Extensible Markup Language (XML) is the lingua franca of business information exchange. And with "Programming Microsoft SQL Server 2000 With XML," developers get the expert guidance they need to build powerful, XML-enabled database applications for line-of-business, e-commerce, and the Web. Server databases are the core engines driving business in the Internet economy, and this practical guide focuses on how to exploit the built-in XML functionality, scalability, and speed in SQL Server 2000 within different business and technological scenarios -- including how to apply what you already know about HTTP and other standards -- for best advantage. The author steps through the development of several real-world solutions, including enterprise knowledge-management systems and ultrascalable electronic retail and business-to-business (B2B) solutions. All the book's code appears on the companion CD-ROM so readers can study and reuse them for their own projects.
For any developer who wants to do more with XML and databases on Windows,
Programming Microsoft SQL Server 2000 with XML provides an up-to-date guide to some current XML tools and features available on the Microsoft platform. This example-packed book can let you get more productive with the latest generation of SQL Server tools.
After a quick tour of what XML means for business today, this text jumps right in with a tutorial on using XML in Microsoft Transact-SQL (T-SQL) supported in SQL Server. The author provides nuts-and-bolts information on querying databases and returning XML, along with different options for formatting XML data.
Next comes a tutorial for using ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), the preferred standard for programming with databases in Windows, and how to use XML within this API. Short code excerpts will show you how to perform common programming tasks quickly. The support for XML in Microsoft doesn't stop there, of course, and the book next focuses in on support for Web publishing in SQL Server through XML. This powerful feature shows you how to define templates that can be used to query and update data via HTTP using URLs. Sections on mapping schemas show how XML can used to move data between different database schemas. An important section on the T-SQL OpenXML function to perform a range of database tasks, including inserting XML data in bulk into database tables.
In its closing sections, this text illustrates key technologies using a nicely functional online computer store complete with shopping basket, product catalogue, and simulated order processing all using XML techniques demonstrated earlier on.
In all, this book delivers a solid tour of what's available in SQL Server, ADO, and other Microsoft tools and technologies. Suitable for any Windows IT professional who works with databases, this title is a capable tutorial and guide to what's out there today with XML on the Microsoft platform. --Richard Dragan
