ODAC 12c and Entity Framework 6

Question

Can anyone tell me if the Oracle Data Access Components 12c is compatible with Entity Framework 6? The Oracle website is a nightmare for documentation and cannot find any references on how to resolve this.

I have an existing project which I am trying to upgrade to ODAC 12c and EF6 but I'm getting the following error which I am struggling to resolve:

I created a fresh project to rule out any issues with my existing project and I get the same problem. I believe it to be an issue with the app.config file edited automatically by the Entity Framework Power Tools Beta 4 (Reverse Engineer Code First):

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Gasconade

After a couple of days research, I believe that EF6 was released after ODAC 12c, so ODAC 12c & 11.2 work with EF5 but not EF6. So now I need to rollback to EF5 I guess :( – Gasconade

ODAC 12c Release 2 is now available but I can't see any reference to whether it supports EF6: oracle.com/technetwork/topics/dotnet/utilsoft-086879.html – Gasconade

I also agree Oracle's documentation is a mess – Rampage

ODP.net 12 release 2 does not support EF6. Word they gave me via twitter was summer '14. – Halm

@Halm thanks for the update, can you link to the tweet? – Gasconade

twitter.com/OracleDOTNET/statuses/421165469681217536 – Halm

Another milestone missed. Here is a slide deck from a presentation on ODAC 12c Release 2 that says it would support EF 6. php.vncvr.ca/files/netbc/Oracle_NETBC_presentation.pdf – Slush

I also stumbled on the same assumption that the latest ODAC release was compatible. I was trying to set up a new EDMX through the wizard and before after setting up the connection it complains that the data provider can't work with EF6...ARRRRGGGHHH! – Imperil

12c R3 beta has been announced and sports EF6. See accepted answer below. – Gasconade

Answer 1

**Oracle Data Access Components 12c Release 3 Beta 2 ** ODAC 12c R3 is the first ODP.NET release to certify with Entity Framework (EF) 6 and EF Code First. http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/dotnet/whatsnew/index.html

Fellmonger

Thank you for posting the news on the new release. – Gasconade

Answer 2

Devart recently announced Oracle 12c support. You may want to consider using their provider instead.

Dianadiandra

This is a viable option as a paid 3rd party product. Can't understand why Oracle can get a faster iteration for their own product's support. – Honeysucker

Answer 3

The error you're receiving states that you didn't add a Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.Client to the providers tag.

Adding this will solve your problem:

<provider invariantName="Oracle.ManagedDataAccessClient"
                type="Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.Client.OracleClientFactory, Oracle.ManagedDataAccess, Version=4.121.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89b483f429c47342" />

but unfortunately will not work in the end due to lack of support for EF6 in ODAC 12c R2, as mentioned in the comments.

Gavage

Answer 4

In additional to add Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.Client provider to configuation/entityframework/providers tag.

<entityFramework>
<providers>
  <provider invariantName="Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.Client" type="Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.EntityFramework.EFOracleProviderServices,Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.EntityFramework, Version=6.121.2.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89b483f429c47342" /></providers></entityFramework>

You may need to add the following DbProviderFactories tag to configuration/ because Oracle installer forgets to add it to the machine.config

  <system.data>
<DbProviderFactories>
  <add name="ODP.NET, Managed Driver" invariant="Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.Client" description="Oracle Data Provider for .NET, Managed Driver"
      type="Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.Client.OracleClientFactory, Oracle.ManagedDataAccess, Version=4.121.2.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89b483f429c47342" />
</DbProviderFactories>

Deliciadelicious