Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance

About the Author

. . . xix

About the Technical Reviewers

. . . xxi

Acknowledgments

. . . xxiii

Introduction

. . . xxv

■ CHAPTER 1 Data Sources and the Web

. . . 1

■ CHAPTER 2 Introducing Relational Databases

. . . 27

■ CHAPTER 3 Displaying Data on a Page

. . . 77

■ CHAPTER 4 Database Access in Code

. . . 115

■ CHAPTER 5 DataReader and DataSet

. . . 155

■ CHAPTER 6 Inline and List Binding

. . . 189

■ CHAPTER 7 Table Binding

. . . 247

■ CHAPTER 8 Writing to the Database

. . . 297

■ CHAPTER 9 The GridView Family

. . . 367

■ CHAPTER 10 Stored Procedures

. . . 415

■ CHAPTER 11 Modifying the Database Structure

. . . 459

■ CHAPTER 12 Useful Techniques

. . . 497

■ CHAPTER 13 Application Design and Implementation

. . . 547

■ APPENDIX A Installation Instructions

. . . 571

■ APPENDIX B SQL Data Types

. . . 579

■ APPENDIX C SQL Primer

. . . 591

■ APPENDIX D Sample Database Tables

. . . 597

■ INDEX

. . . 607

v

Contents

About the Author

. . . xix

About the Technical Reviewers

. . . xxi

Acknowledgments

. . . xxiii

Introduction

. . . xxv

■ CHAPTER 1 Data Sources and the Web

. . . 1

Are Data-Driven Web Sites a Good Idea?

. . . 2

How Do Web Sites Use Data Sources?

. . . 4

Database Uses in a Web Environment

. . . 4

How Does the Web Site Get the Data?

. . . 6

Looking for Information

. . . 8

Database Servers

. . . 8

Flat Files

. . . 9

Web Services

. . . 10

Objects

. . . 10

Services

. . . 10

Introducing ADO.NET

. . . 11

Data Access Technology: A Brief History

. . . 11

Data Providers

. . . 13

Data Source Controls

. . . 18

Developing Your First Example

. . . 18

Try It Out: Creating a Simple Data-Driven Page

. . . 19

How It Works

. . . 25

Summary

. . . 26

■ CHAPTER 2 Introducing Relational Databases

. . . 27

The Databases and Tools

. . . 28

Tables, Rows, and Columns

. . . 28

Try It Out: Creating a Table in SQL Server 2005

. . . 31

How It Works

. . . 35

Try It Out: Creating a Table in MySQL 5.0

. . . 36

How It Works

. . . 39

Column Properties and Constraints

. . . 40

vi ■C O N T E N T S

Queries and Stored Procedures

. . . 42

SQL Queries

. . . 42

Stored Procedures

. . . 46

Indexes

. . . 46

Types of Index

. . . 48

Try It Out: Adding Indexes in SQL Server 2005

. . . 48

How It Works

. . . 50

Try It Out: Adding Indexes in MySQL 5.0

. . . 51

How It Works

. . . 52

Relationships Between Tables

. . . 52

Types of Relationship

. . . 53

Foreign Keys and Foreign Key Constraints

. . . 56

Try It Out: Adding Relationships in SQL Server 2005

. . . 58

How It Works

. . . 61

Try It Out: Adding Relationships in MySQL 5.0

. . . 61

How It Works

. . . 63

Database Diagrams

. . . 64

Try It Out: Creating a Database Diagram in SQL Server 2005

. . . 64

How It Works

. . . 65

Try It Out: Using a Database Diagram to Create a New Relationship in SQL Server 2005

