ADO.NET using Visual Basic 2005 Course

In this course, participants learn about the features provided by ADO.NET 2.0. Attendees learn to connect to data sources, retrieve and manipulate data, and perform data updates. They will examine the various ADO.NET classes, including Connection, Command, DataReader, DataSet, DataTable, DataRelation, and more. Participants will see how to apply constraints and relationships to disconnected data, learn how to update data, including how to handle stored procedures, parameters, and return value, understand how to search, sort, and filter data stored in a DataSet or DataTable, and become familiar with strongly typed DataSets and learn their advantages. Attendees will also see how to leverage the power of XML through serialization, Diffgrams, and the XMLDataDocument object. They will also examine new ADO.NET features that support SQL Server 2005 technologies, including asynchronous commands, Multiple Active Result Sets, bulk inserts, and more.

This course is designed for developers.

Upon completion of this course, the participant will be able to:
> Connect to multiple types of data sources, including SQL Server and Microsoft Jet/Access
> Retrieve data, using the DataAdapter, Command, and DataReader classes
> Create and configure Command parameters
> Cache data using the DataTable and DataSet classes
> Apply constraints to DataTable and DataColumn objects
> Create relations between DataTable objects, using the DataRelation class
> Update data using DataAdapter and Command classes
> Work with strongly typed DataSet and DataTable classes
> Retrieve and update data using TableAdapter classes
> Handle exceptions and data errors, including concurrency errors
> Search, sort, and filter data using the DataView class
> Work with auto-increment columns in multi-user applications
> Retrieve and generate XML data
> Take advantage of new SQL Server 2005 features

Accessing Data with ADO.NET
The ADO.NET Object Model
Connecting to Data
Understanding Connection Pooling
Using Provider Statistics

Retrieving Data
Introducing Command Classes
Working with Data Readers
Digging Deeper into Commands and DataReaders

Caching Data in DataSets
Populating a DataTable
Filling DataSets Using a DataAdapter
Using the Load Method
Retrieving Schema Information
DataSets and XML

Applying Constraints
Using Constraints
Foreign Key Constraints
Other Constraints

Data Relations
Creating DataRelations
Navigation Pathways
Expressions and Relations
Specifying XML Nesting

Updating Data
Creating Commands with CommandBuilders
Creating Custom Commands
Using Stored Procedures
Performing Batch Updates

Using Strongly Typed DataSet Classes
Using a Loosely Typed DataSet
Creating a Strongly Typed DataSet
Using a Strongly Typed DataSet
Issues with Using a Strongly Typed DataSet

Handling Exceptions and Data Errors
Using Structured Exception Handling
Handling Provider Errors
Using Transactions
Handling Concurrency Conflicts

Searching, Sorting, and Filtering
The Sample Project
Working with DataTables
Working with DataViews

Handling AutoIncrement Columns
The AutoIncrement Property
Retrieving New Database Values
Avoiding Multi-User Conflicts
Merging Inserted Rows
Other Considerations

XML Techniques
ADO.NET and XML
Saving DataSet Data as XML
Loading XML Data into a DataSet
Working with DataSets and XML Together
Working with XML Data in SQL Server

Features Supporting SQL Server 2005
Enumerating Servers on a Network
Asynchronous Processing
Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS)
Bulk Copy Operations
SQL Server Max Data Types
SQL Server User Defined Types
SQL Server Snapshot Isolation