Sams Teach Yourself Database Programming with Visual C++ in 21 Days Introduction Week at a Glance Chapter Choosing the Right Database Technology Chapter Tools for Database Development in Visual C++ Developer Studio Chapter Retrieving Data Through Structured Query Language (SQL) Chapter Retrieving SQL Data Through a C++ API Chapter Adding, Modifying, and Deleting Data Chapter Harnessing the Power of Relational Database Servers Chapter Database Design Week in Review Week at a Glance Chapter Utilizing the Capabilities of Database Servers Chapter Understanding COM Chapter 10 Database Client Technologies and the Secrets of ADO Chapter 11 Multitier Architectures Chapter 12 Using Microsoft Transaction Server to Build Scalable Applications Chapter 13 Melding Object-Oriented Programming with Relational Databases Chapter 14 Legacy Database APIs Week in Review Week at a Glance Chapter 15 The ODBC API and the MFC ODBC Classes Chapter 16 The Ultimate Database API: OLE DB Chapter 17 Accessing a Data Source with OLE DB Chapter 18 Querying a Data Source Chapter 19 Navigating the Result of a Query Chapter 20 Properties, Transactions, and Indexes Chapter 21 OLE DB Error Handling Week in Review Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Appendix D Appendix E Appendix F © Copyright, Sams Publishing All rights reserved Sams Teach Yourself Database Programming with Visual C++6 in 21 Days ● ● ● ● ● Introduction Who Should Read This Book ❍ What You Will Need to Use This Book Acknowledgments About the Authors Tell Us What You Think! Introduction Welcome to Sams Teach Yourself Database Programming with Visual C++ in 21 Days The 21 lessons presented in this book provide C++ developers with a much needed treatise on databases from a C++ programmerís perspective C++ Windows developers already possess valuable knowledge of object-oriented programming in the Windows environment However, many C++ programmers lack knowledge of database technology Knowledge of database technologies is crucial for building software for business applications, as well as for many scientific applications A Windows application that is written in C++ and has a powerful database as its foundation can perform amazing feats With the advent of multitier architectures, C++ takes on a major role as an excellent language for building server and middle-tier software components Writing multitier software components frequently involves using C++ with database technology Having knowledge of C++ alone is often not enough for these modern applications You need knowledge of C++ database programming if your skills are to be at the forefront of Windows software development This book builds on your knowledge of C++ Windows programming by teaching database expertise in a way that you, as a C++ developer, can really take advantage of it Here is a brief rundown of what you will learn: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● How to choose the most appropriate database technology for each of your applications Evaluations of direct file access, simple record managers, ISAM databases, relational database servers, and object databases Database APIs, including ADO, OLEDB, ODBC, and DAO, and how to use them in C++ applications Relational database design principles and techniques Relational database programming and SQL COM programming for building and using software components Multitier application development, including Web-based development, and how to build and use Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) software components in C++ How to take full advantage of relational database servers, such as SQL Server and Oracle How to meld relational databases with object-oriented programming Who Should Read This Book This book is designed to teach database programming to intermediate-level C++ Windows developers If you already know something about C++ Windows programming and want to expand your skills to include database programming, this is your book What You Will Need to Use This Book Most of the programming examples in this book use Visual Studio Enterprise Edition The Enterprise Edition has built-in tools for relational databases; these tools are very helpful for database programming You can get by with the Professional Edition of Visual Studio if the Enterprise Edition is not available to you This book also teaches programming for Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), Internet Information Server (IIS), and Internet Explorer version (IE4), so you will need these software packages as well You can use Microsoftís Personal Web Server (PWS) in place of IIS if you like In terms of operating systems, Windows NT 4.0 makes an excellent platform running MTS and IIS You probably could make with Windows 98 instead of Windows NT as long as your machine has sufficient memory to run Visual Studio, MTS, IIS (or PWS), and IE4 simultaneously Acknowledgments Writing a book is something that I've always wanted to I am very pleased that I have had the opportunity to so There are many people who made it possible for me to complete this work and who deserve my thanks Many friends and colleagues gave me much needed encouragement I appreciate their helpful feedback, which kept my motivation from sinking at critical times My wife and my three young sons made many sacrifices to give me the time I needed to write My sons endured the long hours of my absence from them with selflessness and maturity My wife, Capri, carried the burden of being virtually a single parent while I was holed up in the office, pouring my best efforts into these pages In addition, Capri produced the line drawings for this book and did some initial editing as well Without a doubt, her help was instrumental in my completing it About the Authors Lyn Robison is a career software developer who specializes in database, COM, C++, and Java development on the Windows platform In addition to software development, Lyn enjoys writing, speaking, and teaching new technologies to technical and non-technical audiences Lyn works as a developer at Webridge Inc., in Portland, Oregon Webridge is a small software company poised on the edge of greatness When he is not working, Lyn enjoys watching college football and playing basketball He lacks just 12 inches in his vertical leap from being able to slam-dunk the basketball You can reach Lyn via email at LynRobison@aol.com K David White is a software developer with over 10 years' experience developing control, database, and user interface applications He has been developing Windows NT applications for the last five years Dave can be reached at kdwhite@donet.com Tell Us What You Think! As the reader of this book, you are our most important critic and commentator We value your opinion and want to know what we're doing right, what we could better, what areas you'd like to see us publish in, and any other words of wisdom you're willing to pass our way As the Executive Editor for the Advanced Programming team at Macmillan Computer Publishing, I welcome your comments You can fax, email, or write me directly to let me know what you did or didn't like about this book-as well as what we can to make our books stronger Please note that I cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic of this book, and that due to the high volume of mail I receive, I might not be able to reply to every message When you write, please be sure to include this book's title and author as well as your name and phone or fax number I will carefully review your comments and share them with the author and editors who worked on the book 317-817-7070 Email: adv_prog@mcp.com Fax: Bradley L Jones, Executive Editor, Advanced Programming, Mail: Macmillan Computer Publishing, 201 West 