19
Feb
DDEX and Firebird .NET Data Provider
Well, in this article I’m going do describe step-by-step how-to add Firebird .NET Data Provider into Visual Studio 2005. So I assume, I have downloaded and installed the provider (be sure that’s for .NET2).
- You have to download the VS SDK (not the Framework SDK). It’s available on MSDN.
It’s not the standard part of installation. - Check whether (installation should add them in) the provider assemblies are in GAC (you can use the gacutil util from provider directory or the Framework GUI). You have to focus to FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient (gacutil.exe /l FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient).
- Locate your machine.config and add into <configuration> -> <configSections>
add <section name=”firebirdsql.data.firebirdclient” type=”System.Data.Common.DbProviderConfigurationHandler, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=PublicKeyToken_of_System.Data_assembly” />. - Into <system.data> -> <DbProviderFactories> add <add name=”FirebirdClient Data Provider” invariant=”FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient” description=”.Net Framework Data Provider for Firebird” type=”FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient.FirebirdClientFactory, FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=PublicKeyToken_of_your_FB_client_assembly” />.
- Then open the FirebirdDDEXProvider.reg file and replace the %Path% variable with the correct path for your installation, i.e.: C:Program FilesFirebirdClient , and load it into the registry (also check whether all entries were successfuly added).
But! If you’re adding the path to the reg file you have input C:\Program Files\FirebirdClient (backslash the backslashes).
Now you can startup the VS and try to add database to Database Explorer toolbox. If you will follow these steps exactly, you have 99,9% chance for success. 
PS: Sorry for my English. 
There's 85 Comments So Far
March 8th, 2006 at 03:52
Thank you for the insight. I have tried several times to do the steps as listed, but never paided attention to the need of VS SDK. Works like a charm now.
Steven
March 10th, 2006 at 21:21
I have followed the steps. I can see .NET Framework Data Provider for Firebird in the data connections -> choose data source window.
test connection is successful.
but clicking OK gives: "Failure has occured while loading a type"
any ideas?
March 11th, 2006 at 00:48
Yes, same for me, "Failure has occured while loading a type". And it is right that on the test connection screen olny appears a ConnectionString property? Also, even if I leave that "ConnectionString " property empty, cliking on "Test connection" give me a "test connection is sucessful"…
March 11th, 2006 at 09:21
I think there’s some problem with test connection (I think only SYSDBA is working …). It’s reported and (maybe) solved in CVS now.
Just try to add connection, without testing.
Or maybe you have some chaos in assemblies. Try to do clean install provider.
March 13th, 2006 at 21:06
by just creating connection, without test connection, gives the same error.
where is possible to download the latest CVS?
I have just followed the download link from http://www.ibphoenix.com ->main downloads ->.net provider
March 13th, 2006 at 21:42
do I need to write database username/password into connection string (SYSDBA, masterkey)?
how ?
so far I just put database path localhost:c:\mydir\mygdb.gdb
could this be the reason for getting Failure has occured while loading a type?
March 13th, 2006 at 23:08
ad CVS> latest srcs are on sourceforge’s CVS server
ad password> yes, of course!
March 14th, 2006 at 09:38
how to install the latest version of .NET provider from CVS?
http://cvs.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.py/firebird/NETProvider/NETProvider_20/
there is no setup.exe in any of those directories.
March 14th, 2006 at 09:41
You have to compile it yourself.
March 14th, 2006 at 12:28
How?
April 13th, 2006 at 02:51
this configuration is valid for Microsoft Visual Web Developer
April 13th, 2006 at 05:59
I think yes. But be sure, that branches in .reg file are OK.
April 19th, 2006 at 16:43
Has anybody got this to work with VWD express? I do all this and managed to install the october 2005 sdk (april doesn’t find Visual studio and refuses to install) but still get an error message "Field not found: System.collections.generic.keyvaluepair`2.value" either trying to create a new connection or using an existing one. I’ve looked at the source and cant see why it’s doing this. Have even tried rebuilding it and still no luck. Any ideas??
April 25th, 2006 at 17:35
I have used VWD express . and how to config
firebird .net data provider. Since I did now work properly.
April 25th, 2006 at 18:15
For this time, it seems to be not possible use it with Express Ed.
