You can use this page to understand what ECO means in MDriven documentation, especially when you work with legacy terminology or move an ECO-based .NET solution forward with MDriven.
ECO is short for Enterprise Core Objects. It was the former name used for the MDriven technology and its underlying .NET model-driven concepts. Current documentation and products use the name MDriven, but the term ECO remains in older documentation, code-oriented material, and component names.
What ECO means in MDriven
When you encounter ECO in MDriven material, read it as referring to the MDriven technology and its model-driven .NET foundation. For example, an article may describe an ECO runtime, ECO project, or ECO persistence mapper. These terms describe concepts used by MDriven rather than a separate product you must install.
| Term you may encounter | Meaning in the MDriven context |
|---|---|
| ECO | The former name for the MDriven technology; short for Enterprise Core Objects. |
| ECO runtime | The runtime services that work with model objects, including object loading, associations, transactions, undo/redo, and queries. See Documentation:MDriven Architecture. |
| ECO PersistenceMapper | The object-relational mapping layer that persists a UML model to a relational database and can evolve database scripts after model changes. See Documentation:MDriven Architecture. |
| ECO project / EcoSpace | Legacy terminology used in .NET-oriented documentation and examples for a model-driven project and its runtime context. |
| MDriven | The current product and technology name. |
For example, if an older article says that an ECO client uses a persistence mapper, the relevant current MDriven concept is still the model-driven runtime and persistence architecture described in Documentation:MDriven Architecture.
Platform scope
MDriven has always targeted .NET development and Visual Studio through MDriven Framework, as well as stand-alone modeling with MDriven Designer. MDriven has not targeted the Delphi development environment.
Use the current MDriven product and documentation names when starting new work. When maintaining an existing .NET solution that uses ECO terminology, retain the terminology where it is part of existing code or configuration and use the surrounding documentation to identify the corresponding MDriven concept.
Relationship to the CodeGear product named ECO
Borland/CodeGear also had a product named ECO that targeted the Delphi development environment. CodeGear discontinued that product when its focus changed to native development rather than .NET.
MDriven honors the API and general constructs of the CodeGear ECO technology and provides a transition path for developers who want to continue model-driven .NET development. MDriven AB, the owner of MDriven products, has no affiliation or ties to CodeGear.
Reading older ECO documentation
Older technical pages can use ECO names while describing capabilities that remain relevant to MDriven. Follow the terminology to the current concept rather than assuming that ECO identifies a different platform.
Examples include:
- Documentation:Using different WCF Bindings with Enterprise Core Objects – ECO – MDriven framework describes client-server communication terminology used by ECO-based .NET systems.
- Documentation:A few words on linq explains how ECO/MDriven objects can be queried with in-memory LINQ and how query expressions can be sent to persistence storage.
- Documentation:Using WECPOF in runtime uses ECO project and EcoSpace terminology in a runtime UI example.
- Documentation:EAL documents the Executable Action Language (EAL), which extends OCL with imperative actions for MDriven solutions.
Start with current MDriven documentation
If you are new to MDriven, begin with Documentation:GettingStarted. For the relationship between the model, generated code, runtime services, persistence, and user-interface support, read Documentation:MDriven Architecture.