"Jim H" <no****@jimsaccount.com> wrote in message
news:uk**************@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
We have applications that must connect to oracle databases. Is there a
way to connect using .NET that does not require installation of the Oracle
client on each PC?
I'm pretty sure java apps do not require the Oracle client. I'm hoping
..NET has some way of doing this as well.
For Java there is a Type 4 (pure java) JDBC driver, called the JDBC Thin
driver from Oracle.
For .NET the only "Type 4" Oracle driver is from Data Direct, and it's very
expensive and therefore useless and little used.
If not, does anyone know of a way to incorporate the oracle client install
with a .NET application install? I guess I'm looking ofr some kind of
merge module that can be used to setup the oracle client during our app install.
Oracle clients are usually a pain for users to configure.
Get ODP.NET, Oracle's data provider (otn.oracle.com). It has an installer
(not an MSI, but an the Oracle Universal Installer), and will install both
the Oracle Client and the ODP.NET data provider. In addition you can try to
automate the install with a response file, and then launch it from your
installer. I've never done it, but it should be possible.
ODP.NET also supports some great features that the MS provider does not,
like Array Binding and PL/SQL Tables and BLOB's.
David
