OData

One of the new features added to PowerBuilder Native with the 12.6 release was support for accessing SQL databases through OData.  A number of database vendors, particularly SAP and Microsoft provide build in support for exposing their databases via OData.  However, what do you need to do if you want to access other databases such as IBM or Oracle?

 

There are a number of options.  One is to get something like the Progress DataDirect OData Connector or the CData Could Driver.  Another approach, recommended by IBM and Oracle, is to expose the database through WCF Data Services using Visual Studio.Net.  The problem with that approach is that Microsoft (as it often does) has indicated that WCF Data Services has been deprecated in favor of Web API OData libraries.  So instead, we're going to look at a third option, using platform neutral open-source tools to expose any database through an OData service.