MySQL Bugs: #69768: MySql .Net 6.7.4 Connector now showing up in Machine.config files

Bug #69768	MySql .Net 6.7.4 Connector now showing up in Machine.config files
Submitted:	17 Jul 2013 19:40	Modified:	18 Jul 2013 15:44
Reporter:	Sean Callahan	Email Updates:
Status:	Duplicate	Impact on me:	None
Category:	Connector / NET	Severity:	S2 (Serious)
Version:	6.7.4	OS:	Windows
Assigned to:	Assigned Account	CPU Architecture:	Any

Description:
When installing this version of the connector, the connector is not being placed in the machine.config files for the .net framworks on a given computer. Because the installation is not adding them to the <DbProviderFactories> a specific word add-in is not recognizing that the connector is actually installed.

How to repeat:
Install the current framework from http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/net/
Then follow the file path C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Config or whichever file path works for you and open machine.config and find the section named <DbProviderFactories> and you will noticed the connector is not listed here.

Thanks for your bug report,

The workaround is to adding to the *.config file of your app this line inside 

<system.data>
  <DbProviderFactories>
      <add name="MySQL Data Provider" invariant="MySql.Data.MySqlClient" description=".Net Framework Data Provider for MySQL" type="MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlClientFactory, MySql.Data, Version=6.7.4.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c5687fc88969c44d" 
  </system.data>
</DbProviderFactories>

Removing the provider from DbProviderFactories was intentional for 6.7 (6.6 & 6.5 still have it). This due to the Visual Studio plugin now being responsible of adding DbProviderFactories setting.

Since then we have realized that this leads to inconsistencies (like user code invoking factory = DbProviderFactories.GetFactory("MySql.Data.MySqlClient");)
may return another version than the last installed with Connector/NET 6.7.x

We are working on a fix (but we also need to provide a complementary fix for "MySql for Visual Studio" plugin so is not broken with this fix).

This is a duplicate of http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=69760