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Microsoft Azure Storage Client Library and Tooling Updates @ TechEd 2014

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Continuing our recent updates from TechEd, we are pleased to announce a number of updates and additions to our client libraries and tools.

Client Libraries

Java 1.0 – RTM Update

Java was our first language supported outside of .NET. We have continued to update and improve it since its initial release, to keep up with new service versions and respond to your feedback. We are now releasing version 1.0 of our Java library, and officially labeling it “RTM”, meaning it is ready for use in your production applications. The 1.0 version uses the 2014-02-14 version of our REST API, which is discussed more fully in this blog post. This library does not yet support the new Azure Files service – this will be supported in an update coming soon. You can get the 1.0 Java client library from GitHub or Maven.

Android 0.1 – New Preview

We are excited to release version 0.1 of our Android library, which uses the 2014-02-14 version of our REST API. This library is a preview, but will be actively updated going forward (including adding support for the Files API). Android developers may find our “Getting Started” docs for Java useful (Blobs, Tables, and Queues). The library itself is available on GitHub or Maven.

.NET 4.0 – Files support and Deprecation of WCF Data Services Table Layer

We are also releasing an update to our .NET client library. This client library supports the Files service, and uses the new 2014-02-14 REST API version. We also are marking the WCF Data Services-based Table layer as deprecated. We introduced a new, faster table layer in version 2.0 of our .NET library (read about it here) in the fall of 2012. User feedback has informed us that it is much preferred to the old layer, and our performance tests show it is much faster. As a result, we will be removing the older layer in a future release. This will reduce the dependencies for the library going forward and reduce confusion when new users begin using the library. 4.0 includes a new set of helpers for using Azure Storage Analytics, as well, which can be found in the Analytics namespace. These provide a set of methods which simplify the process of retrieving and viewing the information stored by analytics - making it easier to find specific logs in a certain time range or query specific metrics tables. You can get the new 4.0 version of our library on NuGet.

.NET 3.2.1 – Bug Fixes

While we encourage users to move forward to the 4.0 library above, we have also made an update to the 3.2 library to fix a pair of bugs. This library continues to use the 2013-08-15, like the previous 3.x versions, so this update includes no breaking changes from the 3.2 library. You can read about the changes in the change log on GitHub, and can get the library on NuGet.

Windows Phone and Windows Runtime RTM

Now included in the same NuGet package as the .NET 4.0 Client Library are the RTM versions of our libraries for Windows Phone and Windows Runtime. These libraries are now ready for use in your production applications. The previous preview package (3.2.0-preview on NuGet) is now no longer supported.

C++ 0.3 – Preview Update

Last fall, we released a new client library for C++. This week, we are releasing an update, version 0.3. It can be used with the new Storage Emulator 3.2, which supports RA-GRS behavior. And it contains a number of other new features, bug fixes, and performance improvements. See the change log on GitHub for details. The library can be downloaded from NuGet.

Still to come: iOS and Node.js

We also recently announced that iOS and Node.js libraries are coming this year. We’re hard at work, so please stay tuned to this blog for word on their release when they are ready.

Tools

Storage Emulator 3.2

We have released two updates to Storage Emulator recently. 3.1 was released last week, and supported RA-GRS behavior. 3.2 was released this week, and supports the new 2014-02-14 REST version, and associated new versioning behavior. It does not support the new Files service. See the blog post from 3.1 for instructions on how to install this update – the installation steps are the same.

AzCopy 2.4

AzCopy has been updated to support the new Files service. You can read more about it in the blog post about the Files service.

PowerShell

We’ve released a preview snap-in for managing your Files shares using PowerShell. It is further discussed in this blog post about the new Files service.

Conclusion

This is our largest single release of new tools and libraries ever, and we’re excited to be continuing to improve the developer experience when using Azure Storage. All of this is driven by your feedback, so please continue to give us feedback through one of the following

Jeff Irwin

Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 15, 2014
    Do you have a timeline for when Azure Storage from Universal apps will be available?

  • Anonymous
    August 18, 2014
    @Larry Leach, We are actively looking at adding support for Universal apps, though we do not have a timeline to share yet. You can track our releases on github to see when this support gets added. We do support creating Windows phone 8.1 Silverlight app and windows store app with out latest release.

  • Anonymous
    September 22, 2014
    Hi, I use Windows Phone 8.1 Silverlight and got this message. What should I do? Thanks This API is not supported for this application type - Api=CryptAcquireContextW. Module=advapi32.dll. File=Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Storage.dll.

  • Anonymous
    September 23, 2014
    @Vinh, are you using our latest SDK 4.3.0 posted on NuGet (www.nuget.org/.../WindowsAzure.Storage) as of this writing? If not, can you try that out and let us know if you still face this issue (along with basic repro steps)? Feel free to open an issue on github (github.com/.../issues) with details if this is still a problem.