To use the type provider you must first create a type alias.

In this declaration you are able to pass various pieces of information known as static parameters to initialize properties such as the connection string and database vendor type that you are connecting to.

In the following examples a SQLite database will be used. You can read in more detail about the available static parameters in other areas of the documentation.

type sql  = SqlDataProvider<
                Common.DatabaseProviderTypes.SQLITE,
                connectionString,
                SQLiteLibrary=Common.SQLiteLibrary.SystemDataSQLite,
                ResolutionPath = resolutionPath,
                CaseSensitivityChange = Common.CaseSensitivityChange.ORIGINAL
            >

Now we have a type sql that represents the SQLite database provided in the connectionString parameter. In order to start exploring the database's schema and reading its data, you create a DataContext value.

let ctx = sql.GetDataContext()

If you want to use non-literal connectionString at runtime (e.g. crypted production passwords), you can pass your runtime connectionString parameter to GetDataContext:

let connectionString2 = "(insert runtime connection here)"
let ctx2 = sql.GetDataContext connectionString2

When you press . on ctx, intellisense will display a list of properties representing the available tables and views within the database.

In the simplest case, you can treat these properties as sequences that can be enumerated.

let customers = ctx.Main.Customers |> Seq.toArray

This is the equivalent of executing a query that selects all rows and columns from the [main].[customers] table.

Notice the resulting type is an array of [Main].[Customers]Entity. These entities will contain properties relating to each column name from the table.

let firstCustomer = customers.[0]
let name = firstCustomer.ContactName

Each property is correctly typed depending on the database column definitions. In this example, firstCustomer.ContactName is a string.

Most of the databases support some kind of comments/descriptions/remarks to tables and columns for documentation purposes. These descriptions are fetched to tooltips for the tables and columns.

Constraints and Relationships

A typical relational database will have many connected tables and views through foreign key constraints. The SQL provider is able to show you these constraints on entities. They appear as properties named the same as the constraint in the database.

You can gain access to these child or parent entities by simply enumerating the property in question.

let orders = firstCustomer.``main.Orders by CustomerID`` |> Seq.toArray

orders now contains all the orders belonging to firstCustomer. You will see the orders type is an array of [Main].[Orders]Entity indicating the resulting entities are from the [main].[Orders] table in the database. If you hover over FK_Orders_0_0 intellisense will display information about the constraint in question including the names of the tables involved and the key names.

Behind the scenes the SQL provider has automatically constructed and executed a relevant query using the entity's primary key.

Basic Querying

The SQL provider supports LINQ queries using F#'s query expression syntax.

let customersQuery = 
    query { 
        for customer in ctx.Main.Customers do
            select customer
    }
    |> Seq.toArray

Support also async queries

let customersQueryAsync = 
    query { 
        for customer in ctx.Main.Customers do
            select customer
    }
    |> Seq.executeQueryAsync 

The above example is identical to the query that was executed when ctx.[main].[Customers] |> Seq.toArray was evaluated.

You can extend this basic query include to filter criteria by introducing one or more where clauses

let filteredQuery = 
    query { 
        for customer in ctx.Main.Customers do
            where (customer.ContactName = "John Smith")
            select customer
    }
    |> Seq.toArray

let multipleFilteredQuery = 
    query { 
        for customer in ctx.Main.Customers do
            where ((customer.ContactName = "John Smith" && customer.Country = "England") || customer.ContactName = "Joe Bloggs")
            select customer
    }
    |> Seq.toArray

The SQL provider will accept any level of nested complex conditional logic in the where clause.

To access related data, you can either enumerate directly over the constraint property of an entity, or you can perform an explicit join.

let automaticJoinQuery = 
    query { 
        for customer in ctx.Main.Customers do
            for order in customer.``main.Orders by CustomerID`` do
                where (customer.ContactName = "John Smith")
                select (customer, order)
    }
    |> Seq.toArray

let explicitJoinQuery = 
    query { 
        for customer in ctx.Main.Customers do
            join order in ctx.Main.Orders on (customer.CustomerId = order.CustomerId)
            where (customer.ContactName = "John Smith")
            select (customer, order)
    }
    |> Seq.toArray

