The dataProvider Element

Valid for Sitecore 5.2, 5.1.1

To be able to retrieve data, the database must be associated with one or more data providers. A data provider is a vendor specific implementation of a class that reads and writes data to a persistent medium. Examples of these include SQL Server, Oracle and Firebird.

The following definition will associate the 'myDB' database with an SQL Server specific data provider.

Usually the actual data provider configuration is kept in the <dataProviders> main section which is then referenced in the database definition. For example:

The definition of the referenced data provider is:

<dataProviders>
   <sqlserver type="Sitecore.Data.DataProviders.SqlServerDataProvider, Sitecore.SqlServer">
    <param ref="connections/$(1)"/>
   </sqlserver>
    ...
  </dataProviders>

The syntax '$(1)' refers the the 'param1' attribute in the reference. In turn, the '$(id)' in the 'param1' attribute refers to the 'id' attribute on the <database> element. The end result is that the value 'connections/$(1)' will be expanded to 'connections/myDB'.

The possible sub-elements of the <dataProvider> element depend on the type of data provider. For instance, the TemplateFileResolver supports a boolean property called AbortChain. To modify this value, you could write the following in web.config:

<dataProviders>
   <templatefile type="Sitecore.Data.DataProviders.TemplateFileResolver, Sitecore.Kernel">
     <param desc="template file">$(1)</param>

     <abortChain>true</abortChain>
   </templatefile>
   ...
  </dataProviders>

A chain is a string of data providers that serve a given database. When chaining data providers, it is often useful to enable and disable specific methods and method groups. The <dataProvider> tag accepts one or more <enable> or <disable> child tags. These can be used for turning specific methods on or off.

The tags support the wildcard character ('*'), which can be seen as a special method name that applies to all methods.

Example 1 - Disable all methods except GetItem and GetChildren:

<dataProvider ...>
<disable>*</disable>
<enable>GetItem</enable>
<enable>GetChildren</enable>
</dataProvider>

Example 2 - Disable the single method ChangeTemplate:

<dataProvider ...>
<disable>ChangeTemplate</disable>
</dataProvider>

To make working with groups of methods easier, a list of method groups have been added to the dataProviders/methodGroups section of web.config. These can be altered to suit specific cases. You may create new groups as desired.

The tags used when working with groups are <enableGroup> and <disableGroup>.

Example 3 - Disable all methods related to publishing:

<dataProvider ...>
<disableGroup>publishing</disableGroup>
</dataProvider>

Example 4 - Enable only methods related to reading items:

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