But on list we’re working on it.
May 2nd, 2006 at 12:19
i did (installed vssdkmarch2005, net framework 2.0, firebird client 2.0-rc2 and i did readmeddex ) but i always take this error message "An unexpected error occurred in the .netframework data provider for firebird. please contact the provider vendor to resolve this problem." can anbody help me?
May 2nd, 2006 at 13:37
Well, this isn’t the best (but not wrong) place to ask this. Probably better is the firebird-net-provider list, where we can discuss and (I hope) solve the problem.
May 4th, 2006 at 08:13
i solve problem but when i insert sqldatasource and i select a query builder i can’t see my tables. But i write manual "select * from mytable" in the gridview i see al tables field’s data. And i can not write insert and update command they dont run. how can i solve this and how can i do insert and update command don’t write a code like sqlserver?
May 4th, 2006 at 09:53
And in Server Explorer works everything ok? If not, your DDEX for FB isn’t ok.
May 4th, 2006 at 10:49
in server explorer not running everything. For example on table i right click ,there is no add new table button. And When i add a data table and in select query properties i give this error message = "column ordinal_position does not belong table columns" so i thing that generated insert statement is not working.
May 4th, 2006 at 12:54
So the provider isn’t installed ok.
May 4th, 2006 at 14:13
How i am going to install i did not understand pls help me if you tell step by step i will be so happy thanx for everything. (ste_ganos@hotmail.com pls if you have a doc about this subject send this e-mail)
May 17th, 2006 at 13:54
I would like to use FB provider with VS2005 but as ste_ganos I got "An unexpected error occurred in the .netframework data provider for firebird. please contact the provider vendor to resolve this problem." allways.
ste_ganos: How did you resolve the problem ?
May 17th, 2006 at 14:30
UPDATE:
I got working with fresh VS2005 (pro) and VS/SDK (march) install but when I tell to VS to generate INSERT, UPDATE & DELETE it gives me the following errors:
Generated INSERT statement.
Failed to find or load the registered .Net Framework Data Provider.
Same for UPDATE & DELETE.
¿Some advice?
May 17th, 2006 at 19:56
Have you registered provider into GAC and machine.config with right values? Is the SDK correctly installed (try some stable version whether you’ve installed some preview)?
May 18th, 2006 at 02:35
By the way, I’m using FB .Net provider RC4 downloaded yesterday.
Regards.
May 18th, 2006 at 06:43
Can you add (and work with) database connection in Server Explorer?
If not, there’s something wrong with your installation.
BTW to machine.config and GAC see (once more) the steps in post on top.
May 22nd, 2006 at 20:20
FWIW, reinstalling all (VS, VS SDK, FB provider) make the trick.
June 5th, 2006 at 13:04
Hi…
I’ve done all steps in the article.. using April 2006 sdk… Server Explorer -> Data Connections -> Add Connection ; Then i select Firebird Data Source; But whenever i’ve tried to change the value of a control in the dialog box it disappears…(only happens with firebird data source)…By the way can i use this for Interbase 7.1…
June 10th, 2006 at 08:49
i have problem with firebird
sometimes when i tried to connect to my database an error tell me that "i/o error create file(open) "
why?
June 19th, 2006 at 21:41
ý’ve same prob which Melih Okursoy wrote, when i’ve tried to change the value of a control in the dialog box it disappears, do you have any idea about that.
June 20th, 2006 at 07:09
Hi: Can I use the Firebird .NET provider without using the DDEX?
I try, only by referencing the Firebirdcliente but it give me some error.
It’s necessary any other Step?
<Remarks>I don’t need the DDEX</Remarks>
June 20th, 2006 at 09:07
2 rdiazc:
Of course you can. You will just create FbCommand, FbConnection, etc. and add using statement to your assembly and add reference to location where your FB provider assembly is.
June 23rd, 2006 at 11:51
I have the same problem with the dialog box. When I try to edit any of the fields the dialog box just closes! Any ideas?
Dan
June 29th, 2006 at 14:32
I have followed all the steps except first step. I want to use the DDE with my VWD installation. Any idea to make it work with VWD.
June 30th, 2006 at 13:20
Any idea to make it working with VWD
July 20th, 2006 at 02:51
Same problem as everybody else with the dialog closing…
July 28th, 2006 at 16:09
What exactly DDEX provides?
