About dotConnect for Zoho CRM

ADO.NET provider for Zoho CRM with Entity Framework support.

dotConnect for Zoho CRM is an ADO.NET provider for working with Zoho CRM data through the standard ADO.NET or Entity Framework interfaces. It allows you to easily integrate Zoho CRM data into your .NET applications, and integrate Zoho CRM services with widely used data-oriented technologies. dotConnect for Zoho CRM has the same standard ADO.NET classes as other standard ADO.NET providers: ZohoConnection, ZohoCommand, ZohoDataAdapter, ZohoDataReader, ZohoParameter, etc. This allows you quickly get started with it and eliminates the need to study any Zoho CRM data access specificities.

Work with Zoho CRM Data Easily - dotConnect for Zoho CRM makes it simple to create .NET applications, working with Zoho CRM data. It offers standard ADO.NET interface, and thus it's easy to master it. It's powerful design-time editors together with seamless Visual Studio integration allow you to work with Zoho CRM data with less efforts and less code writing.

Connecting to Zoho CRM from Server Explorer

  • Click Connect to Database on the Server Explorer toolbar
  • Change Data Source to Zoho CRM Data Source
  • Specify the login url to the data source, your Zoho CRM user id and password

That's all, now you can work with Zoho CRM data right in Visual Studio - select data from Zoho CRM entities and edit it.

Zoho CRM Data Binding

  • Build your data access layer without writing code manually.
  • Configure dotConnect for Zoho CRM components in powerful design-time editors.
  • Bind data grids and other controls to Zoho CRM data just by configuring the smart tags.
  • Work with Zoho CRM data just like with a database.

dotConnect for Zoho CRM allows you to perform SQL queries against your Zoho CRM data. Use SQL statements to work with Zoho CRM accounts, contacts, leads, contracts, products, campaigns opportunities, and other objects. The provider offers full CRUD (Create, Read, Update, and Delete) support and allows you to get Zoho CRM data with SELECT statements and manage data with INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements. No need to study and use complex Zoho CRM API, just use familiar SQL statements. You may use complex JOINs, WHERE conditions, etc. - all the SQL benefits, not available with Zoho CRM API.

Entity Framework Support - dotConnect for Zoho CRM allows you to access Zoho CRM data via Entity Framework - Microsoft's recommended data access technology. It supports Entity Framework v4, v5, v6, and Entity Framework Core, and enables you to use the following Entity Framework features with Zoho CRM data:

  • LINQ to Entities (no need for Zoho CRM API).
  • Entity relations with lazy/eager loading.
  • No need to post each edited/created object separately - a single SaveChanges() call to persist all the changed objects.

dotConnect for Zoho CRM provides enhanced Entity Framework support for Zoho CRM data with a bundled visual designer for ORM models with Visual Studio integration - Entity Developer. Standard Visual Studio Entity Data Model designer is also supported.