Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1191984 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-01
• Platform: No Operating System
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 750 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Focusing on Visual Basic 6's new data-access resources, Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic and SQL Server is the definitive guide to Microsoft's database development tools. If you're concerned with creating a way for a Visual Basic application or control to talk to an SQL Server back end, this book has the answers you need.

Microsoft has six major SQL interface solutions: Visual Basic SQL (VBSQL), Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), Data Access Objects (DAO)/Jet, DAO/ODBCDirect, Remote Data Objects (RDO), and ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). William Vaughn covers all of them in this book, plus the low-level SQL Server interfaces. He includes quite a lot of sample code (in the text and on the companion CD-ROM) that shows how different access mechanisms open connections, perform queries, and return values. Sidebars and other supplementary nuggets of text use the first person to great effect--they enable Vaughn to share his considerable experience in a straightforward way.

ADO, the apparent replacement for most of Microsoft's other database- access technologies, receives especially lavish treatment. The author details each part of an ADO-facilitated transaction, and goes into depth on how to build custom ADO objects and how (and whether) to convert from RDO to ADO. If yours is a Microsoft shop, this book will prove invaluable in connecting people to the data they need. --David Wall, Amazon.com

Synopsis
The new edition of this encyclopedic guide to data access is updated to cover Visual Basic 6.0. It includes thorough coverage of the new ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) interface, as well as RDO, ODBCDirect, and DAO/Jet data interfaces. Also covers designing and building applications, managing SQL Serve data and datacentric applications, and the Data En

Customer Reviews

The first book I grab when I have any database question...
I am a developer and frequently train other developers on intermediate VB and good programming practices. I find whenever a question comes up that Bill Vaughn's book answers it. His definitions are clear and his humor keeps the book interesting. I would recommend this for anyone who need to access a database!

A must have book for VB developers doing data access.
The terrible thing about on-line reviews is that often times very happy readers don't write them. So I thought, it was about time I did.

I've purchased that last three editions of Bill's book. Why? Because simply put, 'It is the best book on Microsoft data access technologies available for VB developers'. It focuses on one back-end, SQL Server, and the multitude of API's available.

The irreverent tone which some people find 'offensive', IMHO, simply adds character to an industry which at times really needs it. The code samples which I retrieved from the CD, always make getting up to speed quick and easy. Having heard Bill speak at VBITS and spoken to him, he is always trying to provide VB developers with the best information.

The seven detailed chapters on ADO are well worth your money even if you have the previous editions; not to mention the details on the T-SQL debugger in its own chapter. Also, even if this is your first purchase, the previous edition's chapters on VBSQL and ODBC are still included on the CD! For many of us, ODBC still has a place in our development lives.

The code Bill gives you is designed to focus on data access. If you need help with VB skills or UI design look elsewhere. But if you want down and dirty code focused on how to get to SQL Server, buy this book.

Comprehensive coverage of access to SQL Server from VB
This book comprehensively covers all the different methods of accessing SQL Server from VB. When I was first starting out accessing SQL Server from VB I found version 4 of his book to be excellent in understanding the mechanisms available, but there is too little in the way of usable examples. Since then I have bought v5 (don't know why, little changed) and v6 of the book. If you are looking for a book that covers all the different access methods, this is probably it, if you are looking for a book on ADO, look elsewhere there are better books available.