Program ming Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 with Microsoft Visual Basic® .NET Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction Who’s the Book For? What’s Special About This Book? How’s the Book Organized? System Requirem ents Sam ple Files Support 1. Getting Started with Visual Basic .NET for SQL Server 2000 Visual Studio .NET, the Visual Basic .NET IDE An Overview of ADO.NET Capabilities A Starter ADO.NET Sam ple Using Query Analyzer 2. Tables and Data Types Chapter Resources Data Types for Tables Scripting Tables 3. Program ming Data Access with T-SQL Introduction to Data Access with T-SQL Aggregating and Grouping Rows Processing Dates Joins and Subqueries 4. Program ming Views and Stored Procedures Introduction to Views Creating and Using Views Views for Remote and Heterogeneous Sources Introduction to Stored Procedures Creating and Using Stored Procedures Processing St ored Procedure Outputs Inserting, Updating, and Deleting Rows Programming Conditional Result Sets 5. Program ming User-Defined Functions and Triggers Introduction to User-Defined Functions Creating and I nvoking Scalar UDFs Creating and I nvoking Table-Valued UDFs Introduction to Triggers Creating and Managing Triggers 6. SQL Server 2000 XML Functionality Overview of XML Support XML Formats and Schemas URL Access to SQL Server Template Access to SQL Server 7. SQL Server 2000 Security Overview of SQL Server Security Introduction to Special Security Issues Sam ples for Logins and Users Sam ples for Assigning Permissions 8. Overview of the .NET Fram ework An I ntroduction to the .NET Framework An Overview of ASP.NET XML Web Services 9. Creating Windows Applications Gett ing Started with Windows Form s Creating and Using Class References Inheriting Classes Programming Events Exception Handling for Run-Time Errors 10. Program ming Windows Solutions with ADO.NET An Overview of ADO.NET Obj ects Making Connections Working with Command and DataReader Objects DataAdapters , Data Sets, Forms, and Form Controls Modifying, Inserting, and Deleting Rows 11. Program ming ASP.NET Solutions Review of ASP.NET Design Issues Creating and Running ASP.NET Solutions Session State Managem ent Data on Web Pages Validating the Data on a Web Page 12. Managing XML with Visual Basic .NET SQL Server Web Releases Overview of XML Technologies Generating XML Documents with t he .NET Framework Dynamically Setting an XML Result Set The Interplay Between XML and Data Sets Creating HTML Pages with XSLT 13. Creating Solutions with XML Web Services Overview of Web services A Web Service t o Ret urn a Comput ed Result A Web Service t o Ret urn Values from Tables The SQL Server 2000 Web Services Toolkit More on Populating Controls with Web Services About the Author Forew ord During m y five years at Microsoft, I ’ve been helping developers understand technologies such as Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft Office Developer. During the past two years, I have worked on the Microsoft Office XP Visual Basic Language Reference, and now, the MSDN Office Developer Center. In the monthly colum n on MSDN, Office Talk, I have written articles to help Office developers understand the .NET platform and how it affects their current and future development efforts. As I write this foreword to Rick Dobson’s book on programming Microsoft SQL Server solutions with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, I think back to m y own experiences developing software applications with Visual Basic. My first experience with Visual Basic was learning the language using version 3.0. I rem ember picking up my first Visual Basic beginner’s book and being excited as I developed my first few “Hello, World” applications. I couldn’t believe how quick and easy it was to develop software applications that operated sim ilarly to other popular shareware program s of that tim e. However, during that tim e I also discovered som e of the shortcom ings of Visual Basic as an ent erprise-level development language. I t was then that I turned m y attention to C+ + . I remember being very frustrated at trying to learn the language, trying to understand concepts such as pointers, memory allocation, and true object-oriented programm ing. I took classes on C+ + at the local university, but I got even m ore frustrated having to wait months until I was taught how to create the sim plest Microsoft Windows form , something I did in just a couple of m inutes using Visual Basic. In my frustration, I gave up trying to learn C+ + and have been using Visual Basic to develop software applications ever since. As each new version of Visual Basic was released, I readied myself to learn new software development technologies. First it was ActiveX control development. Then it was calling the Windows API. Next it was DHTML Applications. Then it was database developm ent using Microsoft SQL Server. It always seem ed as though I had to learn a new language and a new development paradigm for every new