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290 USA © Copyright, Macmillan Computer Publishing All rights reserved Teach Yourself Database Programming with Visual C++ in 21 days Week At a Glance This week, you learn essential database application programming in Visual C++ You learn the database tools that are included in Visual Studio You write database applications and some relational database programming You wrap up the week by learning how to design a good relation database ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Day You examine the various database technologies at your disposal Day You learn about the relational database tools built into Visual Studio Day You learn about SQL and write some SQL queries to retrieve data from a database Day You write your first database application, using ADOóa C++ database programming API Day You write SQL and C++ code to add, modify, and delete data in relational databases Day You learn client/server programming techniques and the power of relational database servers Day You learn to design your own relational databases © Copyright, Sams Publishing All rights reserved Teach Yourself Database Programming with Visual C++ in 21 days Day Choosing the Right Database Technology ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Deciding the Appropriate Database Technology for Your Visual C++ Applications Building Your Own Database in C++ ❍ Defining Metadata ❍ A C++ Base Class to Handle the Database Work ❍ Problems with Building Your Own Database OLE Structured Storage Record Managers (Btrieve) ❍ Listing 1.3 Btrieve Example Desktop Databases (FoxPro and Access) ❍ Accessing ISAM Data over a LAN Object Databases Relational Database Servers (Oracle and SQL Server) How Do the Database Technologies Compare? Summary Q&A Workshop ❍ Quiz ❍ Exercises The storing of data is an essential part of most software applications Virtually all C++ applications have the need to persist, or store, data of some kind Many applications also need to retrieve data efficiently These applications typically need to search through data that has been stored in order to retrieve specific information This need to search for and retrieve data means that an application must use a database A variety of database technologies are available to C++ programmers Today you will explore these database technologies and gain the knowledge you need to choose the appropriate technologies for your applications Today you will learn ● ● ● ● How to choose the appropriate database technology for your Visual C++ applications The difficulties of trying to invent your own database system The different database technologies, including OLE structured storage, record managers (such as Btrieve), desktop databases (such as FoxPro and Access), object databases, and relational database servers (such as Oracle and SQL Server) How to take advantage of existing database technology to make your development efforts more productive and successful In addition to covering these topics, you will see how to write the code for implementing each of the various database technologies available to C++ programmers Deciding the Appropriate Database Technology for Your Visual C++ Applications Choosing the right database technology means finding a technology that fills the requirements of your application Without knowing the capabilities of the various database technologies, you can easily choose the wrong one for your particular application In the following sections, you will learn the capabilities of each database technology When choosing a database technology, you need to carefully consider the importance of your application's data It would be easy to think that the data needs to be used only by your application However, if you write your application with that thought in mind, you will end up creating an application that has a closed, proprietary database that no one else can use or make sense of You might think a closed, proprietary database is okay for your application because your application is the only one that needs access to the data Don't underestimate the value of the data and the need to access the data through more than just your application NOTE If your data is important to you, it's probably important to someone else, who will want access to the data through more than just your application Even if you are certain that others will never want to access your data except through your application, what about future implementations of your application? What if your application is Windows executable, and you need to produce a new version of it that runs behind a Web server and provides information to users with Web browsers? Because of the nature of Web development tools, an open, nonproprietary database can enable you to perform this conversion in much less time than a closed, proprietary database In the end, if you decide to write an application that has a closed database, you will ultimately shorten the life expectancy of your own application An application that has an open, accessible database and can interoperate with other databases and applications will sooner or later replace yours Now you will go through the process of choosing a database technology for an imaginary application You will examine each database technology and see what each one has to offer Through this process, you will learn the capabilities (and limitations) of each database technology and how to choose the most appropriate technology for your applications The best way to learn to choose a database is by using an example and applying it to each technology Let's say that your job is to write an application for a company that sells products through television advertising The company advertises products such as a vegetable slicing machine, a bamboo steamer, 8-track love songs of the 70s, and so on, and offers them for the low, low price of $19.95 Each time the TV commercial airs, the company's 800 line is flooded with calls from buyers The salespeople who take these calls have your application running on their computers They use your application to enter each order so that the product can be shipped and the buyer's money can be collected This sounds easy enough Your application needs to present a window into which the salesperson can enter the order, and then your application must write the information for the order to a data file This being said, you might decide it would be easier to create your own database Building Your Own Database in C++ A C++ programmer is usually confident of his ability to write software After all, if you can master a language as complex and powerful as C++, you can no doubt write any software tool you need, including your own database system However, because of the maturity of existing database technology, writing your own database is rarely a productive effort Although an electrical engineer can perhaps build her own cell phone, doing so makes little practical sense Existing cell phones are plentiful and inexpensive and adhere to standards that enable them to interoperate with cellular networks and other cell phones ... reserved Teach Yourself Database Programming with Visual C++ in 21 days Week At a Glance This week, you learn essential database application programming in Visual C++ You learn the database. .. comparing the database requirements with the capabilities of the database technology that you have chosen © Copyright, Sams Publishing All rights reserved Teach Yourself Database Programming with Visual... Introduction Welcome to Sams Teach Yourself Database Programming with Visual C++ in 21 Days The 21 lessons presented in this book provide C++ developers with a much needed treatise on databases from a C++