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. --Richard Dragan

Topics 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

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.