odac 11.2.0.4 xcopy install and connect to database in vs2012

Question

I had oracle 11.2.0.3 x32 that have odac with universal installer. After installing odac I could see oracle provider in Visual Studio 2012 Connect to Database window. Now with oracle 11.2.0.4 x64 after installing odac 64-bit ODAC 11.2 Release 5 (11.2.0.3.20) Xcopy for Windows (http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/windows/downloads/index-090165.html) I don't see oracle provider in Connect to database window of VS2012. I tried this:

install.bat all c:\odacpath odac

"where "odac" is the Oracle Home Name that was used at install time".

I changed odac to "\app\Admin\product\11.2.0\client_1", and "OraClient11g_home1", but this didn't help.

I need explanation how to do this right, maybe I have to set environment variables or do something else.

EDIT: I can't find odac with oracle developer tools for my version of oracle(11.2.0.4).

Answer 1

To be able to connect to an Oracle instance using Visual Studio's Database explorer\Data connections you need to install appropriate version of ODAC with Oracle Developer Tools. xCopy version of ODAC provides you only with Oracle Data Access Components. Also note, as Visual Studio Express does not support add-ins, you won't be able to use ODAC with ODT with express version of visual studio 2012.