Connect ADO.NET 4.3.0
- Last Updated: May 8, 2026
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README
Progress(R) DataDirect(R)
DataDirect Connect(R) Series for ADO.NET
Release 4.3 (0025)
April 2026
*************************************************************************
Copyright (C) 2002-2026 Progress Software Corporation and/or its
subsidiaries or affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
*************************************************************************
This README file contains information for Progress DataDirect Connect Series
for ADO.NET not included in the DATADIRECT CONNECT FOR ADO.NET documentation.
CONTENTS
Post-GA Product Announcements
Support and Certification
Changes Since 4.3 Release
Release 4.3 Features
Product Features
Available DataDirect Connect Series for ADO.NET Data Providers
Disk Space Requirements
Notes, Known Problems, and Restrictions
Documentation
DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET Files
Post-GA Product Announcements
The readme files will no longer be updated with product announcements and new
features after the General Availability (GA) of the product. For the latest
updates and enhancements, please refer to the release notes
(https://www.progress.com/datadirect-connectors/whats-new).
Support and Certification
For the latest data source, platform, .NET Framework, Entity Framework,
and Visual Studio support information, refer to the Product Compatibility
Guide: https://docs.progress.com/bundle/datadirect-product-compatibility/
resource/datadirect-product-compatibility.pdf
Changes Since 4.3 Release
Enhancements
------------
* The Oracle data provider for .NET Framework now supports Kerberos.NET-based
authentication. This enhancement uses the open-source Kerberos.NET managed
library, accessed through the Progress DataDirect DDTek.KerberosHelper.dll,
to perform Kerberos ticket and session key generation entirely in managed
code without SSPI. On Windows, the driver supports password-less
authentication through the Microsoft Local Security Authority (LSA) cache
using the MSLSA: credential cache token. On Linux, a file-based credential
cache is supported. Kerberos.NET and its dependencies are not shipped by
Progress DataDirect and must be obtained separately. For details, see
Configuring Kerberos Authentication in the Oracle data provider documentation.
Available starting: Data provider version 4.3.0.014556
* The data providers have been enhanced to support Visual Studio 2022.
To enable this support, the following files have been added to the
product package:
- DDTek.VisualStudio.DataTools_2022.vsix
- DDTek.Oracle.ReportingServices.DataExtensions_2022.dll
- DDTek.Sybase.ReportingServices.DataExtensions_2022.dll
* Any product package made available after August 28, 2023 will not include
the HTML help system or PDFs. The Progress DataDirect Connect Series for
ADO.NET documentation set is available via product and data source tiles
from the Progress Information Hub: https://docs.progress.com
While the product packages will not include these documentation items,
the installation directory will provide an HTML redirect for direct
access to the HTML help.
* The Db2 data provider has been enhanced to support IBM i 7.4. In
addition, the data provider has been enhanced to select the
best TLS protocol available during the TLS/SSL handshake based on
the operating system and server configuration.
Available starting: Data provider version 4.3.0.013629
* The build infrastructure of the product has been upgraded
to a more secure and modern version. As a result, all the
binaries have been rebuilt using the new infrastructure.
* The Oracle data provider (the data provider for .NET Framework) has
been enhanced to support SHA2 (SHA256, SHA384, and SHA512) data
integrity algorithms for Oracle Advanced Security. It already
supported SHA1 and MD5.
Available starting: Data provider version 4.3.0.014383
* The Oracle .NET data provider (the data provider for .NET runtime) has
been enhanced to support SHA1 and SHA2 (SHA256, SHA384, and SHA512)
data integrity algorithms for Oracle Advanced Security. It already
supported MD5.
Available starting: Data provider version 4.3.0.014383
* Both the Oracle data provider and the Oracle .NET data provider can
now connect to the database servers that are configured to use Oracle
Advanced Security and have the SQLNET.ALLOWED_WEAK_CRYPTO_CLIENT
parameter set to FALSE.
Available starting: Data provider version 4.3.0.014383
* The Sybase data provider has been enhanced to support the RSA algorithm
when authenticating to the server using the Encrypted Password
authentication method (AuthenticationMethod=EncryptedPassword). The data
provider will use either the proprietary encryption or the RSA algorithm
based on the encryption type chosen by the server during the login
negotiation.
