VS2005 RTM compatibility – When?

Serious · Post by **Serious** » Fri 25 Nov 2005 16:54

Why you cannot use MySQLDirect .NET 3.20?

We'll fix any critical bugs in MySQLDirect .NET 2.80, but we'll not add new features for it. Support for .NET Framework 2 Final is the new feature in MySQLDirect .NET 3.20, it requires a lot of changes.

FransBouma · Post by **FransBouma** » Fri 25 Nov 2005 17:28

Serious wrote:Why you cannot use MySQLDirect .NET 3.20?

We'll fix any critical bugs in MySQLDirect .NET 2.80, but we'll not add new features for it. Support for .NET Framework 2 Final is the new feature in MySQLDirect .NET 3.20, it requires a lot of changes.

The main problem is that if we build our code against 3.2, all our customers also have to upgrade to 3.2, because of the version change in the reference to the crlab mysql provider. This means that they have to pay for a new license.

I was under the impression that 2.80 would get a .NET 2.0 version as well, because it has a .NET 2.0 version for Beta2! :/

shutterstock · Post by **shutterstock** » Fri 25 Nov 2005 23:21

FransBouma wrote:
Serious wrote:Why you cannot use MySQLDirect .NET 3.20?

We'll fix any critical bugs in MySQLDirect .NET 2.80, but we'll not add new features for it. Support for .NET Framework 2 Final is the new feature in MySQLDirect .NET 3.20, it requires a lot of changes.
The main problem is that if we build our code against 3.2, all our customers also have to upgrade to 3.2, because of the version change in the reference to the crlab mysql provider. This means that they have to pay for a new license.

I was under the impression that 2.80 would get a .NET 2.0 version as well, because it has a .NET 2.0 version for Beta2! :/

Can you not distribute the new runtime each time? I was under the impression that the runtime is free to distribute - but the developer license needs to be paid for and upgraded.

FransBouma · Post by **FransBouma** » Sat 26 Nov 2005 10:10

shutterstock wrote:
FransBouma wrote:
Serious wrote:Why you cannot use MySQLDirect .NET 3.20?

We'll fix any critical bugs in MySQLDirect .NET 2.80, but we'll not add new features for it. Support for .NET Framework 2 Final is the new feature in MySQLDirect .NET 3.20, it requires a lot of changes.
The main problem is that if we build our code against 3.2, all our customers also have to upgrade to 3.2, because of the version change in the reference to the crlab mysql provider. This means that they have to pay for a new license.

I was under the impression that 2.80 would get a .NET 2.0 version as well, because it has a .NET 2.0 version for Beta2! :/
Can you not distribute the new runtime each time? I was under the impression that the runtime is free to distribute - but the developer license needs to be paid for and upgraded.

We make developer software (LLBLGen Pro, an O/R mapper for .NET) and therefore our customer is a developer as well and has to pay for a license, at least that's what I understood from the EULA. So if we compile our runtime libraries against 3.2, our customers which have a license for 2.80 can't use it, because they have to reference 3.2 in their solutions. I don't think we can distribute the 3.2 provider assembly in this situation. So, we compile against 2.80, and customers which have 2.80 can use it and customers which have 3.2 can also use it due to the policy file in the GAC.

If CoreLab can assure us we can distribute the 3.2 assembly (which I truly doubt, it will make them lose money) it's another ballgame, but till then we're stuck.

We also can't swap to MySql's own provider because that one is GPL-ed. If we purchase a license from them, $260 per developer or so, we can use it but if our customers use the GPL-ed version, our code is in-memory dynamically linked with GPL-ed stuff, which violates the GPL license, and is the reason we don't use GPL-ed software. MySql's lawyers have never been able to answer this question, it's always a fuzzy story without a clear answer, so we don't use MySql's own provider.

So it's a problem and not only for us but also for our customers. I don't want to be the one who forces them to pay up for another round of CoreLab licenses.

The main thing is that 2.80 uptil now has a .NET 2.0 beta2 version, so I assumed 2.80 was fine for .NET 2.0. Apparently since Beta2, 2.80 lacks a feature and can't be used with .NET 2.0 RTM (which is true, you get odd method errors at runtime) and .NET 2.0 RTM has changed that much that it's not possible to fix it. Again, I don't mind paying the new license fee for 3.2, but if I do so, our customers who use mysql have to do that too.

FransBouma · Post by **FransBouma** » Wed 30 Nov 2005 10:00

Any news?

FransBouma · Post by **FransBouma** » Thu 15 Dec 2005 10:36

I must say I'm really dissapointed by the threatment I get from you. You simply refuse to answer my questions, while you've got numerous sales because of our customers requiring your provider because we use it in our O/R mapper.

We're currently at the point whether we should continue with CoreLab's provider or not. I have to say, your refusal to answer my questions above doesn't help you in that decision. You may think light of this, that's up to you, but we're one of the market leading data-access products for .NET, and not a small player.

Devart · Post by **Devart** » Thu 15 Dec 2005 22:52

Sorry for not answering you in time. Unfortunately our system of processing forum messages haven't worked properly and our support staff wasn't able to see your posts from November 26 and 30.

Our policy of supporting old versions assumes only bugs fixing but not implementation of new functionality or any architectural changes. Unfortunately .NET 2.0 Final and especially Visual Studio 2005 Final have a lot of differences from Beta 2. During last month we were hardly busy by supporting them in version 3.20. These changes mostly concern design-time abilities and especially for Professional edition.
We implemented support of .NET 2 and VS.NET Beta more than year ago in version 2.70, version 3.0 had been current more that five months. Development of MySQLDirect .NET goes by its pace and we cannot support all Microsoft innovations in old versions. Nevertheless we do so if to speak about insignificant changes but integration with VS 2005 Final is quite large part of the work. Please note that users don't have to pay for new licenses it is only necessary to upgrade version 2.80.
Moreover there is a possibility to use run-time and design-time assemblies compiled for .NET 1.x version 2.80. This way doesn't allow to integrate into VS 2005 but it is quite working. Have you considered this possibility?
As I see the main reason of your dissatisfaction is not in our licensing policy or supporting but particularly in technical problem related with creating references to our assemblies for different versions. As this question is quite specific suggest to pass further discussion for email.

Once more would like to note that MySQLDirect .NET is licensed per a developer and EULA allows to deploy MySQLDirect
run-time assemblies only with compiled by licence owner executable applications.

Best regards,
Dmitry