New Version of Devart Entity Developer with ENUM Support and Other Enhancements

Devart is delighted to present the new version of Entity Developer – a powerful modeling and code generation tool for ADO.NET Entity Framework, NHibernate, and LINQ to SQL
Devart Entity Developer is an easy-to-use modeling and code generation tool for ADO.NET Entity Framework, NHibernate, and LINQ to SQL. The new version supports ENUM types originally introduced in the Entity Framework June 2011 CTP release. The application has become more user-friendly as entity shape coloring, selection-driven highlighting, application and diagram skins have been added to help users improve their experience with the software

Popular and loved by many users, Entity Developer introduces new approaches for designing ORM models, facilitating the development of database applications, and boosting overall productivity. Entity Developer allows to create and edit Entity Framework, NHibernate, and LINQ to SQL models visually, without typing a line of XML code. It supports creating all kinds of mapping, such as table splitting, mapping entity to several tables, complex types, inheritance hierarchies, creating entities from SELECT statements and methods from SQL code, etc. Out-of-the-box code generation is very flexible due to using T4-like templates, allowing virtually anything users want for code generation. Entity Developer seamlessly integrates with Visual Studio 2008 and 2010.

Among the major advancements of Entity Developer 4.1 the following can be named:

* Enum Types Support Enhanced

As part of Entity Framework, Entity Developer fully supports the newly introduced enum types by providing a new Enum node in its Model Explorer window. Enum types are supported in Entity Developer for Entity Framework, LINQ to SQL, and NHibernate. For better usability of this type, the application provides the drag-and-drop mechanism which allows to move enum types from the Model Explorer window on to the diagram's surface, and the Find in diagrams function that enables the user to easily locate enum types on the diagram. Properties of the Enum types as well as those of their members can be conveniently set and modified in the new Enum Type Editor, provided in this latest version.

* Table-Values Functions and Spatial Data Support Implemented

The version of Entity Developer for Microsoft SQL Server additionally supports such spatial data types as Geography and Geometry. These data types enable the users to represent locations on a map as well as points, geometric shapes, and other data which relies on a coordinate system.

And, finally, yet another major enhancement now implemented in Entity Developer is the support for the Table-Values functions (TVF).

* New Visual Features Added

Major improvements in the usability and user-friendliness of the application include entity shape coloring, selection-driven highlighting, application and diagram skins.

The entity shape coloring function allows the user to define a custom coloring for any entity present on the diagram by changing its Shape Color property.

The selection-driven functionality is intended to improve the readability of complex diagrams by visually indicating various interrelations between different entities present on a particular diagram.

The general look and feel of the application is further modernized with sets of skins for the application itself (available only in the standalone version) and for the diagram.

There is no doubt that the new version will greatly contribute to increased usability and will represent a valuable solution for developers needs.

Pricing and Availability

The application price starts at as low as $99.95. Entity Developer 4.1 is available in 4 editions:

Professional Edition allows designing models for Entity Framework, NHibernate, and LINQ to SQL.

NHibernate Edition allows designing NHibernate models, supporting any third-party ADO.NET data providers for Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite.

Entity Framework Edition allows designing Entity Framework models and uses SqlClient to connect to Microsoft SQL Server.

LINQ to SQL Edition allows designing LINQ to SQL models, using SqlClient to connect to Microsoft SQL Server.

Like any other Devart’s product, Entity Developer has a 30 day free trial option. A free fully functional trial version can be downloaded here: http://www.devart.com/entitydeveloper/download.html

More information on Entity Developer can be found at http://www.devart.com/entitydeveloper/overview.html

Users are welcome to provide feedback on the new version here: http://www.devart.com/entitydeveloper/feedback.html

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About Devart
Devart is a widely recognized provider of database connectivity solutions and tools for the most popular databases, including MS SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, InterBase, Firebird and SQLite. Since 1998, Devart is focused on the development of native database data access solutions, development and database tools for a wide range of databases and development technologies. Devart solutions provide the fastest data access available on the market and the broadest database support to thousands of industry professionals.

For additional information about Devart, visit http://www.devart.com/company/