Changed Behavior
----------------
* The license.txt file is no longer included in the product package.
* The default values of the Session Data Unit, Data Integrity Level, and
Encryption Level connection options have been changed to 16384, Accepted,
and Accepted, respectively.
Release 4.3 Features
* Support for Credentials object to not store the Authentication information
Password) in Clear Text for Oracle, DB2, Sybase and SQL Server.
* Support for Visual Studio 2017 and Visual Studio 2019 for ADO.NET 4.3.
Deprecated support for Visual Studio 2015.
* Improved logging in ADO.NET Trace file
* Added Native Array Binding support for DB2 LUW and iSeries, leading to
substantial performance improvement.
* Oracle FIPS support
* DPE(Deployment of reports) is now integrated with the installer.
Available DataDirect Connect Series for ADO.NET Data Providers
* DB2 (DDTek.DB2.dll)
* DB2 Entity Framework (DDTek.DB2.Entity.dll)
* Oracle (DDTek.Oracle.dll)
* Oracle .NET Core (DDtek.OracleDotnet.dll)
* Oracle Entity Framework (DDTek.Oracle.Entity.dll)
* Sybase ASE (DDTek.Sybase.dll)
* Sybase Entity Framework (DDTek.Sybase.Entity.dll)
* SQL Server (DDTek.SQLServer.dll)
For a complete list of database versions supported by DataDirect Connect for
ADO.NET 4.3 GA version of the data providers, see the Progress DataDirect
Supported Configurations page:
https://www.progress.com/supported-configurations/datadirect?interface=net
Disk Space Requirements
The following disk space requirements assume a full installation of
all data providers and options.
* 20 MB of available hard disk space.
Notes, Known Issues, and Restrictions
The following are notes, known issues, or restrictions with
Release 4.3 of DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET.
TLS/SSL connections using .NET 8
-----------------------------------
The Oracle data provider has been certified with .NET 8. However, it
is unable to validate TLS/SSL connections to the server using .NET 8
on Linux platforms. Note that the data provider is able to
successfully validate TLS/SSL connections on Windows platforms.
TLS/SSL connections to Oracle 23ai
-----------------------------------
The Oracle data provider has been certified with Oracle 23ai. However, it
is unable to validate TLS/SSL connections to Oracle 23ai using .NET
runtime on Linux platforms. Note that that the data provider is able to
successfully validate TLS/SSL connections on Windows platforms using both
.NET Framework 4.8 runtime and .NET runtime. In addition, TLS/SSL connections
can be validated successfully for versions before Oracle 23ai on Linux platforms
using .NET runtime.
Installation pre-requisite
--------------------------
* In case of Silent Installation for Visual Studio 2017, service pack 3
is required for a successful installation.
The DataDirect DB2 Entity Framework data provider does not support the following
Entity Framework feature:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Configurable Migration History - For a Code First model, when you try to
customize a migration history table, you may face an issue While performing
multi-level scaffolding.
The Provider does not throw an error message in this case; Progress recommends
that you do not use this EF6 feature, while working with DB2.
* When you use the MapToStoredProcedure feature in an application using Code
first Migrations, trying to execute "update-database" to update your model
changes in the database throws the error, "Alter Procedure operation is not
supported with DB2 UDB V6R1 for i." This issue occurs only on DB2 UDB V6R1
for i, and will work fine on higher versions.
The DataDirect DB2 Entity Framework data provider has the following limitation:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Code First Mapping to Insert/Update/Delete Stored Procedures - For your Code
First model's mapped stored procedures, if the newly created mapped procedure
names have an overload in the database, during migration, you may face issues
while dropping the procedure.
- To avoid this issue, ensure that you do not have any StoredProcedures with the
same name as the Procedures created in the MappedToStoredProcedure feature,
before using code first migrations.
- To resolve this issue, you can manually drop these procedures using full
signature of the procedure in the DROP PROCEDURE query.
* An issue you may face during migration (while adding or removing columns in
the entity mapped to procedures) is that the updated definitions may create
new procedures instead of replacing the existing ones.
