MSDN Magazine March 2000

Article
10/25/2019

March 2000

SQL Server 2000: New XML Features Streamline Web-centric App Development

With XML support in SQL Server 2000, you can query SQL over HTTP with a URL, bring the data down to the browser, and manipulate it on the client machine. By adding Internet Explorer 5.0 to the mix and using XSL to convert the XML to HTML, you can lighten the load on your database server. Going still one step further, by using Vector Markup Language you can even create drawings on the fly using the data from your SQL queries. This article illustrates this combination of technologies by leading you through the creation of a Web app that queries a digitized street map database that's been imported into a SQL Server database, sorts and displays the data using XML, and draws maps using VML. Joshua Trupin

A Young Person's Guide to The Simple Object Access Protocol: SOAP Increases Interoperability Across

The Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) facilitates interoperability among a wide range of programs and platforms, making existing applications accessible to a broader range of users. SOAP combines the proven Web technology of HTTP with the flexibility and extensibility of XML. This article takes you on a comprehensive tour of Object RPC technology to help you understand the foundations of SOAP and the ways it overcomes many of the limitations of existing technologies, including DCOM and CORBA. This is followed by a detailed treatment of the SOAP encoding rules with a focus on how SOAP maps onto existing ORPC concepts. Don Box

Windows 2000 UI Innovations: Enhance Your User's Experience with New Infotip and Icon Overlay Shell

Windows 2000 includes some helpful new UI features you can customize and implement in your own applications. In this article you'll see how to provide infotips for files, after making the appropriate registry entries. Then create a custom column handler extension, resulting in a new column for the Explorer's Details view. In order to further extend the shell, additional UI goodies will also be examined and implemented including: search handlers, cleanup handlers, folder customizations using property sheet handlers and icon overlays, and context menu shell extensions. All the code samples are rolled up into a handy package which we've named, by tradition, ShellToys. Dino Esposito

Drag and Drop Data Manipulation Powered by XML

Building on the browser-based org chart featuring VML (Vector Markup Language) described previously in Microsoft Internet Developer, this article takes you through the process of refining that sample app by using XML, XSL, and JScript code to create a new, improved version. Drag and drop editing is added to the org chart interface thanks to built-in support found in Internet Explorer 5.0. XML and JScript allow data manipulated on the screen to be saved back to the server in its native format. The final product of this combination of XML, XSL, and VML is a high performance, scalable Internet app that uses processing on the client to reduce stress for the server. Scott Howlett and Jeff Dunmall

Build an Easy Maintenance Intranet Site: Using Office Docs, File System Object, and OLE Structured Storage

If you've ever needed to build an easy-to-maintain intranet site, here's a solution based on Microsoft Office documents. Many sites require constant updating of their HTML, but the use of Word documents can simplify the process. This article details the construction of a human resources site that exploits the File System Object (FSO), OLE Structured Storage, and ActiveX capabilities of Word documents. This allows the HR staff to copy their revised or newly created Word files to the site, dynamically generate a list of links to their files, and free IS from the constant recoding of HR updates into new HTML pages. Josef Finsel

Editor's Note: Welcome to the future of MSJ and MIND-it's called MSDN Magazine

Flux: On the Cusp-70 hour MP3 Device, Wireless Networking, and Any-shape Batteries

Douglas Boling

New Stuff: Resources for Your Developer Toolbox

Theresa W. Carey

Web Q&A: Web Page Design Tips, Digital Dashboard, Screen Scraper Alternatives, and More

Robert Hess

Cutting Edge: Accessing Recordsets over the Internet

Dino Esposito

The XML Files: XML-based Persistence Behaviors Fix Web Farm Headaches

Aaron Skonnard

Serving the Web: Compiling Components in Visual Basic for ASP