Creating a content module that doesn't use OpenAccess

Hi All,

I'm new to SF so please excuse me if this has already been discussed and answered.

I am using SF4.2 and want to create a content module that does not use OpenAccess as its data provider.  I see back in May 2011 that Slavo indicated that such a demo would be provided in the SF4.2 SDK (http://www.sitefinity.com/devnet/forums/sitefinity-4-x/developing-with-sitefinity/develop-a-custom-module-withour-openaccess-orm.aspx) however I cannot see one.

Can you point me in the direction of this demo?

Thanks
Robin.

Hello Robin,

Unfortunately I don't think there is such a demo yet. However you don't need OpenAccess to retrieve and store your data. You can use the built-in ADO.NET classes like Commands, Readers and DataSets to access the data, however it is not so straightforward as when using OpenAccess. Could you give us more details on what you need to achieve?

I'm going to +1 Lubomir on this...Once you start using OpenAccess it's hard to move back to anything else :)  I've converted a few non-believers at our office.

Steve

Hi Lubomir,

Thanks for the reply.

Basically, I need to create a content module so that data can be maintained through Sitefinity, but where the CRUD commands are manual and not using the OpenAccess ORM (and not stored in the SF database)

Nothing against OpenAccess, and it will be used for some parts of the system, however I need this particular module to access an external data source, be it by webservice, or 3rd party system.

Imagine the products sample, but with another data provider that creates/updates/selects/deletes by an external web service perhaps.

Regards,
Robin

Hi Steve,

This isn't about converting non-believers to use the ORM, it's more about making Sitefinity fit into our organisation and giving users the best experience of using it .... in other words, they will have a common interface for maintaining the data (Sitefinity content modules) regardless of where that data is actually coming from (database/webservice/xml/text-file/etc)

This is a very large system, and converting the back-end or changing the architecture of the system is simply not an option at this point.

We are hoping to implement our own data provider for some content modules.

Regards,
Robin

Hi Robin,

If you want to have a content module that is not based on OpenAccess then you simply need a Data provider that does not rely on OpenAccess. For example our MembershipProviderWrapper wraps the ASP.NET membership provider that uses an external SQL database and does not use OpenAccess in any way.