SAP Sybase IQ .NET Data Provider Features

SAP Sybase IQ supports the Microsoft .NET Framework versions 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 through three distinct namespaces.

iAnywhere.Data.SQLAnywhere – The ADO.NET object model is an all-purpose data access model. ADO.NET components were designed to factor data access from data manipulation. There are two central components of ADO.NET that do this: the DataSet, and the .NET Framework data provider, which is a set of components including the Connection, Command, DataReader, and DataAdapter objects. SAP Sybase IQ includes a .NET Entity Framework Data Provider that communicates directly with an SAP Sybase IQ database server without adding the overhead of OLE DB or ODBC. The SAP Sybase IQ .NET Data provider is represented in the .NET namespace as iAnywhere.Data.SQLAnywhere.
The Microsoft .NET Compact Framework is the smart device development framework for Microsoft .NET. The SAP Sybase IQ.NET Compact Framework Data Provider supports devices running Windows Mobile. Compact Framework 2.0 and 3.5 are supported.

The SAP Sybase IQ .NET Data Provider namespace is described in this document.

To read more about how to access data stored inside an SAP Sybase IQ database using the ADO.NET object model, in particular via the Language Integrated Query (LINQ) to Entities methodology, see the SQL Anywhere and the ADO.NET Entity Framework white paper at www.sybase.com/detail?id=1060541.
System.Data.Oledb – This namespace supports OLE DB data sources. This namespace is an intrinsic part of the Microsoft .NET Framework. You can use System.Data.Oledb together with the SQL Anywhere OLE DB provider, SAOLEDB, to access SAP Sybase IQ databases.
System.Data.Odbc – This namespace supports ODBC data sources. This namespace is an intrinsic part of the Microsoft .NET Framework. You can use System.Data.Odbc together with the SQL Anywhere ODBC driver to access SAP Sybase IQ databases.

There are some key benefits to using the SAP Sybase IQ .NET Data Provider:

In the .NET environment, the SAP Sybase IQ .NET Data Provider provides native access to an SAP Sybase IQ database. Unlike the other supported providers, it communicates directly with an SAP Sybase IQ server and does not require bridge technology.
As a result, the SAP Sybase IQ .NET Data Provider is faster than the OLE DB and ODBC Data Providers. It is the recommended Data Provider for accessing SAP Sybase IQ databases.