ASP.NET Web API OData 5.3 and 5.3.1 Beta- Features you’d surely want to know

By | January 23, 2015
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Over the years, ASP.NET Web API has served as a remarkable framework for introducing ease in building HTTP services which have the potential of reaching a broader group of clients including mobile devices and browsers. Every newly introduced version of ASP.NET Web API has been thoroughly embraced and appreciated by web developers residing in different corners of the world.ASP.NET WebAPI OData

Today, through this blog, I intend to share with you some useful insights on OData and information about the outstanding features of the fully-operational beta versions viz: 5.3 and 5.3.1 released for ASP.NET Web API OData.

To start off, let’s dig deeper into what exactly is OData

Released by Microsoft under the heading of Microsoft Open Specification Promise, OData (OpenData protocol) is basically a RESTful data access protocol that is currently available in active versions 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. It is this OData that renders you (the web developer) an amazing flexibility of manipulating data sets via the CRUD (Create, Read, Update and Delete) operations. Since the already popular ASP.NET Web API supports these two versions of the protocol, we have the term ASP.NET Web API OData.

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Now, let’s get to know the features available with the recently released 5.3 and 5.3.1 beta versions of ASP.NET Web API OData

  • Feature#1- Support for Open Entity Type

    Open entity type includes dynamic properties in addition to the ones that have already been included within the type definition. All in all, with support for open entity type, it becomes convenient for you to add an element of flexibility in your data models.

  • Feature #2- Major bug fixes

    Both these versions of ASP.NET Web API OData come loaded with major bug fixes, thereby enhancing the existing code functionality. Two of the most commonly encountered bugs that have been effectively fixed in these two recent releases include the ones mentioned below:

    • AllowedFunctions getting ignored on Queryable Call
    • Failure in updating Microsoft.OData.Core from version 6.4.0 to version 6.5.0

  • Feature#3- Support for Dynamic collection Property in Open Type

    As an extension to feature no.1, ASP.NET API OData 5.3 and 5.3.1 also offer support for a dynamic collection property which serves as an extension of an existing property. In simple words, while in previous versions of ASP.NET Web API OData, every dynamic property contained only a single value, the latest beta version 5.3 allows the dynamic properties to have multiple values.

  • Feature#4- Flexibility to use $levels in $expand

    Unlike the previous versions of ASP.NET Web API OData, the versions 5.3 and 5.3.1 allow you to use the $levels query utility in the $expand queries. That means, you’ll be required to view the entity relationship details available in the application for being able to identify the conceptual schema definition language.

  • Feature#5- Utilize Odata Core Libraries version 6.5.0 and 6.8.1

    With the new beta releases available for ASP.NET, you are free to use the core libraries which enable you to add innovative functionalities during execution of ASP.NET web development projects. Some of the leading features of these core libraries include the ones mentioned below:

    • ODataLib now comes with a utility of serializing and de-serializing unsigned integers
    • ODataLib now comes with a utility of using $count query on a collection of complex or primitive type
    • ODataLib now comes with a support of TypeDefinition
    • ODataLib and Odata Client for ASP.NET supports Windows Phone 8.1
    • OData Client for ASP.NET offers you the flexibility of altering the http method in the BuildingRequest event handler
    • ODataLib now supports the Capabilities.ChangeTracking annotation
    • ODataLib now comes with flexibility of renaming the client portable DLL from Microsoft.Data.Services.Client.Portable to Microsoft.Data.Services.Client
    • OData Client for ASP.NET Now uses a specific entity or collection of entities as an action parameter
    • OData Client for ASP.NET support Edm.TimeOfDay/Edm.Date

So that’s it for now from my side!

Wrapping it up
So, with that it’s a wrap on this post which allowed you to get a clearer picture of everything that has been introduced with the recently released versions of ASP.NET Web API OData 5.3 and 5.3.1. Here’s hoping by now you’d have got a better understanding of how these features can play a pivotal role in pacing up your .NET web development projects.

About the Author
Edward Jones holds an impressive amount of expertise in major CMS platforms including Drupal, WordPress, Joomla and Magento. Currently, he is employed with OSSMedia Ltd.- A Web Development Company. He holds an impressive amount of expertise in major CMS platforms including Drupal, WordPress, Joomla and Magento. You can go through his write-ups for gathering a greater insight into the popular CMSs available today. If you need to hire wordpress coder then simply get in touch with Edward via Twitter and Google+.

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