Salesforce has become one of the largest Cloud based platforms for managing customer relations. So, it is not surprising that many developers are using its APIs to connect their applications with Salesforce data. Here is where dotConnect for Salesforce comes into play. It works as a Salesforce data provider for ADO.NET, while allowing access to data also through Entity Framework interface by using LINQ.
It allows developers to integrate Salesforce data management into .NET applications without learning advanced Web Services API provided by the Salesforce, saving them both time and effort. It comes with integrated local SQL engine, enabling developers to use SQL statements to query the data, while also extending the capabilities of Salesforce native language for querying data, called SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language).
In order to successfully connect to Salesforce, a Host, User Id, Password and Security Token will have to be provided. Working with the components is easy, as they come with various visual editors, and they can be also integrated into Visual Studio. They also come with included visual model designer for Entity Framework, and offer a support for standard Entity Data Model designer for Visual Studio.
In addition, dotConnect for Salesforce also supports SSIS Data Flow Source and Destination Components, with possibility to query data with both SOQL and SQL. To help you get started or in case you run into any troubles, there are tutorials available from the publisher's website, along with samples and help files provided with the installation.
Reviewed by Tony Hill (editor rating 4 out of 5 stars)