Professional ASP Data Access

by James De Carli, Richard Anderson, Simon Robinson, Charles Fairchild, Rama Ramachandran, Joshua Parkin, Dino Esposito, Ulrich Schwanitz, Jason Hales, Kent Tegels, John Granade, Aaron Grady, Matthew Reynolds

Perfect Paperback: 1200 pages
Publisher: Wrox Press Inc
ISBN: 1861003927; 1st edition (October 2000)

Surely one of the larger computer books in the Wrox line, Professional ASP Data Access presents a wide-ranging tour of Microsoft technologies, centering on databases and Web development. It's a rich grab bag of information that will benefit anyone who needs to understand databases and other standards used with Visual Basic and/or C++.

Comprising 1,300 pages, the book provides a significant range of material on Microsoft-centered APIs, like ADO and OLE DB, COM+ and RDS, but it's the cross-vendor perspective that makes it even more valuable. For instance, when discussing database administration, you find out how to do it on SQL Server, Oracle, IBM DB2, and MySQL (a popular freeware database package). You also learn how to use database stored procedures and XML on Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM databases.

The real focus of Professional ASP Data Access is on demonstrating some of today's best practices for programming databases with Microsoft tools. This includes building three-tier Web applications that use database and business objects built in VB and/or Visual C++ ATL and COM+ for better scalability on the server with ASPs used to build browser-based front ends. There's also good coverage of beginning and advanced uses of SQL (including an excellent section on joins) and today's popular XML standard for delivering data between tiers. Many chapters look at newer Microsoft database standards, like OLE DB and UDA, plus coverage of SQL Server 2000 advances like data mining, natural language query capabilities, and other features. E-commerce is explained using a sample Web site that includes membership features. Throughout this title, you'll find plenty of screen shots for setting up and using the variety of tools under discussion (including screen shots for non-Microsoft tools).

Professional ASP Data Access will teach beginning to advanced readers databases from the ground up, and get them up to speed on the latest in Microsoft (and non-Microsoft) APIs and standards.

Topics in Professional ASP Data Access covered:
• History of databases
• Introduction to database design
• Normalization
• SQL tutorial (basics and joins)
• Stored procedures and triggers on SQL Server
• Oracle and DB2
• ODBC and ADO database standards
• OLE DB and Microsoft Universal Database Access (UDA)
• Creating an OLE DB provider in C++
• Tutorial to ADO database programming
• Connecting and retrieving records
• ADO and stored procedures
• Overview of Windows DNA (data, business, and user services)
• COM+
• Building COM+ components with VB and C++/ATL
• Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS)
• MSMQ and COM+ queued components
• ASP and user interface design for Web applications
• Database components (including building OLE DB components in VB)
• Tutorial for using major relational databases (SQL Server 2000, Oracle 8, IBM DB2, and MySQL)
• Nonrelational data sources
• Active Directory
• LDAP and ADSI
• NDS
• The Microsoft Indexing Server
• Internet publishing and WebDAV
• Exchange 2000 tutorial
• Connecting to legacy mainframe data (IBM SNA and Microsoft SNA Server and Host Immigration Server)
• XML tutorial
• XLST and style sheets (including Microsoft XSLISAPI)
• XML capabilities in SQL Server, Oracle and DB2
• Introduction and sample code for a simple e-commerce site (including personalization and security issues)
• Data shaping
• Multidimensional data and data mining in SQL Server 2000
• Remote Data Services (RDS)
• Advanced query support
• Performance and security tips
• Windows 2000 security
• Case studies for a Web-based reports application and using dynamic elements in a Web application

Book Description: With the advent of Universal Data Access from Microsoft, we see data being stored in a variety of places - mail systems, directory services, Internet services and so on. To build great Web applications you need to drive your site with data, in whatever form it takes. This means data access and manipulation on the server to bring dynamic content to the end user. A well-constructed site will not only access data, but also manage it efficiently. This is imperative to ensure users perceive the site well and that it scales to cope with increased numbers of users.

Active Server Pages, together with ADO and OLEDB, can bring about this access to a myriad of data stores. Existing data access technologies have concentrated on relational databases, but ADO now brings the benefits of semi-structured data. So not only can you provide fast access to existing stores of data, but you can also access data in a less structured form, such as mail messages, web pages, XML and so on.

From the Publisher: This book has been selected by the editors of Wrox Press to be part of the Wroxbase website. This book is aimed at those existing Web programmers, perhaps just becoming familiar with ASP, who want to take the next step of driving their site from some form of data store whether from a relational database, or from a less-structured form of data.

About the Author: James De Carli is an Associate Director with Imperium Solutions, a Connecticut-based Microsoft Solution Provider Partner where he specializes in the design and development of custom internet and client/server database systems.

Rama Ramachandran is the Director-Technology with Imperium Solutions, a Microsoft Solution Provider Partner. He is a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer who designs and develops custom web and desktop database applications. He has been developing using Visual Basic, Visual InterDev/ASP, Access, SQL Server and FoxPro. Rama has contributed numerous articles to Visual Basic Programmer's Journal and is the co-author of four Visual Basic books. Rama also teaches Visual Basic at the Fairfield University, CT and Web Application Design at University of CT, Stamford.

Customer Reviews
Wrox keeps getting worse., June 11, 2001
Reviewer: dunkonu from Bowling Green, KY United States
I was hoping this would be the sequel to the awesome beginners asp database book by John Kauffman. It was not even close. This book trys to cover so many platforms that it ends up not covering anything very well. The examples are terrible and confusion will set in after the second chapter. I have found that with Wrox books, if there is more than one person on the cover, then it will stink up the place.

ASP Data, December 4, 2000
Reviewer: Mr David W Schultz from Sterling Hts, MI USA
As a reviewer for this book I have read the book from cover to cover. The strong point about this book is that it covers many different aspects of data access. If you are somewhat new to ASP this book will show the ropes on ADO, XML and how to mix data from many different sources. If you are an experienced developer this book covers many areas that will interest you - data warehousing, the use of several different DB other than the very familiar SQL Server and non-realtional data sources. I have taken my copy of this book to work and everyone wants to borrow it.

Not bad for a Database programmer, December 3, 2000
Reviewer: ahmadm3 from Seattle , WA
My favorites were Section 5,7 and 8. The case studies were okay. Good cover on MTS and Novell Directory Services with ASP.

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