technology that cam e along. I kept thinking that there had to be an easier and more unified approach. Well, now we’ve reached the advent of the Microsoft .NET platform, and with it, a revolution in t he Visual Basic language, Microsoft Visual Basic .NET. I believe that Visual Basic .NET will provide software developers with new opportunities for quickly and easily designing integrated software applications that connect businesses and individuals anytime, anywhere, and on virtually any software device. With advances in the Visual Basic .NET language, Visual Basic .NET developers will finally be on a par with their C+ + and C# counterparts, participating in m any high-end development projects. With Visual Studio .NET features such as cross-language debugging, along with Visual Basic .NET conformance to the com mon type system and the com mon language runtim e, organizations can drive down their development costs by tapping into the wide range of skills that Visual Basic .NET developers now possess. True object-oriented programming is now available in Visual Basic .NET, including features such as inheritance and method overloading. I t’s now sim pler to call the Windows API by using the .NET Fram ework Class Libraries. Web application development is now as easy as developing Windows form s–based applications. Database application development is made easier by uniting disparate data object libraries such as DAO, RDO, OLE DB, and ADO under ADO.NET, ut ilizing the power of XML to consum e and transmit relational data over computer networks. And a new technology, XML Web services, allows Visual Basic .NET developers to host their software applications’ logic over the Web. Additionally, a big issue for software developers today is that of software application deploym ent and versioning. I f you don’t agree, j ust ask any software developer about “DLL hell,” and you’re bound to get an earful. For many .NET applications, the .NET platform features “copy and paste” or XCOPY deploym ent. (Users simply copy your application files from the source media to any single directory and run the application.) And because .NET no longer relies on the registry, virtually all DLL compatibility issues go away. With this book, Rick aim s to give you t he skills you need to program SQL Server solutions with Visual Basic .NET. I know you will find Rick’s book helpful. Rick brings his experience to bear from three previous books: Programm ing Microsoft Access Version 2002 (Microsoft Press, 2001), Program m ing Microsoft Access 2000 (Microsoft Press, 1999), and Professional SQL Server Development with Access 2000 (Wrox Press Inc., 2000). Rick also brings his experience of leading a successful nationwide sem inar tour. More im portant, I know you will enjoy Rick’s book because of his deep interest in Visual Basic .NET and SQL Server, and in helping you, the professional developer, understand and apply these technologies in your daily software application development projects. Paul Cornell MSDN Office Developer Center http: / / msdn.microsoft.com/ officeMicrosoft Corporat ion February 2002 Acknow ledgm ent s This section offers m e a chance to say thank you to all who helped make this book possible. I wish to offer special recognition to five support resources. First, the folks at Microsoft Press have been fantastic. Dave Clark, an acquisitions editor, selected me to write the book just months after I com pleted anot her book for Microsoft Press. Dick Brown, my project editor, staunchly stood up for his perception of how to make the book’s organization and content clear to you without being petty or boring to m e. Dick also lightened my load substantially by showing a real knack for editing my text without distorting the original intent. When Dick was especially busy, he handed off some of his load to Jean Ross, who also did an admirable job. Others at Microsoft Press who contributed to my well- being in one way or another include Aaron Lavin and Anne Hamilton. Second, I had excellent working relations with several professionals within Microsoft. Paul Cornell, a widely known technical editor at Microsoft, was kind enough to share his insights on how to present .NET concepts com pellingly. I want to thank Paul especially for writ ing the Foreword to this book. Karthik Ravindran served as the MSXML Beta Product Lead Engineer at Microsoft Product Support Services during the t im e that I wrote this book. He provided valuable technical content about the SQL Server 2000 Web releases. Other Microsoft representatives providing moral and technical support for this book include Richard Waym ire and Jan Shanahan. Third, I want to express my appreciation to the many readers, sem inar attendees, and site visitors who took the time to tell m e what I did right or wrong for them, and also to those who shared their technical support questions with m e. It is through this kind of feedback that I am able to know what’s important to practicing developers. I encourage