MySQL Connector/Net 6.1.2 GA has been released

[Reggie Burnett]

MySQL Connector/Net 6.1.2, a new version of the all-managed .NET driver 
for MySQL has been released. This is our latest GA release and is 
suitable for use in all scenarios against servers ranging from version 
4.1 to 5.4!

It is now available in source and binary form from 
[http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/net/6.1.html] and mirror sites 
(note that not all mirror sites may be up to date at this point of time 
- if you can't find this version on some mirror, please try again later 
or choose another download site.)

This release introduces a couple of exciting new features.

Website Configuration Dialog -- This is a new wizard that is activated 
by clicking a button on the toolbar at the top of the solution explorer. 
It is meant to work in conjunction with the ASP.Net administration 
pages.  It makes it easier to activate and set advanced options for the 
different web providers we include.

Session State Provider -- We are now including a session state provider 
that allows you to store your websites state in a MySql server.

Support for native output parameters -- With this release we now support 
native output parameters when connected to a server that supports them. 
Currently we know that includes 6.0.8 and later servers.  It also will 
include 5.4 servers.

Changed GUID type -- We have changed our backend representation of a 
guid type to be CHAR(36).  We are doing this because we feel users will 
want to use the server UUID() function to populate a guid table and UUID 
generates a 36 character string.  Developers of older applications can 
add 'old guids=true' to the connection string and the old binary(16) 
type will be used.

This release also includes a slew of bug fixes made to the 5.2 and 6.0 
trees.  Please check the release notes and change log for a complete 
list of those changes.

Please let us know what else we broke and how we can make it better!