I can do drag & drop of FdbConnection. but I cannot take designer support to create dataset for firebird database table. Does it mean that, I am not utilizing DDEX support fully?
July 28th, 2006 at 21:19
If you create typed dataset designer, can you drop in some table?
August 21st, 2006 at 18:22
You should put there the PublicKeyToken the PublicKeyToken of the System.Data assembly and of the one of the provider assembly (FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient) both info can be reviewed in the GAC propoerties of each assembly
August 23rd, 2006 at 13:36
Hi, works like a charm. But i try to use my Firebird DB in Crystal Reports, but i can access the DB. If I try to setup a new connection Firebird is not in the list of available providers. Seems the same problem before doing the trick of this site in SQLDatasource. Any ideas ?
September 4th, 2006 at 08:12
I also got "Failure has occured while loading a type". It was fixed by changing the registry entry for InprocServer32 from mscoree.dll to C:\WINDOWS\system32\mscoree.dll, and then restarting Visual Studio 2005.
March 22nd, 2007 at 17:31
I have install firebird .net data provide, create new connection at crystal report no any list… any idealWorking properly at vs2005
April 4th, 2007 at 14:09
I made the installation of the DDEX for Firebird in the Visual Studio 2005 and everything functioned, only that when I go to make the configuration of the bank the configuration screen if closes. Somebody knows as can decide this problem?
July 11th, 2007 at 09:59
This is why I’ve completely given up with open source applications. They’re just soooooo difficult, picky and unsupported in general.IMHO, you get what you pay for.
July 11th, 2007 at 10:25
Open Source != free (or not paid). Firebird has Firebird Foundation and FF supports (grants) some Firebird developers.
July 16th, 2007 at 17:02
Pessoal, No dia 14/07, sábado, a Microsoft e o MSDN Brasil estiveram presentes no 4o FDD (Firebird Developers
July 16th, 2007 at 17:20
Pessoal, No dia 14/07, sábado, a Microsoft e o MSDN Brasil estiveram presentes no 4o FDD (Firebird Developers
July 22nd, 2007 at 16:06
Some months ago I was writing about installing DDEX provider for Firebird to Visual Studio [ DDEX and
August 7th, 2007 at 12:15
answer this question:I’ve done all steps in the article.. using April 2006 sdk… Server Explorer -> Data Connections -> Add Connection ; Then i select Firebird Data Source; But whenever i’ve tried to change the value of a control in the dialog box it disappears…(only happens with firebird data source)…By the way can i use this for Interbase 7.1…
August 7th, 2007 at 22:03
Look at http://blog.cincura.net/id/226062/ , you can find there an answer to your problem.BTW InterBase should work, but it’s not tested.
August 8th, 2007 at 22:13
DDEX and Firebird .NET Data Provider
August 13th, 2007 at 14:32
I’m working on a MS SQL to Firebird migration of an application I work on and tried to make the Firebird Data Adapters do the same work as the SQL’s ca do such as automatic design time Select commands generation. But the adapter doesn’t seem to have such a functionality.Is the automatic design time sql commands generation possible with current DDEX drivers, or do I have to rely on the ODBC ones?
August 13th, 2007 at 14:40
Yes, it is. It’s working without any problems.
August 13th, 2007 at 16:48
Actually, it doesn’t work with the latest version of the provider (2.1.0 RC1) because the feature to configure the FBDataAdapter and generate SQL Commands in design time was surprisingly removed.The new version only supports TableDataAdapters.
August 13th, 2007 at 18:12
Yes. Because that was for .NET 1.1. In .NET 2.0 there’s a new model and this code was obsolete. But generating commands works still. It has nothing to do with this.
August 14th, 2007 at 11:23
I see. After realizing this, we have decided to update our application to suport this new .NET 2.0 model. Thanks for help.
September 7th, 2007 at 21:48
I my case after 2 installations of DDEX and Firebird .NET Data provider i find a solution of dialog box problem and this problem is because machine.config is corupted !!!With help of an XML editor I find the errors in this file.(
November 24th, 2007 at 18:29
This topic helped me a lot. Even though I don’t want to explain right now what was the problem, thanks a bunch!
