The Entity Provider for Teradata supports the Entity Framework 3.5 and Teradata Database versions that are 12.0 and later.
An Entity Provider works within the ADO.NET Entity Framework. It is invoked by the Entity Framework when a LINQ to Entities or Entity Sql statement is processed. It enables an application to retrieve data by programming against a conceptual application model that is described in an Entity Data Model (EDM) instead of programming directly against a relational storage schema. The EDM is created using Visual Studio and the Entity Framework. For more information, refer to How to: Create a New Entity Data Model in MSDN.
The objects that define an EDM are as follows:
Information about these three items are located at: Schemas and Mapping Specification.
The Entity Provider for Teradata enables a SSDL of the EDM to be created that is specific to Teradata and enables an application to use the ADO.NET Entity Framework to access a Teradata Advanced SQL Engine. This is performed by using the EDM Wizard that is contained in Visual Studio. For the EDM Wizard to work with the Entity Provider for Teradata, the Visual Studio Integration component must be installed. The EDM Wizard also relies on the SchemaInformation mapping described in Entity Provider Schema Information to generate the EDM. While working in the EDM Wizard, problems may be seen as discussed in Restrictions of Visual Studio Entity Data Model Wizard.
The Entity Provider for Teradata is invoked by the Entity Framework to also generate SQL statements that can be executed by Teradata that correspond to the LINQ to Entities or Entity SQL statements contained in an application. When Entity Framework processes a statement, information about the statement is passed to the Entity Provider. The Entity Provider analyzes this information and generates a SQL statement that is then executed by the SQL Engine.
The Entity Framework is affected by the Advanced SQL Engine limitations and restrictions when querying for data. These items are discussed in Restrictions using the Entity Provider.
For details regarding the ADO.NET Entity Framework, please refer to MSDN.