- To resolve this issue, you can remove the stored Procedures which are not in
use any more by manually dropping these procedures using full signature of the
procedure in the DROP PROCEDURE query.
The DataDirect Oracle Entity Framework data provider has the following
limitation:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Oracle Advanced Security feature is only available for applications that are
made for .NET Framework 4.0 or a higher version. To use these features,
applications should refer to DDTek.Oracle.dll built within .NET Framework 4.0
present in the net40 directory under the installation directory.
If you are using Entity Framework or DbProviderFactory to create a connection
with .NET Framework 4.0 or a higher version, you do not have to perform any
additional steps to use Oracle Advanced Security. Please read the user guide
for more details.
The DataDirect Sybase Entity Framework data provider does not support the
following Entity Framework features:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Code-Based Configuration.
* Configurable Migration History.
* Code First Mapping to Stored Procedures.
* Connection Resiliency.
* Code First Migrations.
* Table Valued Functions and Enumerated Types.
* Model-First, basically, the ability to start with a conceptual model and
create the database from it (see
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/ff830362.aspx for more
information).
* Code First, basically, write the classes that make up your domain model
and generate a database schema or map to an existing database (see
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/ee712907)
* Translating String.StartsWith, String.EndsWith and String.Contains
to LIKE in LINQ to Entities.
Third Party Issues
-------------------
* While using DPE(Deployment of reports) in Visual studio 2015, the SSDT Tools
version should be specifically this version - 14.0.61707.300. This version of
SSDT has some issue fixes by Microsoft. If you do not use this specific
version, you get the following error during deployment: "Key is not found in
Dictionary."
* Previously, Oracle was using non FIPS-compliant protocol for connection to
Oracle server version before 12.1.0.2. This was causing all ADO.NET drivers
including DataDirect and Oracle Managed ADO.NET driver to fail to connect when
FIPS is enabled on client machine.
Oracle fixed this in their 12.1.0.2 version of managed ADO.NET driver
implementation.
If you are building your application with EntityFramework 6.0.0, you may face
the issues defined below:
* With Oracle Entity Provider, for a context having String properties with
"TypeName" Column attribute, you may receive the error, "Specified cast is
not valid" error. An example of the context snippet is given below:
[Column(TypeName = "nchar")]
public string FirstName { get; set; }
[Column(TypeName = "clob")]
public string Description { get; set; }
To resolve this issue, we recommend you build your application with
EntityFramework 6.0.2.
* With both Oracle and DB2 Entity providers, you may face issues in using Set
Initialization strategies, in Entity Framework 6.0 Code First Applications.
To resolve this issue, we recommend you build your application with
EntityFramework 6.0.2.
Logging Application Block Configuration
---------------------------------------
For the Logging Application Block to function correctly, you must perform
one of the following actions:
- Set the DDTek_Enable_logging_Application_Block environment variable
to enable logging. This will enforce default settings for logging.
- Include the following line in your application:
ConfigurationManager.GetSection("ddtek.oracle.entity");
Installation Requirements
-------------------------
* You must be a system administrator or have update privileges
for the Registry key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE]. These
privileges are required to update the Registry with the new
data providers being installed. See your system administrator if
you are unsure.
* You must run the Setup program from the machine on
which you are installing the product. You cannot run the Setup
program from a network location to install the product on your
local machine.
Installing on a Machine With Earlier Versions of the Data Providers
-------------------------------------------------------------------
* DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET 4.3 can exist on the same machine with
earlier released versions of DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET and
DataDirect Connect for .NET (GA version or with any of the
patches or service packs), but cannot be installed in the same
directory.
Using Distributed Transactions
------------------------------
The DataDirect data providers support distributed transactions through the
Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MS DTC).
Connecting to a DB2 Database
----------------------------
* The first time that you connect to a DB2 database, the data provider
builds several DB2 packages, a process that can take several minutes.
Subsequent connections to that server do not incur delays. It is
recommended that customers to add Connection Timeout=0 during the first
connection, so that they will not get the Connection Timeout errors
during this process.
* Make sure that the user who performs the initial connection to a DB2
database has BINDADD permissions. If the user does not have BINDADD
permissions, the following error message is displayed:
Inadequate permission to create packages on the database server.
