can not add System.Data.Linq reference in windows phone 8.1

Question

I am unable to add System.Data.Linq reference from the add reference in the System.Data.Linq Visual Studio 2013 update 2. This reference is not shown, it says that all the available references have been added. But when I import System.Data.Linq and System.Data.Linq.Mapping, it shows if I am missing a reference or an assembly.

Answer 1

Unfortunately the entire System.Data namespace is unavailable to the new non-Silverlight Windows Phone Apps. This is because SQL CE has not been made available to the Windows Runtime. So we have to find our own database implementation to store structured data locally on the phone.

SQLite is highly recommended as an alternative. It should be possible to use it like SQL CE, including using LINQ syntax.

Alternatively, you can make a "Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1 app". The Silverlight runtime is still available for Windows Phone 8.1 and SQL CE is still available from Silverlight. We just can't be 100% sure if Silverlight will be supported on Windows Phone 8.2/8.3/9.0/...