. . . 66

How It Works

. . . 67

Users, Roles, and Permissions

. . . 68

Try It Out: Creating User Accounts in SQL Server 2005

. . . 69

How It Works

. . . 70

Try It Out: Creating User Accounts in MySQL 5.0

. . . 71

How It Works

. . . 71

Data for the Sample Database

. . . 72

Try It Out: Adding Data to a SQL Server 2005 Database

. . . 72

How It Works

. . . 72

Try It Out: Adding Data to a MySQL 5.0 Database

. . . 73

How It Works

. . . 73

Database Views and Triggers

. . . 74

Summary

. . . 74

■C O N T E N T S vii

■ CHAPTER 3 Displaying Data on a Page

. . . 77

Introducing the Data Source Web Controls

. . . 78

Introducing SELECT Queries

. . . 79

Try It Out: Querying a Single Table

. . . 79

How It Works

. . . 85

Try It Out: Ordering the Results

. . . 90

How It Works

. . . 92

Try It Out: Querying Multiple Tables

. . . 94

How It Works

. . . 96

Try It Out: Filtering the Results

. . . 99

How It Works

. . . 103

Try It Out: Filtering Results and Showing All Results

. . . 106

How It Works

. . . 108

Introducing the WHERE Clause

. . . 108

Using Comparison Operators

. . . 109

Using Logical Operators

. . . 109

Using the IN and BETWEEN Operators

. . . 110

Connecting to MySQL 5.0 and Microsoft Access

. . . 111

Connection Strings

. . . 111

Parameters and Queries

. . . 112

Summary

. . . 113

■ CHAPTER 4 Database Access in Code

. . . 115

The Connection and Command Life Cycle

. . . 116

Connection Objects

. . . 117

Try It Out: Connecting to SQL Server 2005 Using SqlConnection

. . . 117

How It Works

. . . 119

Try It Out: Connecting to MySQL 5.0 Using OdbcConnection

. . . . 121

How It Works

. . . 123

Try It Out: Connecting to Microsoft Access Using OleDbConnection

. . . 124

How It Works

. . . 126

Connection Object Methods and Properties

. . . 126

Connection Pooling

. . . 127

viii ■C O N T E N T S

Command Objects

. . . 128

Creating a Command Object

. . . 129

Returning the Results

. . . 130

Filtering the Results

. . . 130

Try It Out: Modifying the Query

. . . 130

How It Works

. . . 134

Try It Out: Using Parameters in Queries

. . . 138

How It Works

. . . 138

Parameters and Queries

. . . 140

Command Object Methods and Properties

. . . 142

Scalar Commands

. . . 143

Scalar Functions

. . . 144

Try It Out: Using the ExecuteScalar() Method

. . . 144

How It Works

. . . 146

Error Handling

. . . 147

Try It Out: Catching and Handling Errors

. . . 147

How It Works

. . . 150

Summary

. . . 152

■ CHAPTER 5 DataReader and DataSet

. . . 155

The DataReader Object

. . . 156

How to Read Through a DataReader

. . . 157

Try It Out: Iterating Through a DataReader

. . . 159

How It Works

. . . 163

DataReader Properties and Methods

. . . 165

The DataSet Object

. . . 168

How to Fill a DataSet

. . . 169

Try It Out: Iterating Through a DataSet

. . . 173

How It Works

. . . 175

Creating a DataSet from Scratch

. . . 176

SqlDataSource—DataSet or DataReader?

