Table-valued functions can be added to entity data models. A table-valued function is similar to a stored procedure, but the result of executing the table-valued function is composable, meaning you can use it as part of a LINQ query.
- Stored procedures can now have multiple result sets in your entity data model.
- The Entity Framework June 2011 CTP includes several SQL generation improvements.
- LINQ queries are now automatically compiled and cached to improve query performance.
Entity Framework Designer Features
- The Entity Designer now supports the creation of enums, spatial data-types and table-value functions from the designer surface.
- You can now create multiple diagrams for each entity data model. Each diagram can contain entities and relationships to make visualizing your model easier.
- The StoreGeneratedPattern for key columns can now be set on an entity Properties window and this value will propagate from your entity model down to the store definition.
- Diagram information is now stored in a separate file from the edmx or entity code files.
- Batch import for stored procedures as function imports. The result shape of each stored procedure will automatically become a new complex type in your entity model. This makes getting started with stored procedures very easy.
- The Entity Designer surface now supports selection driven highlighting and entity shape coloring.
Mode Information About the CTP Release
For further information about the CTP you can go to this link. Pay attention for the Getting the Microsoft Entity Framework June 2011 CTP and the Getting Started sections in the announcement and also to the Uninstalling section.
Here are some CTP walkthroughs that were published in ADO.NET team blog:
Enjoy!