Installing Oracle Data Provider for .NET

When you install Oracle Data Provider for .NET, Oracle Universal Installer automatically registers ODP.NET with the Global Assembly Cache (GAC).

Additionally, Oracle Data Provider for .NET Dynamic Help is registered with Visual Studio .NET, providing context-sensitive online help that is seamlessly integrated with Visual Studio .NET Dynamic Help. With Dynamic Help, the user can access ODP.NET documentation within the Visual Studio .NET IDE by placing the cursor on an ODP.NET keyword and pressing the F1 function key.

Oracle Data Provider for .NET creates an entry in the machine.config file of the computer on which it is installed, for applications using ADO.NET 2.0 and OracleClientFactory class. This enables the DbProviderFactories class to recognize ODP.NET.