Znode Storefront uses NetTiers for it's data access layer. NetTiers is a set of open source code generation templates that simplify the tasks of creating customized Application Tiers for your Microsoft.Net applications in just a few minutes.

NetTiers utilizes the power of the best code generation tool available today, CodeSmith Tools. NetTiers generated architecture is custom to your domain, uses familiar patterns, and follows the guidance of Microsoft's recommended patterns and practices. In fact, the .netTiers base architecture is built upon the Microsoft Enterprise Library Application Blocks.

Get more information on NetTiers by going to http://www.nettiers.com/

1. Download NetTiers from http://www.nettiers.com/
2. Download the appropriate NetTiers configuration file from the links provided below.
3. Open the znode_nettiers_configuration.xml file in a text editor and replace "C:\ZnodeProjects\znodestorefront_framework" with your own path.
4. In the znode_nettiers_configuration.xml file replace Data Source=LOCALHOST\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=znodestorefront;user id=znodeuser;password=p@ssw0rd with your own database connection string.
5. Regenerate NetTiers.

The znode_nettiers_configuration.xml file is version dependent. Here are links to the various versions of Znode Storefront:

Version 4.4 - znode_nettiers_configuration.xml
Version 5.0 - znode_nettiers_configuration.xml

Example of a native data access method using Net Tiers:

This code snippet retrieves the list of Manufacturers from the Znode Storefront database:

ZNode.Libraries.DataAccess.Service.ManufacturerService _manufacturerAccess = new ManufacturerService();
TList<ZNode.Libraries.DataAccess.Entities.Manufacturer> _ManufacturerList = _manufacturerAccess.GetByPortalID(_portalID);