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Connectivity
About Connectivity
The Connectivity subproject of DTP provides a connection framework that adopters can use and adapt for their own uses. Through Connectivity, you can:
- Create and maintain driver details for reuse among multiple connection profiles
- Create and maintain connection profiles for a variety of data sources
- Create a shared connection to a data source via a connection profile to get at the contents of the data source (whatever the adopter chooses to implement), possibly manipulate the contents of the data source, and disconnect (releasing the shared connection)
- Use the Open Data Access framework to access data from heterogeneous types of data sources, including custom data repository
Connectivity also provides a UI framework for manipulating profiles:
- The Data Source Explorer provides an Eclipse view through which a user can visually manipulate connection profiles
- A wizard framework allows adopters to extend and adapt classes for a more consistent user experience
- Takes advantage of the Common Navigator Framework in the Eclipse Platform for providing an extensible way to add content and actions
Project Components
Connection Management Framework
[TBD]
Data Source Explorer
[TBD]
Driver Management Framework
[TBD]
JDBC connection support
[TBD]
Open Data Access (ODA)
The Open Data Access (ODA) component is an open and flexible data access framework that allows applications to access data from both standard and custom data sources. It enables data connectivity between data consumers and data source providers through published run-time and design-time interfaces. In addition, the framework includes an ODA driver management package that helps an ODA consumer application to manage diverse behavior of individual ODA data drivers.
ODA is one of the key components integrated by the Eclipse BIRT project for heterogeneous data retrieval. Data providers can plug in an ODA-compliant data source driver to access any data repository. Both DTP and BIRT deliver out-of-the-box ODA drivers to access common data sources, such as XML, Web services, CSV files, and JDBC.
A custom data source driver is created simply by implementing the ODA data access interfaces. Its implementation would wrap data source specific APIs (such as web services, etc.) to retrieve data rows. Once developed, the driver can be registered through an extension point with individual ODA consumer components to enable data connectivity.
The ODA runtime interfaces include support for establishing a connection, accessing meta-data, and executing queries to retrieve data. They are JDBC-like, but have been extended to support additional capabilities of non-RDBMS data sources. For example, the use of data source specific query text (i.e. not SQL specific), complex parameters, etc. In addition, the ODA design-time interfaces and extension points allow you to provide a designer GUI tool specific to your custom data source.
ODA Overview Document [HTML] [PDF]
ODA API Use Cases
Developer Documentation
Connectivity framework developer documentation
Usability
Help improve the DTP user experience by telling us what you like and don't like about using the DTP connectivity layer on the connectivity usability discussion page.
Release Planning
Connectivity Europa Features
Discussion page for Europa Connectivity features
Connectivity Callisto Features
Discussion page for Callisto Connectivity features
Committers
- Rob Cernich, Project Lead (Sybase)
- Linda Chan (Actuate)
- Larry Dunnel (IBM)
- Brian Fitzpatrick (Sybase)