The integration of the database with Microsoft. NET Framework

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1 The 2nd International Conference on Virtual Learning, ICVL The integration of the database with Microsoft. NET Framework Simona Marilena Ilie 1 (1) Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest, ROMANIA ilie.simona@gmail.com Abstract The Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) describes the executable code and runtime environment that form the core of the Microsoft.Net Framework. The specification defines an environment that allows multiple high-level languages to be used on different computer platforms without being rewritten for specific architectures. Microsoft.Net Framework contains Microsoft's commercial implementation of the CLI for desktop systems, but also encompasses a larger collection of resources, libraries, and tools. Microsoft provides several such languages, including C#, VisualBasic.Net, C++, etc. ADO.NET can be used as a powerful XML middleware. The DataSet objects in ADO.NET can load its data from variant sources: a database server, a local or remote XML file and any accessible system resources. Once the data is loaded, they can be either treated as a record table or a virtual XML document. Keywords: VisualStudio. NET, VisualBasic. NET, ADO.NET, ASP.NET, XML. 1. Introduction The.NET Framework platform tries to offer a substantial framework of the object oriented programming, where the code can be locally executed, "at the distance or with distribution on the internet. An important advantage consists in the automatic management of memory, meaning that destruction the creation of the objects and of the processes aren t the programmer s duty anymore but they are automatically done. Also, the.net platform introduces a set of basis classes, as well as a set of basis types specific for every language from the.net family, that lightens the passing from one programming language to the other or even the use of more languages in one application (the so called cross-language integration ). In the dotnet languages family, Microsoft included VisualBasic. NET, Visual C++ and the new C# (which forms the new package VisualStudio. NET), and other 15 languages, like Java, Perl, Pascal or Cobol. The.NET platform has two main component parts: Common Language Runtime (CLR) and the library of classes. Common Language Runtime (CLR) is an universal execution engine. This allows writing in any language and automatically assures the memory management, the application installation, the creation and the destruction of objects and processes as well as the code security. The second component part is the library of classes, this time completely independent from language, having a XML infrastructure. 1. Definitely and firefly, the advantages of the new NET Framework platform are presented in table no The use of one specific programming language or of another depends on each programmer, the.net platform being portable on almost any programming language, even talking about Pascal. NET or Cobol.NET. As far as the development of web applications is concerned the new platform brings a library of classes, server checking and a new technology of connecting to the database (ADO.NET). Another essential innovation is the disappearance of the interpreted programs, of the so called scriptures and the passing to real programming languages, through the use in ASP of the.net VisualBasic or of C#. Table no 1 - The advantages of the new.net Framework platform

2 The 2nd International Conference on Virtual Learning, ICVL Advantages Significance The same classes and objects are Common set of basis classes available in any.net programming language, thus being introduced a compatibility between all the languages from the.net family. Automatic memory management The memory management is made through CLR, this automatically creating and destroying the objects and the processes. The security of the code access The codes access distributed towards the system files or towards the other protected resources, can be prevented on security levels. Common types system (CTS) A set of types is directly borne by CLR. Using this common set the so called cross-language integration becomes possible, the use of more languages in the same application. Microsoft brings along with its new platform a new technology of access to the database ADO.NET. The objects for the access to the database have been changed, passing to the disconnected model. ADO.NET. gives up to OLEDB and introduces a new technology of access to the database. Instead of the old technology, ADO.NET uses the so called "drivers" (or "managed providers"), which are connected directly to the data basis. ADO.NET can also read and write XML. Web Services allows the integration and interoperability between sites, no matter what technology or operating system are used. This concept will facilitate the portability or the programming distributed on the Internet and through the Internet. XML and SOAP are the main technologies that facilitate this thing. From an architectural point of view,.net includes four fundamental class categories: ASP.NET is the following generation of the Active Server Pages technology, being destined to develop some applications for the Web. A key point of the new version of ASP is the possibility of exposition of the applications functions through the Web services. ADO.NET is the new version of the bookshops set ActiveX Data Object, offering the access to the sources of relational data or other database. The integration with Microsoft.NET Framework SharePoint Portal Server 2003 is substantiated on the basis of Microsoft.NET Framework. The common software frame (.NET Framework) offers the possibility to access the bookshops in a similar way, through any application written in a language compatible with this platform (VB.NET, C#, C++ etc.). Thus, the connections with the database from the achieved Web Parts, will be administered easier through the object collection ADO.NET (ActiveX Data Object). ADO.NET offers a higher flexibility in developing the applications for the Internet, using the XML standard for the data transfer. The Web services offer special possibilities of integration with different applications, the barriers concerning the platform being eliminated. Among the elements of the Web Part type, they can use the Web services and the support for XML, in this way, a higher level of interoperability being offered. Another important thing about the.net applications is the high level of using the code again, this causing the reduction of the time necessary for the development of specialized components destined to the SharePoint portal. 2. ADO.NET and database ADO NET starts with a pattern in which the user opens a connection, executes the desired operations (data selection, data modification), then closes the connection.