you to visit my m ain Web site (http: / / www.program mingmsaccess.com) and sign the guest book. The entry form includes space for you to leave your evaluation of this book or your question about a topic covered in the book. I prom ise to do my best to reply personally. I n any event, I definitely read all m essages and use them so that I can serve you better with future edit ions of this, and other, books. Fourth, I want t o tell the world how grateful I am to my wife, Virginia. Without Virginia’s warm support, love, and care, this book would be less professional. She relieves me of nearly every responsibility around the house when I undertake a book project. In addition, she offers strategic advice on the issues to address and their style of coverage. When I run out of tim e, she even pitches in with the proofreading. Fifth, it is important for me to give praise and glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who I believe gave me the strengt h and wisdom to write this book. I n addition, He gave me health during the long gestation period that resulted in the birth of this book. It is my prayer that the book prove to be a blessing to you. I ntroduct ion Anyone who buys a book—or considers buying it—wants to know who the book is for, what sets it apart from others like it, and how the book is organized. This introduction covers those three questions, and it also discusses system requirem ents, sample files, and support. • First , w ho is the book for? There are at least two answers to t his question. One answer is that the book targets professional developers (and others aspiring to be professional developers). The second group the book addresses is those w ho want to build full- featured, secure SQL Server solutions with Visual Basic .NET. • Second, w hat’s special a bout t h e book? I hope you com e to believe that the m ost important answer to this question is that the book considered quality and depth of coverage m ore im portant than rushing to m arket. The book will arrive on bookshelves more than three months after the official release of the .NET Framework. It is my wish that you derive value from the extra tim e taken to develop the many code samples and the in-depth discussions of advanced topics, such as class inheritance, ASP.NET, and XML Web services. • Th ird, h ow is the b ook organiz e d? The short answer is that there are two main sections. One section introduces SQL Server concepts as it dem onstrates T- SQL (Transact SQL) program ming techniques. After conveying SQL Server basic building blocks in the first part, the second part reveals how t o put those parts together with Visual Basic .NET and related t echnologies into SQL Server solutions for handling com mon database chores. The three support item s include a brief description of the book’s companion CD and how to use it, Microsoft Press Support Information for this book, and a summ ary of system and software requirem ents for the sam ple code presented in the book. W ho’s t he Book For ? This book targets professional Visual Basic and Visual Basic for Applications developers. From my seminar tours and Web sites (http: / / www.program mingmsaccess.com and http: / / www.cabinc.net), I know that these professionals are driven by a passion to deliver solutions to their clients through applying the most innovative technologies their clients will accept. In-house developers are the go-to persons for getting results fast— particularly for custom in-house systems and databases. I ndependent developers specialize in serving niche situations that can include under-served business needs and work overflows. I n both cases, these professionals need training materials that address practical business requirem ents while showcasing innovative technologies without wasting their tim e. This book strives to serve this broad need in two specific areas. This book is for developers looking for code sam ples and step-by-step instructions for building SQL Server 2000 solutions with Visual Basic .NET. The book focuses on the integration of SQL Server 2000 with .NET technologies tapped via Visual Basic .NET. It is my firm belief that you cannot create great SQL Server solutions in any programming language without knowing SQL Server. Therefore, this book goes beyond t raditional coverage of SQL Server for Visual Basic developers. You’ll learn T-SQL program ming techniques for data access, data manipulation, and data definition. A whole chapter equips you to secure your SQL Server solutions. In addition, there’s plenty of content in this book on Visual Basic .NET and relat ed technologies, such as ADO.NET, ASP.NET, XML (Extensible Markup Language), and XML Web services. The presentation of t hese technologies demonstrates coding techniques and explores concepts that equip you to build better solutions with SQL Server 2000 databases. I n addition, the book highlights innovations introduced through the Web releases for SQL Server 2000 that integrate SQL Server 2000 