Both of these queries have identical results, the only difference is that one requires explicit knowledge of which tables join where and how, and the other doesn't. You might have noticed the select expression has now changed to (customer, order). As you may expect, this will return an array of tuples where the first item is a [Main].[Customers]Entity and the second a [Main].[Orders]Entity. Often you will not be interested in selecting entire entities from the database. Changing the select expression to use the entities' properties will cause the SQL provider to select only the columns you have asked for, which is an important optimization.

let ordersQuery = 
    query { 
        for customer in ctx.Main.Customers do
            for order in customer.``main.Orders by CustomerID`` do
                where (customer.ContactName = "John Smith")
                select (customer.ContactName, order.OrderDate, order.ShipAddress)
    }
    |> Seq.toArray

The results of this query will return the name, order date and ship address only. By doing this you no longer have access to entity types. The SQL provider supports various other query keywords and features that you can read about elsewhere in this documentation.

Individuals

The SQL provider has the ability via intellisense to navigate the actual data held within a table or view. You can then bind that data as an entity to a value.

let BERGS = ctx.Main.Customers.Individuals.BERGS

Every table and view has an Individuals property. When you press dot on this property, intellisense will display a list of the data in that table, using whatever the primary key is as the text for each one. In this case, the primary key for [main].[Customers] is a string, and I have selected one named BERGS. You will see the resulting type is [main].[Customers]Entity.

The primary key is not usually very useful for identifying data however, so in addition to this you will see a series of properties named "As X" where X is the name of a column in the table. When you press . on one of these properties, the data is re-projected to you using both the primary key and the text of the column you have selected.

let christina = ctx.Main.Customers.Individuals.``As ContactName``.``BERGS, Christina Berglund``

DataContext

You should create and use one data context as long as it has the parameters you need. An example of when to use multiple data contexts is when you need to pass different connection strings to connect to different instances of the same database, e.g. to copy data between them.

The connection itself is not stored and reused with an instance of the data context. The data context creates a connection when you execute a query or when you call SubmitUpdates(). In terms of transactions, the data context object tracks (full) entities that were retrieved using it via queries or Individuals and manages their states. Upon calling SubmitUpdates(), all entities modified/created that belong to that data context are wrapped in a single transaction scope, and then a connection is created and thus enlisted into the transaction.

*#Important*: The database schema (SQLProvider's understanding of the structure of tables, columns, names, types, etc of your database - a "snapshot" if you will) is cached lazily while you use it.

What does that entail?

A. Once SQLProvider gets a "mental model" of your database (the schema), that is what is used for any intellisense/completion suggestions for the rest of your IDE session.

This is a fantastic feature, because it means that you're not assaulting your database with a 
new "What are you like?" query on EVERY SINGLE KEYSTROKE. 

But what if the database changes? SQLProvider will NOT see your change because it's source of truth is
that locally cached schema snapshot it took right when it started, and that snapshot will persist until
one of 2 things happens: 

1.  A restart of your Editor/IDE. 
    The database is queried right when SQLProvider starts up, so you 
    could certainly force a refresh by restarting. 
   
2.  Forced clearing of the local database schema cache.
    If SQLProvider is currently able to communicate with the database,
    you can force the local cache to clear, to be invalidated and refreshed by
    by using what are called `Design Time Commands`, specifically the 
    `ClearDatabaseSchemaCache` method. 
    
    You're probably thinking: "Ok, fine, that sounds good! How do I do that though?"
    
    Just as SQLProvider can interact at compile time with the structure of data in your 
    database through your editor's completion tooling 
    (intellisense, language server protocol completion suggestions, etc),
    you can also interact with SQLProvider at compile time the exact same way. 
    
    SQLProvider provides methods under the DataContext you get from your type alias, 
    and they actually show up as ``Design Time Commands`` in the completion. 
    
    Select that, and then "dot into" it afterwards, then under that is ClearDatabaseSchemaCache.
    Then after that typing in a "." will actualy RUN the command, thereby clearing the cache. 

B. LAZY evaluation means that where you save the database schema in your code matters. Do not call the "Design Time Command" SaveContextSchema at the top of your code. FSharp is evaluated top to bottom, and so if you call SaveContextSchema at the top, before you ask for specific columns in your code, you will not get a schema that reflects your needs.

sql.GetDataContext(cs).``Design Time Commands``.SaveContextSchema  // put a "." at the end to call the command at compile time.