Welcome to Actian Zen ADO.NET Data Providers

This documentation covers the following Actian Zen data providers

• Zen ADO.NET data provider

• Zen ADO.NET Core data provider

• Zen ADO.NET Entity Framework data provider

• Zen ADO.NET Entity Framework Core data provider

What Are the Zen ADO.NET Data Providers?

Zen ADO.NET data providers are managed data providers, built with 100% managed code. The data providers are native wire protocol providers, which means that the provider does not have to call out to unmanaged code, code outside of the .NET Framework, in the form of a database client unless your application enlists in Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MS DTC) coordinated transactions.

The Zen ADO.NET data providers enable you to connect to Zen database engines. They work with both 32- and 64-bit .NET and are supported on all Zen supported Windows platforms.

What’s New in This Release

The Zen v17 release of the Zen ADO.NET data providers offer the following updates.

Changes Since the 4.6 Release

• The Zen ADO.NET data providers are now certified with the following platforms and technologies:

– Visual Studio 2026

– .NET 10

– Entity Framework Core 10

– Windows Server 2025

– Linux Kernel 6.17.0-23-generic (or earlier)

• In addition to the existing artifacts, the updated package includes the following:

– An EF Core 10–specific DLL, along with several supporting files, have been added to the product package at Install_Dir\net10.0.

– Updated sample applications targeting .NET 10, available at Install_Dir/Samples. Review the corresponding readme.txt file included with each sample for detailed instructions and additional information.

– A new help document titled UWP_Sample_with_NET10.md, located at Install_Dir/Samples/ActianZenNetCore/UWP. This document provides information on migrating legacy UWP (Universal Windows Platform) applications to WinUI 3 by using the Windows App SDK for modern .NET support.

Changes for the 4.6 Release

• Enhancements

– The Actian Zen data providers have been enhanced to send passwords more securely to the server.

– The Actian Zen Core data provider and the Actian Zen Entity Framework Core data provider have been enhanced to support .NET 8.0.

– The Actian Zen Entity Framework Core data provider has been enhanced to support Entity Framework Core 8.0.

• Changed behavior

– The Actian Zen data providers no longer support Visual Studio 2017.

– The Actian Zen Entity Framework Core data provider no longer supports .NET versions prior to .NET 8.0.

– The Microsoft Enterprise Libraries have reached the end of their product life cycle and are no longer receiving updates. Therefore, the Actian Zen data providers no longer support them.

Using This Guide

We assume you are familiar with your operating system and its commands, the definition of directories, and accessing a database through an end-user application.

This guide covers the following information:

• Quick Start provides information about connecting to a database with your .NET data provider.

• Using the Data Providers provides information about using .NET applications with the Zen data provider and provides information about developing .NET applications in the .NET environment.

• Advanced Features describes advanced features of the data providers, including connection pooling, statement caching, configuring security, and using Zen Bulk Load.

• The ADO.NET Data Providers describes connection string options, data types, and other information for the Zen Entity Framework data providers.

• Zen ADO.NET Core Data Providers describes how to create an application and a UWP application in Visual Studio using Zen ADO.NET Core DLL.

• Zen ADO.NET Entity Framework Data Providers Zen ADO.NET Entity Framework Data Providers describes features of the Zen ADO.NET Entity Framework data providers. It explains how to create an Entity Data Model for the Zen ADO.NET Entity Framework data providers.

• Zen ADO.NET Entity Framework Core Data Providers describes the Actian Zen ADO.NET Entity Framework Core data providers and provides instructions on how to configure and use them.

• Using Zen Data Providers in Visual Studio describes how to use the Zen data providers and the Performance Wizard from within Visual Studio.

• .NET Objects Supported provides the .NET public objects, properties, and methods supported by the Zen data providers.

• Getting Schema Information describes the schema collections supported by the Zen data providers.

• SQL Escape Sequences for .NET describes the scalar functions supported for the Zen data providers. Your data store may not support all of these functions.

• Locking and Isolation Levels discusses locking and isolation levels and how their settings can affect the data you retrieve.

• Designing .NET Applications for Performance Optimization provides recommendations for improving the performance of your applications by optimizing its code.

• Using an .edmx File explains the necessary changes to an .edmx file in order to provide Extended Entity Framework functionality to the EDM layer.

• Bulk Load Configuration Files provides samples of the files created during bulk load operations.

• IANA Code Page Mappings maps the most widely used IBM code pages to IANA code page names.

Note: This guide may refer you to online links for more information about specific topics. Because it is the nature of web content to change frequently, we can guarantee only that the links referenced here were correct at the time of publishing.

Last modified date: 08/05/2026