July 23rd, 2008 at 00:50
Pessoal, A quinta edição do Firebird Developers Day aconteceu no dia 19 de Julho de 2008, na
August 29th, 2008 at 16:28
Thank you….
October 12th, 2008 at 12:11
Is it possible do the same procedure with Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition on XP PROFESSIONAL ?
October 12th, 2008 at 12:17
The version without SDK should work.
November 26th, 2008 at 20:44
Had the “Failure has occured while loading a type” error too – I looked up the registry and the Key “CodeBase”=”%PATH%\\FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.dll”at[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0\DataProviders\{92421248-F044-483A-8237-74C7FBC62971}]hadn’t been added. So I just added it by hand and it worked!
(%PATH%= your path to the dll)
June 10th, 2009 at 13:06
I have the same problem with disappering of dialog box. Any ideas?
June 10th, 2009 at 13:12
Bad registry or GAC installation.
February 6th, 2010 at 14:51
To all people with disappearing dialog box, I wanted to share my solution because it was both frustrating and simple. Someone else posted that he had a corrupted machine.config and that was essentially my problem too, but the specifics I’m guessing are pretty common. In the tag of machine.config, the close tag was positioned on the end of the line for the last entry. I didn’t notice this and put my entry on the following line which means it was no longer inside the tag. Just make sure your entry is inside the section.
February 6th, 2010 at 14:55
After I posted I saw that all my tag references had been chopped out. I’ll post again substituting all angle brackets with parens. To all people with disappearing dialog box, I wanted to share my solution because it was both frustrating and simple. Someone else posted that he had a corrupted machine.config and that was essentially my problem too, but the specifics I’m guessing are pretty common. In the (DbProviderFactories) tag of machine.config, the close tag (/DbProviderFactories) was positioned on the end of the line for the last (add) entry. I didn’t notice this and put my (add) entry on the following line which means it was no longer inside the (DbProviderFactories) tag. Just make sure your (add) entry is inside the (DbProviderFactories) section.
February 11th, 2010 at 16:14
I had the same problem with the add connection dialog that disappears.
The error was in machine.config
Inside the I had enter :
I had enter by mistake Culture=2.5.1.0. The correct is: Culture=neutral . Correcting this, solved the problem
Also I had to manually enter double slash to the path for FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.dll and FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataToolsUI.dll , by opening regedit and manually changing the CodeBase key.
Example:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0\DataProviders\{92421248-F044-483A-8237-74C7FBC62971}]
@=”.NET Framework Data Provider for Firebird”
“DisplayName”=”Provider_DisplayName, FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.Properties.Resources”
“ShortDisplayName”=”Provider_ShortDisplayName,FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.Properties.Resources”
“Description”=”Provider_Description, FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.Properties.Resources”
“CodeBase”=”C:\\Downloads\\firebird\\FirebirdDDEXProvider-2.0.4\\FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.dll”
“InvariantName”=”FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient”
“Technology”=”{77AB9A9D-78B9-4ba7-91AC-873F5338F1D2}”
One way to check if you have FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient.dll installed in GAC is to browse C:\WINDOWS\assembly . There you can also view the public key token of each assembly.
February 11th, 2010 at 16:17
I am posting again the same comment because the tags does not appear for some reason.
I will remove
=========
I had the same problem with the add connection dialog that disappears.
The error was in machine.config
Inside the DbProviderFactories tag I had enter :
add name=”FirebirdClient Data Provider” invariant=”FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient” description=”.Net Framework Data Provider for Firebird” type=”FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient.FirebirdClientFactory, FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient, Version=2.5.1.0, Culture=2.5.1.0, PublicKeyToken=3750abcc3150b00c”
I had enter by mistake Culture=2.5.1.0. The correct is: Culture=neutral . Correcting this, solved the problem
Also I had to manually enter double slash to the path for FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.dll and FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataToolsUI.dll , by opening regedit and manually changing the CodeBase key.
