21.7. The ADO.NET Data Provider Factory Model

The .NET data provider factory pattern allows you to build a single code base using generalized data access types. Furthermore, using application configuration files (and the <connectionStrings> subelement), you can obtain providers and connection strings declaratively, without the need to recompile or redeploy the assembly that uses the ADO.NET APIs.

To understand the data provider factory implementation, recall from Table 21-1 that the classes within a data provider each derive from the same base classes defined within the System.Data.Common namespace:

  • DbCommand: The abstract base class for all command classes

  • DbConnection: The abstract base class for all connection classes

  • DbDataAdapter: The abstract ...

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