A Rich Set of Tools

Every time you assess a set of data, you need a detailed view of its data to determine whether it suits your application. In the Windows Azure Marketplace, you can build queries easily using the Service Explorer. A web-based user interface, the Service Explorer lets you preview results in your browser—including what data is included and how it is structured—before your developers write a single line of code. The Service Explorer is incredibly useful for developers who build cross-platform applications because it creates URLs that they can copy and paste into their application code to call the data service. Developers can use existing OData client libraries and in some cases get additional pre-built proxy classes to import into their Microsoft Visual Studio® projects. Developers also get full Microsoft IntelliSense® support and a simple API to work with. The secure REST based OData APIs provide an abstraction over where the data resides—whether it’s a remote web service, a blob store, a rich SQL database, or content in the Azure platform.

The Service Explorer also works well for information workers. For instance, they can download a PowerPivot file that enables rich data analysis within Excel. (ЛИНА)