Can I use Entity Framework or Linq To SQL with Windows 8 Metro Style apps?

database entity-framework orm windows-8 microsoft-metro
Adrian Grigore picture Adrian Grigore · Jun 5, 2012 · Viewed 8.4k times · Source

I'm looking for some kind of ORM that can be used with Metro Style apps. I found lots of posts referring to different SQLite implementations that seem to be working (or not, according to other posts) with Metro style apps, but no working sample projects so far showing an ORM on Windows 8 Metro. Other posts are referring to projects that might work, but not pass the Marketplace certification because of forbidden API calls.

Lots of the information I found is probably outdated, so I'm not sure if i even googled this right.

Has any of you managed to get some kind of ORM up and running in a Windows Metro style app? If possible, I'd like to use EF Code First, but I'm growing desperate, so I'm not too picky.

Thanks for your suggestions,

Adrian

Answer

C. Augusto Proiete picture C. Augusto Proiete · Jun 13, 2012

I'm currently using SQLite on a C# Windows 8 Metro App using the code from an experimental branch as explained by Tim Heuer in this post (there's also a video), and it is working great, and it will pass the store certification (Tim Heuer also mentions it in the post).

It is not Entity Framework, but it is the best we have available so far for working with local databases.

Other alternatives:

  • IndexedDB (It's an HTML5 feature, so it is only for HTML5 apps)
  • SQLite - AFAIK it works, but doesn't pass the store certification yet
  • WinRT File Based Database - Interesting, though not as performant as SQLite
  • Siaqodb - Interesting. Didn't test it yet
  • Sterling NoSQL OODB - Doesn't support WinRT just yet, but should not be difficult to port... I expect a release soon. It is NoSQL, though.

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