Through extensive real-world examples, this book shows exactly how to integrate Web sites and Microsoft SQL Server databases to solve real-world business problems. The book begins with an overview of Microsoft SQL Server, NT4 Server and Microsoft's Internet development tools, including Internet Information Server, FrontPage and Visual Basic. Walk through setting up NT's Web services; creating a database for Web use; and establishing connections via ODBC, remote data objects and/or Active Server Pages. Learn how to protect your site with the security features built into both NT 4.0 and SQL Server. Then, move on to more advanced topics, including Web queries via ActiveX controls and VB scripts; using SQL as a commerce server; working with Visual InterDev; building more advanced pages; and managing your site for maximum effectiveness.
From the Inside Flap
Introduction
Building a Web presence has become a very real business requirement in this day. It has come to the point in many industries, that a company without a presence on the Internet is no longer competitive. This is especially true for companies that compete the large market places-regional, national, and global.
Without this point of presence, many potential customers will not find you and your company. One of the primary uses for the Internet is to conduct research into companies and products. If a customer is looking for a company that produces a certain kind of product or has a specific manufacturing process available, they will search through the Web. If you do not have an Internet point of presence, then your company will not appear in the customers' research and you will not have a chance at the business.
Building a Web site, and then working to ensure that it can be easily found by users working with the many search engines throughout the Internet will be a key point in many company's survival into the next millennia.
Who This Book Is For
This book is aimed at anyone who wants to learn more about creating an interactive Web site that uses a new or existing SQL Server 7 database as the back end. This will be especially useful for those who are planning to use Windows NT Server 4 and Internet Information Server as platform for a Web server.
In writing this book, I have not made any assumptions about the skill level that you bring to your project. This book can be used by both the beginner, who needs to learn about many different topics, and the skilled SQL Server database administrator who only needs to know how to build a Web-enabled application that can connect to their database.
What You'll Need
In order to get the most from this book you must have a working copy of the Microsoft SQL Server 7 database application. In addition, you will find that being able to work with the Microsoft Windows NT Server 4 operating system and Microsoft Internet Information Server, will be the easiest. If you do not have access to a system with this operating system, you can successfully use either Windows 95 or 98, or Windows NT Workstation 4 and Microsoft Personal Web Server.
How This Book Is Organized
This book consists of thirteen chapters divided into four parts. While each of these parts build on the one before it, if you are familiar with the information contained in an earlier section, you would be able to skip about.
Part One: Your Company and the Internet
This first part consists of five chapters and covers the following information:
Chapter One: Why Build a Web Site With SQL Server? This chapter covers basic information about why you might want to build a Web-enabled database application. Chapter Two: Microsoft SQL Server as a Web-Enabled Database In this chapter you are introduced to the reasons for using SQL Server 7 as your database of choice when building a Web site. Chapter Three: The Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server Environment Here you learn about the various versions of the Windows operating system, and which is the best choice for your specific application. Chapter Four: Security This chapter discusses the need for security when building an Internet application and how the security features of both Windows NT Server 4 and SQL Server 7 are integrated. Chapter Five: SQL Installation and Set-up Here you learn to install and troubleshoot the installation of SQL Server 7. Part Two: Web Basics
This part introduces you to the basics you will need to connect your database to the Internet.
Chapter Six: Connecting to Your Database This chapter discusses the various methods you can use to connect to the back end database through the Internet. Chapter Seven: Web Site Design Tools Here you learn about the various options you have available for tools that you can use to build your Web site and connect it to your database. Chapter Eight: Connections In this chapter, the various types of connections to the Internet you can build. Chapter Nine: Setting Up NT's Web Services This chapter discusses how to setup the necessary NT Server 4 web services for your application. Part Three: Advanced Web Features
In Part Three, you learn more about building a Web-enabled database application.
Chapter Ten: Building Your Site In this chapter you build an application that uses both HTML and ASP pages. Chapter Eleven: Commerce on the Internet This chapter discusses several methods of conducting commerce on the Internet and additional applications that you may want to consider using. Chapter Twelve: Advanced Web Pages In this chapter you learn how to work with secure transactions. Part Four: Web Site Maintenance
Part Four considers the final topic of maintaining your site.
Chapter Thirteen: Information and Your Web Site In this chapter, you learn about various methods of ensuring that your site gets the traffic it needs and how to improve your site. Conventions Used In This Book
There are several very simple conventions used throughout this book to help you distinguish between text, figures, examples, and code.
All figures and tables are numbered and captioned so that you can quickly see what is being shown.
Examples and steps that you are to follow in an example are all numbered consecutively. Many of the figures will follow along with a step so that you are shown exactly what you should be doing.
Code, and things to be typed are all displayed in a monospaced type face, like this.
About the CD-ROM
This book includes a CD-ROM that contains a sample web site built using the examples in this book. The CD also features a computer-based training (CBT) module from CBT Systems, and a free copy of Microsoft's SQL Server 7.0 (120-Day Evaluation Edition). See the "About the CD-ROM" and "About SQL Server 7.0" sections at the end of the book for further details on the CD-ROM contents, installation instructions, and system requirements.
About the Author
Jeffry Byrne is a database developer and system administrator living in Portland, Oregon. His many books include Understanding Microsoft SQL Server and MCSE: Administering Microsoft SQL Server 7, both from Prentice Hall PTR.
Acknowledgments
A book dedicated to showing how to create an object as complex as a Web-enabled database does not come into fruition without a great deal of help. I must thank Jeffrey Pepper for asking me to do the project. Without the able assistance and considerable prodding from Jim Markham, and technical insights from John Vacca, this book may still be a manuscript. Thanks also to Nick Radhuber and his most able production staff for helping to catch any spelling and grammatical errors. Any remaining errors are my own.
See all Editorial Reviews