Packages must be created once on each DB2 server that the DataDirect
Connect for ADO.NET DB2 provider will connect to. The provider
detected that the packages do not exist on this server and tried to
create them, but could not due to the current user not having BINDADD
permissions on the DB2 server.
Contact the DB2 administrator.
* The DB2 data provider does not support Batch statements.
Bulk Operations with Sybase
---------------------------
A Sybase bulk bug prevents default values from being inserted into the
destination table. This means that in bulk operations, null values are
always preserved.
Installing Visual Studio After Installing the DataDirect Connect
for ADO.NET Data Providers
-----------------------------------------------------------------
If you install the DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET data providers on a
machine that does not have Visual Studio installed, and then
install Visual Studio, you must use the Administration Tool in the
DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET 4.3 program group, and select the
Visual Studio Integration tab.
Documentation
PROGRESS DATADIRECT CONNECT SERIES FOR ADO.NET DOCUMENTATION SET
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Progress DataDirect Connect Series for ADO.NET documentation is
available via data source specific pages (IBM Db2, Microsoft SQL Server,
Oracle Database, and SAP ASE) from the following URL:
https://docs.progress.com/bundle/datadirect-connectors/page/DataDirect
-Connectors-by-data-source.html
You can access the online help system directly via the HTML redirect in the
installation directory.
DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET Files
The file list below assumes a full installation of all data providers
and all optional components.
Setup copies the following files into the installation directory,
by default, C:\Program Files\Progress\DataDirect\Connect_for_ADO.NET_43:
ConnectHelp.html HTML redirect to online help system
dotnetreadme.txt Readme file
DDTek.Data.Common.dll DataDirect Common assembly
DDTek.Data.Common.XML DataDirect Common assembly IntelliSense
help file
DDTek.lic Provider license file
DDTek.DB2.dll DB2 data provider
DDTek.DB2.Entity.dll DB2 Entity data provider
DDTek.DB2.xml DB2 data provider IntelliSense help file
DDTek.Oracle.dll Oracle data provider
(Built with 2.0 .Net framework)
DDTek.Oracle.Entity.dll Oracle Entity data provider
DDTek.Oracle.xml Oracle data provider IntelliSense help file
DDTek.SQLServer.dll SQL Server data provider
DDTek.SQLServer.xml SQL Server data provider IntelliSense help
file
DDTek.Sybase.dll Sybase data provider
DDTek.Sybase.Entity.dll Sybase Entity data provider
DDTek.Sybase.xml Sybase data provider IntelliSense help file
fixes.txt List of bugs fixed since the initial
DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET 4.2 release
notices.txt Third-Party vendor license agreements
Setup copies the following files into the installation directory,
by default,
C:\Program Files\Progress\DataDirect\Connect_for_ADO.NET_43\net40:
DDTek.Oracle.dll Oracle data provider
(Built with 4.0 .Net framework)
DDTek.KerberosHelper.dll Kerberos.NET integration assembly used by
the Oracle data provider for Kerberos.NET-
based authentication
(Built with .NET Framework 4.6.1)
DEPENDENCIES_DDTek.KerberosHelper.md
Lists the exact versions of Kerberos.NET
and all supporting assemblies that
DDTek.KerberosHelper.dll was built and
tested against
Setup copies the following files into the installation directory, by default:
For 4.0 Framework:
C:\Program Files\Progress\DataDirect\Connect_for_ADO.NET_43\net40\32-bit
For 2.0 Framework:
C:\Program Files\Progress\DataDirect\Connect_for_ADO.NET_43\net20\32-bit
