Firebird DDEX Visual Studio 2010 "Unable to find the requested .Net Framework Data Provider. It may not be installed"

Question

I have been stuck for a number of days now with this problem. I see a lot of people have this problem and I have tried many things but am still unsuccessful. Please can someone help me.

I am running Windows 7 64bit, MS Visual Studio 2010, Firebird DDEX 2.0.5 and NetProvider 2.7.0.0. I have closely followed this stackoverflow question in conjunction with the ReadMe file supplied with DDEX and other articles online in trying to install everything. I have done the following:

1. Install NetProvider 2.7.0.0 to C:\Program Files (x86)\FirebirdClient.

2. Extract DDEX 2.0.5 files to C:\Program Files (x86)\FirebirdClientt.

3. Edited the registry file FirebirdDDEXProvider64 in C:\Program Files (x86)\FirebirdClient\reg_files\VS2010 so that the

   "CodeBase"="%Path%\FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.dll"

now reads

"CodeBase"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\FirebirdClient\\FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.dll"

and then I installed it.

4. I used gacutil.exe to install FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.dll and FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient.dll by doing the following:

   cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\FirebirdClient" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\bin\NETFX 4.0 Tools\gacutil.exe" /i FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.dll

   "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\bin\NETFX 4.0 Tools\gacutil.exe" /i FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient.dll

as per the instructions given in the question hyperlinked above ([here])2, except that I used gacutil.exe from Program Files (x86) instead of Program Files to install the FirebirdSql.VisualStudio.DataTools.dll as gacutil.exe doesn't exist in the normal program files directory. I did use the list function of gacutil.exe to see whether both files were installed correctly and to also record the PublicKeyFunction etc.

5. After much reading, I decided to adjust all four machine.config files. The paths to them are:

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\CONFIG\machine.config

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\Config\machine.config

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727\CONFIG\machine.config

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Config\machine.config

I copied the code from the DDEX readme and pasted it into the correct positions within the file and filled in the various parameters, accordingly. I did this bearing in mind that the runtime version number differs depending if I am adjusting the v2 or v4 machine.config files, also putting the correct parameters recorded from the gacutil.exe step above...i.e. version=2.7.0.0, culture=neutral, publickeytoken=3750abcc3150b00c. See below.

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\CONFIG\machine.config

<configuration>
    <configSections>
        <section name="firebirdsql.data.firebirdclient" type="System.Data.Common.DbProviderConfigurationHandler, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" />
        <section name="appSettings" type="System.Configuration.AppSettingsSection, System.Configuration, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" restartOnExternalChanges="false" requirePermission="false" />

and further down in the file

<system.data>
        <DbProviderFactories>
        <add name="FirebirdClient Data Provider" invariant="FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient" description=".Net Framework Data Provider for Firebird" type="FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient.FirebirdClientFactory, FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient, Version=2.7.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=3750abcc3150b00c" />
            <add name="Odbc Data Provider" invariant="System.Data.Odbc" description=".Net Framework Data Provider for Odbc" type="System.Data.Odbc.OdbcFactory, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" />
            <add name="OleDb Data Provider" invariant="System.Data.OleDb" description=".Net Framework Data Provider for OleDb" type="System.Data.OleDb.OleDbFactory, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" />
            <add name="OracleClient Data Provider" invariant="System.Data.OracleClient" description=".Net Framework Data Provider for Oracle" type="System.Data.OracleClient.OracleClientFactory, System.Data.OracleClient, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" />
            <add name="SqlClient Data Provider" invariant="System.Data.SqlClient" description=".Net Framework Data Provider for SqlServer" type="System.Data.SqlClient.SqlClientFactory, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" />
        </DbProviderFactories>
    </system.data>

(I pasted extra code in case it helps?)

similar for the v4 machine.config files, except here I had to adjust the DBProviderFactories section of the code as follows:

<configuration>
    <configSections>
        <section name="firebirdsql.data.firebirdclient" type="System.Data.Common.DbProviderConfigurationHandler, System.Data, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" />
        <section name="appSettings" type="System.Configuration.AppSettingsSection, System.Configuration, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" restartOnExternalChanges="false" requirePermission="false" />

and this was original machine.config code before:

 <system.data>
        <DbProviderFactories />
    </system.data>

and this is what I adjusted it to:

 <system.data>
        <DbProviderFactories>
            <add name="FirebirdClient Data Provider" invariant="FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient" description=".Net Framework Data Provider for Firebird" type="FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient.FirebirdClientFactory, FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient, Version=2.7.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=3750abcc3150b00c" />
        </DbProviderFactories>
    </system.data>

The same was true for the 64-bit V4 file.

When I open up MS Visual Studio 2010 and try add a connection, I can choose a Firebird Data Source and it lists the .Net Framework Data Provider for Firebird and I get the next window when continuing where I can enter the database registration parameters. However, when I press Test Connection (even if no data is entered) it says 'Test Connection Successful' and when I press OK I get the error 'Unable to find the requested .NET Framework Data Provider. It may not be installed.'

I am not sure what else to do. Everything I have read points me towards the machine.config files being incorrect, but I can't find the problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Try 3.0.0 from firebird website http://www.firebirdsql.org/en/net-provider/