. . . 185

DataSet vs. DataReader

. . . 185

Good Practices

. . . 187

Summary

. . . 187

■C O N T E N T S ix

■ CHAPTER 6 Inline and List Binding

. . . 189

Data-Binding Techniques

. . . 189

Data Binding in Code

. . . 190

Data Binding and the SqlDataSource

. . . 191

Data-Aware Web Controls

. . . 191

Associating Data to the Web Control

. . . 192

Inline Binding

. . . 194

Try It Out: Inline Binding to a DataReader

. . . 195

How It Works

. . . 199

Try It Out: Inline Binding to a DataSet

. . . 201

How It Works

. . . 204

The Inline Binding Alternative

. . . 205

Try It Out: Showing Data from a DataReader

. . . 206

How It Works

. . . 207

Try It Out: Showing Data from a DataSet

. . . 208

How It Works

. . . 210

List Binding

. . . 211

Try It Out: Using Single-Value Lookup Lists with a DataReader

. . . 213

How It Works

. . . 217

List Binding Events

. . . 219

Try It Out: Using Lookup Lists and Events with a DataReader

. . . 220

How It Works

. . . 223

Try It Out: Using Lookup Lists and Events with a DataSet

. . . 225

How It Works

. . . 228

Try It Out: Using Lookup Lists and Events with a SqlDataSource

. . . 229

How It Works

. . . 231

Connecting to Other Data Sources

. . . 235

Multiple Selection Lists

. . . 236

Try It Out: Using Multiple-Value Lookup Lists with a DataReader

. . . . 236

How It Works

. . . 240

Try It Out: Using Multiple-Value Lookup Lists with a SqlDataSource

. . . 242

How It Works

. . . 243

Summary

. . . 244

x ■C O N T E N T S

■ CHAPTER 7 Table Binding

. . . 247

The Table-Binding Web Controls

. . . 247

Repeater, DataList, and GridView Differences

. . . 249

Item Templates

. . . 250

The Repeater Web Control

. . . 251

The Repeater Templates

. . . 252

Try It Out: Using the Repeater to Display the Manufacturers

. . . 252

How It Works

. . . 257

The Repeater Control Events

. . . 260

Try It Out: Using the Repeater to Display the Players

. . . 260

How It Works

. . . 265

Inline Binding vs. Event-Based Binding

. . . 269

Inline Binding Alternative

. . . 269

Mixing Binding Types

. . . 270

The DataList Web Control

. . . 270

Try It Out: Using the DataList to Display the Players

. . . 270

How It Works

. . . 273

The GridView Web Control

. . . 274

Try It Out: Showing Data in a GridView

. . . 274

How It Works

. . . 275

GridView Customization

. . . 276

Try It Out: Customizing the GridView

. . . 281

How It Works

. . . 283

Paging and Sorting

. . . 286

Try It Out: Sorting the GridView

. . . 286

How It Works

. . . 288

Try It Out: Paging the GridView

. . . 288

How It Works

. . . 290

GridView Events

. . . 290

Try It Out: Responding to Events

. . . 290

How It Works

. . . 293

DataSet vs. DataReader

. . . 294

Summary

. . . 295

■C O N T E N T S xi

■ CHAPTER 8 Writing to the Database

. . . 297

Making Changes to a Database

. . . 297

Inserting Data into the Database

. . . 298

The INSERT Query

. . . 298

Working to the Database’s Rules

. . . 300

Try It Out: Inserting a New Player with INSERT

. . . 300

How It Works

. . . 306

Queries in MySQL 5.0 and Microsoft Access

. . . 311

Try It Out: Setting the Player’s Supported Formats

. . . 312

How It Works

. . . 317

Validating Data

. . . 319

Try It Out: Validating Entered Data

. . . 321

How It Works

. . . 325

Deleting Data from the Database

. . . 328

The DELETE Query

. . . 329

Sympathy for the User: GridView ButtonField Columns

. . . 329

Try It Out: Deleting Players with DELETE

. . . 331

How It Works

. . . 334

Updating Data in the Database

. . . 336

The UPDATE Query

. . . 336

Try It Out: Updating a Player with UPDATE

. . . 336

How It Works

. . . 342

Using a DataSet to Make the Changes

. . . 346

The Role of the DataAdapter

. . . 347

The Role of the DataRow

. . . 348

Try It Out: Inserting Data Using a DataSet

. . . 348

How It Works

. . . 353

Try It Out: Updating Data Using a DataSet

. . . 356

How It Works

. . . 359

Try It Out: Deleting Data Using a DataSet

. . . 361

How It Works

. . . 363

Manually Creating the Commands

. . . 364

Summary

. . . 365

xii ■C O N T E N T S

■ CHAPTER 9 The GridView Family

. . . 367

The Updatable SqlDataSource

. . . 368

The GridView and DetailsView

. . . 369

The Field Controls

. . . 369

The EmptyDataTemplate

. . . 369

The Eval() and Bind() Methods

. . . 370

Editing Data in a GridView

. . . 371

Try It Out: Updating Data in a GridView

. . . 371

How It Works

. . . 375

Try It Out: Changing Controls Used for Editing

. . . 382

How It Works

. . . 383

Try It Out: Deleting Data in a GridView

. . . 385

How It Works

. . . 386

Using the DetailsView

. . . 387

Try It Out: Showing Data in a DetailsView

. . . 388

How It Works

. . . 390

Try It Out: Editing Data in a DetailsView

. . . 392

How It Works

. . . 394

Try It Out: Deleting Data in a DetailsView

. . . 395

How It Works

. . . 397

Try It Out: Adding Data in a DetailsView

. . . 397

How It Works

. . . 398

Tidying Up the User Interface

. . . 399

Try It Out: Manually Adding an Add New Player Link

. . . 400

How It Works

. . . 402

Using the FormView

. . . 403

Using Templates with the FormView

. . . 404

Switching Modes

. . . 406

Validating User Responses

. . . 406

Try It Out: Adding Validation to the DetailsView

. . . 408

How It Works

. . . 411

Summary

. . . 412

■C O N T E N T S xiii

■ CHAPTER 10 Stored Procedures

. . . 415

Why Should You Use Stored Procedures?