DDTek.DB2Helper.dll DB2 helper dll
DDTek.OracleHelper.dll Oracle helper dll
DDTek.SQLServerHelper.dll SQL Server helper dll
DDTek.SybaseHelper.dll Sybase helper dll
64-bit machines ONLY:
Setup copies the following files into the installation directory, by default:
For 4.0 Framework:
C:\Program Files\Progress\DataDirect\Connect_for_ADO.NET_43\net40\64-bit
For 2.0 Framework:
C:\Program Files\Progress\DataDirect\Connect_for_ADO.NET_43\net20\64-bit
DDTek.DB2Helper.dll DB2 helper dll
DDTek.OracleHelper.dll Oracle helper dll
DDTek.SQLServerHelper.dll SQL Server helper dll
DDTek.SybaseHelper.dll Sybase helper dll
Setup copies the following files into the installation directory, by default:
For .NET runtime:
C:\Program Files\Progress\DataDirect\Connect_for_ADO.NET_43\dotnet
DDTek.OracleDotnet.4.3.0.<version>.nupkg NuGet package
Linux\DDTek.OracleDotnet.DLL Oracle .NET data provider for Linux
Windows\DDTek.OracleDotnet.DLL Oracle .NET data provider for Windows
Setup copies the following files to the TOOLS directory, by default,
C:\Program Files\Progress\DataDirect\Connect_for_ADO.NET_43\tools\:
DDProcInfo.exe
CopyTemplatesSil.exe
MachineConfigSil.exe
DDTekAdminUtil.exe
DDTek.VisualStudio.DataTools.vsix
DDTek.VisualStudio.DataTools_2022.vsix
DPESetupSil.exe
DDTek.Oracle.ReportingServices.DataExtensions.dll
DDTek.Oracle.ReportingServices.DataExtensions_2022.dll
DDTek.Sybase.ReportingServices.DataExtensions.dll
DDTek.Sybase.ReportingServices.DataExtensions_2022.dll
Extend.exe
Setup copies files to separate subdirectories under the TOOLS\TEMPLATES
directory, by default,
C:\Program Files\Progress\DataDirect\Connect_for_ADO.NET_43\tools\templates\:
\ModelFirstTemplates\*.*
Setup copies the following 32-bit or 64-bit files to the Global Assembly
Cache (GAC) (See Notes 1 and 2):
DDTek.Data.Common.dll DataDirect Common assembly
DDTek.DB2.dll DB2 data provider
DDTek.DB2.Entity.dll DB2 Entity Framework data provider
DDTek.DB2Helper.dll DB2 helper dll
DDTek.Oracle.dll Oracle data provider
DDTek.Oracle.Entity.dll Oracle Entity Framework data provider
DDTek.OracleHelper.dll Oracle helper dll
DDTek.KerberosHelper.dll Kerberos.NET integration assembly
DDTek.SQLServer.dll SQL Server data provider
DDTek.SQLServerHelper.dll SQL Server helper dll
DDTek.Sybase.dll Sybase data provider
DDTek.Sybase.Entity.dll Sybase Entity Framework data provider
DDTek.SybaseHelper.dll Sybase helper dll
If DPE is selected, the following entries are also copied to the Global
Assembly Cache (GAC):
DDTek.Oracle.ReportingServices.DataExtensions
DDTek.Oracle.ReportingServices.DataExtensions_2022
DDTek.Sybase.ReportingServices.DataExtensions
DDTek.Sybase.ReportingServices.DataExtensions_2022
Note 1: NGEN acts on the data provider files in this directory.
Note 2: On a 64-bit machine, Setup copies both 32-bit and 64-bit helper
files to the GAC. The files can be identified in Windows Explorer by x86
or AMD64 in the Processor Architecture column.
Setup copies the DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET code examples to the
SAMPLES directory, by default,
C:\Program Files\Progress\DataDirect\Connect_for_ADO.NET_43\Samples:
Samplecode_readme.txt
\DB2\*.*
\Oracle\*.*
\Sybase\*.*
\SQLServer\*.*
\Generic\*.*
Setup copies the DataDirect Enterprise Libraries files to
the ENTERPRISE LIBRARIES directory, by default,
C:\Program Files\Progress\DataDirect\Connect_for_ADO.NET_43\Enterprise
Libraries\Src\CS\<ProviderName>:
<ProviderName>Database.cs
<ProviderName>DatabaseAssembler.cs
<ProviderName>EnterpriseLibrary.csproj
<ProviderName>EnterpriseLibrary.sln
<ProviderName>packages
<ProviderName>packages.config
Resources.Designer.cs
Resources.resx
\Properties\*.*
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