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 good tutorials with SQL databases, but I can not make a jump in the XML file.

Thank!

Answer 1

Entity Framework itself is based on the provider and is designed to work with a relational database. If you really want to, you can write your own provider for EF that reads / writes to the xml file, but it will be a huge job.

I expect that you really should look at one of:

• LINQ to XML
• XML Serialization (de)
• XPath / XQuery
• XSLT

Entity Framework does not have a natural fit for this scenario.

Answer 2

Linq for XML is not so much. Instead, I would take a serializable solution.

Answer 3

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

This is basically LINQ to XML with some classes derived from XSD to ensure that it conforms to the schema ...

Answer 4

I do not think this is really possible.

From MSDN (my attention):

The ADO.NET Entity Framework is designed so that developers can create data access applications by programming against a conceptual model of an application instead of directly programming against a relational storage scheme.

Answer 5

You can use the oledb connection with the FORXML team ... but you will not have all the functions available with other providers ...

Answer 6

• The problem is that you need file-based file storage? If so, you can use the SimpleDB data provider. SimpleDB is great if you need a relational database in a single file. MS Access is great for this.

• XML is for communication. If used for storage, it is incredibly inefficient. It is best to break down two tasks and store your data in a relational database, and then generate your XML from your data.