Entity Framework with XML Files

Question

Can someone point me to a good tutorial explaining the Entity Framework using an XML file instead of a database? I have seen some good tutorials with SQL databases, but I can't make the leap to an XML file.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I don't think that's really possible.

From MSDN (emphasis mine):

The ADO.NET Entity Framework is designed to enable developers to create data access applications by programming against a conceptual application model instead of programming directly against a relational storage schema.

Answer 2

Entity Framework itself is provider-based, and is designed to operate over a relational database. If you really wanted to, you could write your own provider for EF that reads from/writes to an xml file, but it would be a huge amount of work.

I expect you should really be looking at one of:

• LINQ-to-XML
• XML (de)serialization
• XPath/XQuery
• XSLT

Entity Framework doesn't have a natural fit in this scenario.

Answer 3

Linq to XML isn't all that much actually. I'd go with a serializable solution instead.

Answer 4

I like LINQ to XSD: http://linqtoxsd.codeplex.com/

It is basically LINQ to XML with some classes derived from the XSD to ensure it fits the schema...

Answer 5

You can use an oledb connection together with a FORXML command... but you will not have all functionality that is available with other providers...