. . . 415

Configuring MySQL 5.0 to Use Stored Procedures

. . . 416

Creating Stored Procedures

. . . 418

Try It Out: Creating a Stored Procedure in SQL Server 2005

. . . 418

How It Works

. . . 421

Try It Out: Creating a Stored Procedure in MySQL 5.0

. . . 422

How It Works

. . . 424

Granting Permissions for Stored Procedures

. . . 424

Calling Stored Procedures

. . . 425

Try It Out: Using a Command Object to Call a Stored Procedure

. . . 427

How It Works

. . . 429

Choosing an Execute Method

. . . 429

Try It Out: Calling a Stored Procedure in a SqlDataSource

. . . 430

How It Works

. . . 430

Altering and Deleting Stored Procedures

. . . 430

Try It Out: Modifying a Stored Procedure in SQL Server 2005

. . . 431

How It Works

. . . 432

Try It Out: Modifying a Stored Procedure in MySQL 5.0

. . . 433

How It Works

. . . 434

Creating Stored Procedures with Input Parameters

. . . 434

Try It Out: Creating a Stored Procedure with Input Parameters in SQL Server 2005

. . . 436

How It Works

. . . 438

Try It Out: Creating a Stored Procedure with Input Parameters in MySQL 5.0

. . . 439

How It Works

. . . 440

Passing Parameters to Stored Procedures

. . . 441

Try It Out: Using Input Parameters with a Command Object

. . . 441

How It Works

. . . 443

Try It Out: Using Input Parameters with a SqlDataSource

. . . 444

How It Works

. . . 444

Using Parameters with MySQL 5.0

. . . 445

xiv ■C O N T E N T S

Returning Data Using Output Parameters

. . . 445

Try It Out: Creating a Stored Procedure with Output Parameters in SQL Server 2005

