Professional SQL Server 2000 XML [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Paul J. Burke (Author), Sam Ferguson (Author), Denise Gosnell (Author), Paul Morris (Author), Karli Watson (Author), Darshan Singh (Author), Brian Smith (Author), Carvin Wilson (Author), Warren Wiltsie (Author), Jan Narkiewicz (Author), J Michael Palermo (Author), John Reid (Author)

Book Description

Series: Programmer to Programmer | Publication Date: June 2001

The most important new features of SQL Server 2000 concern XML and the added functionality that it provides. This includes the ability to use XML documents to update your database, access SQL Server through HTTP and retrieve data from your database in XML format.

Building extensively on the new features introduced in Professional SQL Server 2000 (1-861004-48-6) this book goes beyond just the key issues and provides blanket in-depth coverage of advanced topics, including both XDR and XSD schemas (support for which has been added in the new Web Release 2), and additions in Web Release 1, such as Updategrams and XML Bulk Load. This book also includes five real-world case studies that show exactly how the XML capabilities of SQL Server 2000 can best be exploited with technologies as diverse as ASP, C#, and SOAP.

This book covers:
An introduction to XML
How to retrieve XML data from your database using FOR XML
Exposing XML documents as relational resultsets using OPENXML
Using XDR and XSD schemas to retrieve results through HTTP requests
Describing SQL Server tables using XML Views
A detailed discussion of the use of XPath queries with SQL Server
Modifying your database with Updategrams
Importing XML documents into your database with XML Bulk Load
An overview of the new features provided with Beta 1 of Web Release 2

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Key to the interoperability of Microsoft SQL Server 2000--its ability to exchange information with other database management systems and with client applications--is its support of Extensible Markup Language (XML). Regardless of whether you're a database administrator charged with designing and maintaining databases or a software developer who uses SQL Server at the back end of a multitiered application, you need to understand what XML is all about, and how SQL Server goes about reading and writing it. Professional SQL Server 2000 XML uses an approach typical of Wrox Press--liberal commentary interspersed with plenty of examples that build on one another--to help its readers learn about its subject.

This book was written by a team of authors, each of whom wrote a few chapters in his or her specialty area. Like any book written by several people, this one displays different writing styles throughout, but the effect is not striking if you use the book mainly as a reference. Each author typically takes on the capabilities of SQL Server and XML one at a time, explaining what each is all about before launching into examples (complete with code) that reveal the mechanisms at work. It's a lot of information to absorb, but the authors do a fine job of presenting it logically. Case studies present big projects that each employ several of SQL Server's XML capabilities. --David Wall

Topics covered: The XML capabilities of Microsoft SQL Server 2000, including the FOR XML clauses in Transact-SQL, the OpenXML specification, XDR and XSD schemas, templates, views, and updategrams.

From the Publisher

This book has been selected by the editors of Wrox Press to be part of the Wroxbase website.

This book is for experienced SQL Server developers who are looking to make the data in their SQL Server 2000 databases available in XML and take advantage of the exciting new XML features in the recent Web Releases.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: Wrox Press (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861005466
• ISBN-13: 978-1861005465
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,390,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice book, lots of code, August 10, 2001

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: Professional SQL Server 2000 XML (Paperback)

Wrox has always prided themselves on code intensive books, and this is no exception. Unfortunately, they are also getting a bit intensive in the area of adding authors to be the first one to market. This leads to a book that seems a bit disjointed. With as few chapters as this book has, I do not see the need for so many authors. I guess it is the length.

Pluses in this book include the chapter on FOR XML and the chapter on OPENXML. I believe this is the area where most developers will like to spend the most of their time. I would have liked to see FOR XML EXPLICIT get a bit more coverage, as this is the bear, but the examples are workable, so I cannot complain too much.

I also enjoyed the updategram chapter. This ability was highly touted in Microsoft marketing events, but took quite some time to surface. The case studies help put the technology in a real world light.

The negatives are few. First, I believe far too much time is spent on XSD schemas, at least with the way it is presented. In a real world scenario, you are probably going to pull the schema from an existing database, which makes this material NULL and void. If you do get into writing XSD, you will find this material far too shallow.

I also would have liked to see how this technology could blend with the direction Microsoft is pushing .NET. I realize this is not the topic of the book, so I have not hammered on this. Perhaps the next book will be SQL Server 2000 and .NET?

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars All that glitters is not Rob Vieira, December 3, 2001

By 

Byron Quam (Vancouver, BC Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Professional SQL Server 2000 XML (Paperback)

I had mistakenly thought that Wrox books were held to a higher standard. First getting a taste for them going through both of Rob Vieira's two SQL Server Programming books and regarding them as the finest technical books I've ever seen. However this Professional SQL Server 2000 XML is a disappointment. Part of the problem lies with having 12 different authors because it seems a bit jumpy. I think I'll really try to limit my future purchases to single source efforts. Also, no care was taken with the code examples that you can download from the Wrox website. The book shows the source but there is really no way of really matching the example to the source other than guessing the name. Often I've needed to open up all 15 or so files in the directory to realize that the particular example is not included. I'm picking my way through but it is not pleasant.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not that good for .Net developers, August 20, 2002

By 

Raul A. De Jesus, MCP; MCSD (bayamon, pr United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Professional SQL Server 2000 XML (Paperback)

It is a good book as far as explaning what SQL Server has to offer regarding XML capabilities but it should have covered the case studies fully with the .Net Framework. Also, it covers very good the IIS configuration, and how to manage XML Templates, XPath and Schemas. The book has a migration example from ASP to ASP.Net which does not cover ADO.Net. If you want a rich source on how to integrate SQLXML and the .Net Framework THIS IS NOT THE BOOK.