tightly with Visual Basic .NET. This isn’t a book about XML, but three of t he book’s 13 chapters focus in whole or in part on XML. Therefore, those seeking practical dem onstrations of how to use XML wit h SQL Server and Visual Basic .NET will derive value from this book. I f you have looked at any of the com puter magazines over the past couple of years, you know that XML is coming to a solution near you. However, the rapid pace of XML innovat ion may have dissuaded some from jumping on the bandwagon while they wait to see what’s going to last and what’s just a fad. I n the book’s three chapters on XML technology, you’ll learn about XML documents, fragments, and formatting as well as related technologies, such as XPath (XML Path Language) queries, XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transform ation), and WSDL (Web Services Description Language). W hat ’s Special About This Book? There are several features that make this book stand apart from the flood of books on .NET. One of the m ost im portant of these is that this book didn’t rush to market but rather shipped m onths after t he release of the .NET Framework. This allowed me enough time to filter, exam ine, and uncover what were the most useful and innovative features for Visual Basic .NET developers building SQL Server solutions. For exam ple, the book includes a whole chapter on creating solutions with XML Web services. That chapter includes two major sections on the SQL Server 2000 Web Services Toolkit, which didn’t ship until the day of the .NET Framework release. The .NET Fram ework content is at a professional level, but it isn’t just for techies. This book doesn’t assume any prior knowledge of the .NET Framework. I t does assume that you get paid for building solutions programmatically and that at least some of those solutions are for SQL Server databases. Therefore, the book explains basic .NET concepts and dem onstrates how to achieve practical results with those concepts through a huge collection of .NET code samples. This book is about building solutions for SQL Server 2000. I include coverage of the many special feat ures that tie Visual Basic .NET and SQL Server 2000 closely to one another. Although there is coverage of general .NET database techniques, this book dives deeply into T-SQL programming techniques so that you can create your own custom database objects, such as tables, stored procedures, views, triggers, and user-defined functions. I n addition, there is separate coverage of the XML features released wit h SQL Server 2000 as well as separat e coverage of the XML features in the first three Web releases that shipped for SQL Server 2000. There are numerous code sam ples throughout t he book. These will equip you to build solutions with Visual Basic .NET, T-SQL, and combinations of the two. Finally, this book is special because of the unique experiences of its author, Rick Dobson. I have trained professional developers in Australia, England, Canada, and throughout the United States. This is my fourth book in four years, and you can find my articles in popular publications and Web sites, such as SQL Server Magazine and MSDN Online. As a Webmaster, m y main site (http: / / www.program mingmsaccess.com) serves hundreds of thousands of sessions to developers each year. I constantly examine their viewing habits at the site to determine what interests them. In addition, m y site features scores of answers to technical support questions subm itted by professional developers. My goal in offering answers to these questions is to stay in touch with practicing developers worldwide so that my new books address the needs of practicing, professional developers. How ’s the Book Organized? There are two main parts to this book tied together by an introductory part. Part II , the first main part, dwells on SQL Server techniques. Part II I builds on the SQL Server background as it lays a firm foundation in .NET techniques for Visual Basic .NET developers. Part I, the introductory part, demonstrates ways to use SQL Server and Visual Basic .NET together. Part I , I nt roduct ion Part I, which includes only Chapter 1, has three main goals. First, it acquaints you with the basics of Visual Basic .NET within Visual Studio .NET. You can think of Visual Basic .NET as a major upgrade to the Visual Basic 5 or 6 that you are probably using currently. This first section introduces som e concepts that you will find useful as you initially learn the landscape of Visual Basic .NET. The second goal of Chapter 1 is to introduce ADO.NET. If you think of Visual Basic .NET as a major upgrade to Visual Basic 6, ADO.NET is more like a major overhaul of ADO. In two sections, you get an introduction to ADO.NET classes— particularly as they relate to SQL Server— and you get a chance to see a couple of beginner sam ples of how to create SQL Server solutions with Visual Basic .NET and ADO.NET. The third goal of the introductory part is to expose you to Query Analyzer. This is a SQL Server client tool that ships with all commercial editions of SQL Server 2000. You can think of it as an I DE for T-SQL code. Most of the book’s first part relies heavily on T-SQL, and therefore having a convenient environment for debugging and running T-SQL code is helpful. The final section of Chapter 1 addresses this goal. Part I I , SQL Ser ver Part II consists of six relatively short chapters that focus substantially on programming SQL Server 2000 with T-SQL. Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 introduce T- SQL and SQL Server data types. I f you are going to program SQL Server and create efficient, fast solutions, you m ust learn SQL Server data types, which is one of t he main points conveyed by Chapter 2. Many readers will gravitate to Chapter 3 because it introduces core T-SQL program ming techniques for data access. You’ll apply the techniques covered in this chapter often as you select subsets of rows and columns in data sources, group and aggregate rows from a table, process dates, and join data from two or more tables. Chapter 3 also considers special data access topics, such as outer joins, self joins and subqueries. The next pair of chapters in Part II, Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, take a look at programming database objects t hat you will use for data access and dat a manipulation, such as views, stored procedures, user-defined functions, and triggers. These database objects are important for many reasons, but one of the most important is that they bundle T-SQL statements for their easy reuse. I t is widely known that the best code is the code that you don’t have to write. However, if you do have to write code, you should definitely write it just onc, and then reuse it whenever you need its functionality. Stored procedures are particularly desirable database obj ects because they save com piled T-SQL statements that can deliver significant speed advantages over resubm it ting the same T-SQL statem ent for compilation each time you want to perform a data access or data manipulation task. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 are also important because they convey T-SQL syntax for using param eters and conditional logic that support dynamic run-tim e behavior and user interactivity. One of the most important features of SQL Server 2000 is its XML functionality. Because XML as a topic is changing so rapidly, Microsoft adopted a strategy of upgrading the SQL Server 2000 XML functionality through Web releases. Although those with SQL Server 2000 can download the Web releases without charge from the Microsoft Web site, the Web releases are fully supported. Chapter 6 introduces core XML functionality introduced with SQL Server 2000 as well as functionality from the first two Web releases. I n particular, you can learn in this chapter about I IS virtual directories as well as formats for XML documents and schemas. You also learn about tem plates in virtual directories that facilitate data access and data manipulation tasks over the Web. Chapter 7 closes out the SQL Server part of t he book with an in-depth look at programming SQL Server security. I n these tim es, security has grown into a monumental topic, and this chapter can keep you out of trouble by blocking hackers from getting into or corrupting your database. You learn such t opics as how to create and manage different types of login and user accounts and how to control the permissions available to individual accounts as well as groups of accounts. By learning how to script accounts and permissions with T-SQL, you simplify revising and updating security as conditions change (for exam ple, when users leave the company or when new, sensitive data gets added to a table). Part I I I , .NET Chapter 8 starts the .NET part of the book with a review of selected .NET topics that are covered in the initial look Chapter 1 offered at the .NET Framework. This chapter provides an overview of the architecture for .NET solutions, and it drills down on two topics: ASP.NET and XML Web services. The general purpose of this chapter is the sam e as Chapter 1, which is to introduce concepts. The em phasis in Chapter 8 isn’t how you do som ething, but rather what are the m aj or technologies enabling you to do som ething. Chapter 1 and Chapter 8 are both relatively short chapters, but you m ay find t hem invaluable if you are the kind of person who benefits from high-level overviews of a collection of topics. Chapter 9 starts with a close exam ination of how to use Windows Form s with Visual Basic .NET. It then shifts its focus to a review of traditional class processing concepts via Visual Basic .NET as an introduction to class inheritance, a new object-oriented feature that makes its first appearance in Visual Basic with Visual Basic .NET. Next the treatment of classes progresses to the handling of built-in events as well as the raising of custom events. Finally the chapter closes with an exam ination of the new exception handling techniques for processing run- time errors. Chapter 10 is a how-to guide for solutions to typical problems with ADO.NET. Before launching into its progression of sam ples showing how to perform all kinds of tasks, the chapter starts with an overview of the ADO.NET object model that covers the main objects along with selected properties and methods for each object. The how-t o guide focuses on data access tasks, such as selecting rows and columns from SQL Server database objects, as well as data m anipulation tasks, such as inserting, updating, and deleting rows in a table. Working through [...]