Example:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0\DataProviders\{92421248-F044-483A-8237-74C7FBC62971}]
@=”.NET Framework Data Provider for Firebird”
“DisplayName”=”Provider_DisplayName, FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.Properties.Resources”
“ShortDisplayName”=”Provider_ShortDisplayName,FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.Properties.Resources”
“Description”=”Provider_Description, FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.Properties.Resources”
“CodeBase”=”C:\\Downloads\\firebird\\FirebirdDDEXProvider-2.0.4\\FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.dll”
“InvariantName”=”FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient”
“Technology”=”{77AB9A9D-78B9-4ba7-91AC-873F5338F1D2}”
One way to check if you have FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient.dll installed in GAC is to browse C:\WINDOWS\assembly . There you can also view the public key token of each assembly.
February 19th, 2010 at 15:03
After configuring everithing, I still got the:
“An Unexpected error occurred in .Net framework data provider for firebird. Please contact the provider vendor to resolve this problem”
Installing Visual Studio 2005 SP1 solved the problem.
February 23rd, 2010 at 01:55
is it possibe to use visual web developer express edition 2008 DDEX and Firebird .NET Data provider
February 23rd, 2010 at 09:11
Yes it is.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:06
I am using visual web developer express edition 2008. When i add an datasource to form i can select ProviderName as FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient. After adding GridView and running program, i can see the resultset on browser. But i can not use DatabaseExplorer at design time. And Datasorce Refresh Schema is not working at design time. How can i solve this problem? Thanks.
February 25th, 2010 at 01:58
I think I solved somethings. Now I can see Firebird at DatabaseExploerer by connecting. I can add connection string. But after OK I have an Error “Failure has occured while loading a type”. How can i solve this? Thanks.
June 5th, 2010 at 12:44
I have Firebird WI-V2.5.0.25920 Firebird 2.5 Release Candidate 2 installed on a
Windows 2008 Server. I have the same installed on my local workstation and I
can connect to a database and create a Connection and all seems to work okay.
I am able to connect to the Firebird database on the Server from my Local
machine with FlameRobin.
When I attempt to create a Connection in VS2010 (Trial … waiting for purchased
version to arrive), I get the error “Index was outside the bounds of the array.”
The following are my settings in the Add Connection Dialog Box:
Data source: Firebird Data Source (.NET Framework Data Provider for Firebird)
Data Source: HOOPLEXPRESSSVR
Data Source Port: 3050
Dialect: 3
Charset:
Database: HOOPLEXPRESSSVR:D:\Glsa1FirebirdTestDatabase\GLSA1.FDB
User: SYSDBA
Password: masterkey
Role:
Can anyone educate me as to what I am doing wrong?
January 17th, 2011 at 17:10
Hi, can anyone help me with the connection string?
I have the Firebird tools installed and working and have searched hi and low for how to fix the “could not load type” message when trying to connect using the following connection string;
User=SYSDBA;Password=masterkey;Database=LIST;DataSource=MY_REMOTE_SERVER;Port=3050;Dialect=3;Charset=NONE;Role=;Connection lifetime=15;Pooling=true;MinPoolSize=0;MaxPoolSize=50;Packet Size=8192;ServerType=0
Any help greatly appreciated.
February 14th, 2011 at 05:28
Hi Mr. Cincura… can you help me diagnose my problem? I believe I have added the dll to the GAC and the Path for CodeBase is correct… but I cannot add a connectionString when trying to add a dataSource… are there any checks I can conduct to make sure I have done everything correctly?
February 14th, 2011 at 11:06
Double check you exactly did the 3 steps in readme.
February 15th, 2011 at 00:54
Fixed now, I had wrong Version in machine.config
Thanks for the exercise in patience.
Ciao.
February 15th, 2011 at 01:05
Oops, spoke too soon… now the dialog box displays but then disappears when I try to enter some values!
February 15th, 2011 at 01:58
If registry “CodeBase” path was not correct I wouldn’t be able to choose “Firebird Data Source” from the list of Data sources.
If the machine.config file was not correct then I would get “failure has occurred while loading a type”.
I’m going to send you an email to jiri at cincura dot net… I can only hope that you will help me further.
February 17th, 2011 at 04:08
I had already installed FirebirdClient.msi but mistakenly assumed that the installation would do everything, when in fact I still needed to manually add FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient to the GAC and then use those details (Version, Culture, PublicKeyToken) in the machine.config NOT FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools’s details.
Jiri was right, I wasn’t following the readme properly. Thanks Jiri for your contribution to the world of Firebird !
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