Frequently Asked Questions

General

How do I ask a question?   show answer... hide answer...

We are happy to answer any questions that you might have. Please use the pre-sale support page to submit a question. Please be assured that we endeavour to answer all queries as quickly as possible.

What does ODS stand for?   show answer... hide answer...

ODS stands for Object Data Store.

What does your product do and who is it aimed at?   show answer... hide answer...

Databases

Which types of database does ODS support?   show answer... hide answer...

ODS currently supports SQL Server 2000/2005, MySQL, SQLite 3 and MS Jet 4.0 databases.

Do you intend to support other types of database in the future?   show answer... hide answer...

Yes, very much so. ODS has been built from the ground up with an extensible plug-in system that allows new database types to be easily supported. We regularly release plug-ins that support new database types.

I have an existing database. Can ODS generate a DAL from it?   show answer... hide answer...

As of ODS version 2.2, you can now create new classes based on tables in an existing SQL Server 2000/2005 database. Please note that this is a one way import process.

Can an ODS generated DAL share a database with other systems such as DotNetNuke or the ASP.NET membership tables?   show answer... hide answer...

Yes. An ODS generated DAL can create a new database from scratch but it will happily create tables and stored procedures in an existing database. To prevent database object names conflicting, ODS can automatically prefix the names of all database objects created by your DAL with the text of your choice. This provides a high degree of isolation from other systems, including other ODS data stores.

Source code generation

What programming languages can ODS generate source code for?   show answer... hide answer...

ODS currently generates C# 2.0 source code.

Does ODS require Visual Studio?   show answer... hide answer...

Do you intend to support any other programming languages?   show answer... hide answer...

ODS has been built from the ground up to be able to generate source code for multiple languages/platforms to give us the option to support other languages in the future. We have no immediate plans to support other languages but this something we will be looking at in the future.

Future releases and features

What is the roadmap for future releases of ODS?   show answer... hide answer...

Will future versions of ODS support LINQ?   show answer... hide answer...

This is certainly something that we are looking at. We intend to add support for the .NET Framework 3.5 later in the year. If LINQ can be usefully integrated into the DAL source code structure then we will most likely include a new LINQ based SQL Server plug-in, in addition to the existing plug-in.

Licensing

Are there any run-time limitations or run-time licenses for ODS generated DALs?   show answer... hide answer...

No! You need only install and license ODS on your development machine/s. Once ODS has generated the DAL source code, you can do whatever you wish with it. There are no ODS run-time libraries. An ODS generated DAL has absolutely no dependency on ODS - the source code is self contained. You can generate as many DALs and distribute them with as many applications and sell or distribute it to as many users as you wish. A run-time license is not require to install or use an ODS generated DAL.

What is your refund policy?   show answer... hide answer...

Our refund policy can be found on the refund policy page.

I need to re-install windows. Will ODS continue to function?   show answer... hide answer...

Yes, provided that there are no hardware changes and that the "license.key" file can still be found in the installation folder afterwards.

I have upgraded the hardware on my computer and ODS Design Studio now reports that no license is installed. What should I do?   show answer... hide answer...

To prevent license abuse we tie each installed license to the hardware that it is initially installed on. We understand that from time to time hardware may change and as such allow a small number of license re-installs over time. Please use the support centre to create a post sales support request to reset your license.

I want to install ODS on another box but I get an error telling me that the license has already been used.   show answer... hide answer...

You must purchase a separate license for each computer or virtual machine that you wish to install ODS on.

Support

What kind of support do you provide?   show answer... hide answer...

We currently provide a free web based support request system. We endeavour to respond to all support requests within 24 hours.

Do you offer a paid support service?   show answer... hide answer...

We are planning to provide an more formal support service in the future. If you are interested in purchasing support please contact us by creating a support request, providing as much information as possible.