... Visual St udio NET include Visual Basic NET, Micr osoft Visual C# NET, Microsoft Visual C+ + NET, and support for ot her languages I n addit ion, Microsoft offer s Visual Basic NET St andard, w hich doesn’t include Visual C# NET or Visual C+ + NET Because t his book t arget s professional Visual Basic dev elopers creat ing SQL Ser ver applicat ions, it uses t he Ent erpr ise Developer Edit ion of Visual. .. Windows 2000 Ser ver, SQL Serv er Ent erprise Edit ion, and t he Ent erprise Dev eloper Edit ion of Visual St udio NET, w hich includes Visual Basic NET To use t his book, y ou’ll need t o have Visual Basic NET or Visual St udio NET inst alled on your com put er ( See Chapt er 1 for m or e inform at ion on v ersions of Visual Basic NET and Visual St udio NET.) I n addit ion, y ou’ll need SQL Serv er 2000, ... nam es for t he SQL Ser ver NET dat a prov ider classes for int eract ing wit h SQL Server inst ances are SqlConnect ion, SqlCom m and, SqlDat aReader, and SqlDat aAdapt er You can use t he SqlDat aReader class for read- only applicat ions fr om a SQL Serv er dat a source Two especially convenient ways t o display r esult s w it h a SqlDat aReader class are in a m essage box or t he Visual St udio NET... can be a T- SQL dat a access st at em ent , such as SELECT * FROM MyTable The second SqlCom m and argum ent designat es t he source connect ion for t he T- SQL st at em ent For exam ple, y ou can use t he nam e of a SqlConnect ion obj ect , such as My SQLCnn1 Figur e 1- 3 shows t he rout e fr om a SQL Serv er dat a source t o a SqlDat aReader obj ect Alt hough t he SqlConnect ion and SqlCom m and... is about building applicat ions for SQL Ser ver 2000 This focus j ust ifies in- dept h coverage of SQL Serv er program m ing t opics— in part icular, T- SQL, Micr osoft ’s ext ension of t he St ruct ured Query Language ( SQL) Third, t he book illust rat es how t o pr ogr am in Visual Basic NET, but w it h part icular em phasis on dat abase issues for SQL Ser ver 2000 Special at t ent ion goes t o relat... t o t he SqlConnect ion class Dim MySQLCnn1 As New _ SqlConnection(“Integrated Security=SSPI;" & _ "Data Source=myserver;Initial Catalog=mydb") Aft er inst ant iat ing a SqlConnect ion obj ect , you need t o invoke it s Open m et hod befor e t he obj ect can link anot her obj ect based on one of t he ot her SQL Ser ver NET dat a provider classes, such as SqlCom m and, SqlDat aAdapt er, or SqlDat aReader... connect ion w it h a SQL Ser ver dat abase While t he SqlDat aReader using a SqlConnect ion obj ect is open, you cannot use t he SqlConnect ion obj ect for any ot her purpose except t o close t he connect ion Closing a SqlDat aReader obj ect releases it s associat ed SqlConnect ion obj ect for ot her uses The SqlDat aReader class doesn’t have a const ruct or st at em ent You declare t he SqlDat aReader... set from a SqlCom m and obj ect t o a SqlDat aReader wit h t he Ex ecut eReader m et hod of t he SqlCom m and obj ect Finally, invoke t he SqlDat aReader obj ect Read m et hod t o open a r ow fr om t he result set in t he SqlDat aReader The SqlCom m and obj ect can ser ve m ult iple funct ions, including processing a TSQL st at em ent against a connect ion When used in t his fashion, t he SqlCom m... m anaging st at e in ASP.NET solut ions The last t wo sect ions in t he chapt er deal w it h ADO.NET t opics in ASP.NET solut ions and t he new aut om at ic dat a validat ion feat ur es built r ight int o ASP.NET The last t wo chapt ers in t he book explor e how XML int erplays wit h Visual St udio NET and SQL Ser ver 2000 For exam ple, Chapt er 12 exam ines special t ools in Visual St udio NET t o... ools don’t ship wit h MSDE 2000 ( Microsoft SQL Serv er 2000 Deskt op Engine) , t hey ar e available wit h any r egular v ersion of SQL Serv er 2000, such as t he Ent erprise, St andard, Dev eloper , and Personal edit ions I t hink of Query Analyzer as sort of an I DE for running T- SQL st at em ent s This client t ool is a r eal help for anyone program m ing solut ions for SQL Serv er Quer y Analyzer . Program ming Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 with Microsoft Visual Basic® .NET Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction. Started with Visual Basic .NET for SQL Server 2000 Visual Studio .NET, the Visual Basic .NET IDE An Overview of ADO .NET Capabilities A Starter ADO.NET