. . . 446

How It Works

. . . 448

Try It Out: Creating a Stored Procedure with Input Parameters in MySQL 5.0

. . . 448

How It Works

. . . 449

Returning Parameters from Stored Procedures

. . . 450

Try It Out: Using Output Parameters with a SqlCommand Object

. . . 451

How It Works

. . . 452

Try It Out: Using Output Parameters with a SqlDataSource

. . . 453

How It Works

. . . 454

Using Stored Procedures with Other Queries

. . . 455

Summary

. . . 457

■ CHAPTER 11 Modifying the Database Structure

. . . 459

Using Command-Line Tools

. . . 460

Using SQLCMD

. . . 460

Try It Out: Querying a SQL Server Database via the Command Line

. . . 461

How It Works

. . . 463

Using mysql.exe

. . . 463

Try It Out: Querying a MySQL Database via the Command Line

. . . 464

How It Works

. . . 465

Creating Databases

. . . 466

Try It Out: Creating a Database with CREATE DATABASE

. . . 466

How It Works

. . . 468

Creating Tables

. . . 469

Try It Out: Creating Tables in SQL Server with CREATE TABLE

. . . 469

How It Works

. . . 471

Try It Out: Creating Tables in MySQL with CREATE TABLE

. . . 473

How It Works

. . . 475

Adding, Modifying, and Removing Columns

. . . 475

Try It Out: Changing a Table Definition with ALTER TABLE

. . . 477

■C O N T E N T S xv

Creating and Deleting Indexes

. . . 480

Creating Indexes

. . . 480

Try It Out: Creating Indexes with CREATE INDEX

. . . 481

How It Works

. . . 482

Deleting Indexes

. . . 483

Try It Out: Deleting an Index with DROP INDEX

. . . 483

How It Works

. . . 484

Creating and Deleting Relationships

. . . 485

Creating Relationships

. . . 485

Try It Out: Creating Relationships with ALTER TABLE

. . . 486

How It Works

. . . 488

Deleting Relationships

. . . 489

Try It Out: Deleting Relationships with ALTER TABLE

. . . 490

How It Works

. . . 490

Deleting Tables

. . . 490

Try It Out: Deleting Database Tables with DROP TABLE

. . . 491

How It Works

. . . 493

Deleting Databases

. . . 493

Try It Out: Deleting a Database

. . . 494

How It Works

. . . 496

Summary

. . . 496

■ CHAPTER 12 Useful Techniques

. . . 497

Concurrency

. . . 498

Try It Out: Handling Concurrency Using Command Objects

. . . 499

How It Works

. . . 505

Try It Out: Handling Concurrency Using the SqlDataSource

. . . 507

How It Works

. . . 511

Caching

. . . 514

Specifying the Life Span of a Cached Object

. . . 516

Try It Out: Caching the Manufacturers

. . . 517

How It Works

. . . 519

Caching a DataSet

. . . 520

Removing Objects from the Cache

. . . 521

Try It Out: Removing Cached Objects Manually

. . . 521

How It Works

. . . 522

xvi ■C O N T E N T S

Transactions

. . . 523

Defining Database Transactions

. . . 526

Using a Transaction Object

. . . 527

Try It Out: Using a Transaction Object

. . . 528

How It Works

. . . 532

Implementing Distributed Transactions

. . . 534

Try It Out: Using a Local Transaction

. . . 536

How It Works

. . . 539

Try It Out: Using a Distributed Transaction

. . . 540

How It Works

. . . 542

Multiple Result Sets

. . . 542

Try It Out: Executing Two SELECT Queries in a Query Batch

. . . 543

How It Works

. . . 544

Summary

. . . 545

■ CHAPTER 13 Application Design and Implementation

. . . 547

The Software Life Cycle

. . . 548

Analysis

. . . 548

Client Requirements

. . . 548

The Right Tools

. . . 552

Design

. . . 553

Database Design

. . . 554

Application Design

. . . 559

Implementation

. . . 563

Prototypes

. . . 563

Stored Procedures

. . . 564

Code Issues

. . . 564

Testing and Debugging

. . . 565

Unit Testing

. . . 566

Measuring Performance

. . . 566

Maintenance

. . . 567

Bug Fixes

. . . 567

Feature Requests

. . . 568

Issue Tracking

. . . 568

Summary

. . . 568

■C O N T E N T S xvii

■ APPENDIX A Installation Instructions

. . . 571

.NET Framework 2.0 Installation

. . . 571

Microsoft Jet Engine Installation

. . . 571

Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition Installation

. . . 572

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Installation

. . . 573

SQL Server 2005 Management Studio Express Installation

. . . 576

MySQL 5.0 Installation

. . . 576

MySQL Query Browser 1.1 Installation

. . . 577

MySQL Connector/ODBC 3.51 Installation

. . . 578

MySQL Connector/NET 1.0 Installation

. . . 578

■ APPENDIX B SQL Data Types

. . . 579

Text Types

. . . 579

char

. . . 580

longtext

. . . 580

mediumtext

. . . 580

nchar/national char

. . . 580

nvarchar/national varchar

. . . 581

ntext

. . . 581

text

. . . 581

tinytext

. . . 582

varchar

. . . 582

Numeric Types

. . . 582

Autonumbers

. . . 582

Integer Types

. . . 583

decimal

. . . 585

Variable-Size Floating-Point Numbers

. . . 585

Date and Time Types

. . . 586

date

. . . 586

datetime

. . . 587

smalldatetime

. . . 587

time

. . . 587

timestamp

. . . 587

year

. . . 588

xviii ■C O N T E N T S

Binary Types

. . . 588

SQL Server Binary Types

. . . 588

MySQL Binary Types

. . . 589

Microsoft Access Binary Data

. . . 589

Miscellaneous Types

. . . 589

enum('value1','value2',...)

. . . 589

money

. . . 590

set('value1','value2',...)

. . . 590

smallmoney

. . . 590

uniqueidentifier

. . . 590

■ APPENDIX C SQL Primer

. . . 591

SELECT

. . . 591

INSERT

. . . 593

UPDATE

. . . 594

DELETE

. . . 594

■ APPENDIX D Sample Database Tables

. . . 597

The Manufacturer Table

. . . 598

The Player Table

. . . 600

The Format Table

. . . 602

The WhatPlaysWhatFormat Table

. . . 603

Using the Database Scripts

. . . 605

Using a Script to Build the SQL Server 2005 Database

. . . 605

Using a Script to Build the MySQL 5.0 Database

. . . 606

■ INDEX

. . . 607