3 The 2nd International Conference on Virtual Learning, ICVL Strategies: -Stocking data in the memory, in a DataSet object (kept in the memory, an object one can work with, even after disconnecting from the data source). This strategy involves creating an object, such as DataAdapter, which helps to get the data from the source. In the end, the data can be written in the database, using also a DataAdapter object. Advantages: the possibility to work with a lot of tables simultaneously; manipulating the data from a lot of data sources simultaneously (from different database, XML files, etc); facilitating the data exchange with other applications (components) through XML; easy binding to different controls (data-binding); using the data without the reinterrogation of the database; the possibility of engendering some classes which represent the structure of the DataSet. The objects defined in this way make the work with the data extremely easy. This strategy is more appropriate for the applications such as the desktop (in the client-server architectures), when people work repeatedly with the same data or when they work with the architecture "data-binding", which is conceived to work with DataSets. - Executing the operations directly in the database. For this, people use an object of the type Command. If the object Command returns data (SELECT...), they can be stocked in an object of the type DataReader. Advantages: - the possibility of executing the commands SQL of the type DDL; - reduced overhead (the objects of the type DataSet use a lot of memory); - productivity at programming. This strategy is appropriate for web applications or in case the selected data is used only once (reports, etc.). Data Transformation Services (DTS). This component from SQL Server 2000 allows import, export and transforming the existing data into various database. With its help, people can establish the connection to any data source using the technologies ADO.NET, ADO, OLE DB or ODBC. People can access the relational database, the text files, Excel, Access, Fox Pro. DTS allows transforming the data and populating the data deposit. 3. The new technology web ASP.NET ASP gave up definitively at the "scripts" (interpreted programmes), once ASP.NET appeared, the transition to the concept of compiled pages was made. The code can be written using any of the programming languages from the family dotnet. The compilation of the page is made at its first rolling, the result of the compilation being stocked separately. A new compilation of the code takes place only when the respective page has been changed. Another news is that ASP.NET uses the.net platform, which means the access to its class bookshop, that contains some objects very useful to the developers of web applications. 2): Briefly, the main advantages of the new ASP.NET are presented in the following scheme (table no. Through truly compiled active pages, the pseudo-languages are eliminated (the "scripts") and through the access to the real languages of communication and the engine CLR, the code will roll much faster. Thus, people can navigate visibly faster. Through some code files, the object code was separated from the graphic interface in distinct files. ASP.NET brings the new concepts of web forms and server controls. The web forms and server controls

4 The 2nd International Conference on Virtual Learning, ICVL are in ASP.NET objects included in the.net bookshop and they allow the programmers to write the code in a manner guided by the event, similar with the forms and Windows controls. On the ASP.NET forms they can attach server controls similar with the classic controls from Windows and then, using a chosen language, they write the programme using standard events such as OnClick, OnFocus etc. The new server controls from ASP.NET are not HTML tags anymore, but programmable objects, but, though, in the aspx file (on the server) they are really objects, in the navigator they are transformed into the old "input" tags. The real advantage that the new controls bring is the fact that they maintain the values between several successive connections. Thus, it is not necessary anymore to resend the values of the fields in a form the navigator to the server. ADVANTAGES ASP compiled Code files No cookies Web forms and server controls ADO.NET Web services Table no.2. The main advantages of ASP.NET Significance Using the languages VisualBasic.NET and C# instead of the interpreted programmes (scripts) makes the code to roll much faster. Now, it is possible to separate the interface from the logical code in two different files, even allowing the code compilation. The variables stocked in the Session object can be transmitted now to the navigator, without using the controversial cookies. The programmers can write now the code in a manner guided by events, similar with the forms and Windows controls. The access objects to the database have been changed and the paradigm used now is, to a certain extent, that of the discontinuous pattern. Having XML native, ASP.NET allows now the fast creation of accessible components from the distance through HTTP, XML and SOAP. Through truly compiled active pages, the pseudo-languages are eliminated (the "scripts") and through the access to the real languages of communication and the engine CLR, the code will roll much faster. Thus, people can navigate visibly faster. Through some code files, the object code was separated from the graphic interface in distinct files. ASP.NET brings the new concepts of web forms and server controls. The web forms and server controls are in ASP.NET objects included in the.net bookshop and they allow the programmers to write the code in a manner guided by the event, similar with the forms and Windows controls. On the ASP.NET forms they can attach server controls similar with the classic controls from Windows and then, using a chosen language, they write the programme using standard events such as OnClick, OnFocus etc. The new server controls from ASP.NET are not HTML tags anymore, but programmable objects, but, though, in the aspx file (on the server) they are really objects, in the navigator they are transformed into the old "input" tags. The real advantage that the new controls bring is the fact that they maintain the values between several successive connections. Thus, it is not necessary anymore to resend the values of

5 The 2nd International Conference on Virtual Learning, ICVL the fields in a form the navigator to the server. This is only a part of the news brought by Microsoft, but the main idea is that ASP.NET uses to the full the advantages of the new platform.net Framework and the engine CLR (Common Language Runtime), as memory management and security. The logical code of the ASP pages is now separated from HTML, in a distinct file, and compiled in what Microsoft calls "assemblies", which offer a higher speed of execution and the power of the "true" languages of programming. ASP.NET offers the implementation of the Web Services concept, through the inclusion of some technologies such as XML or SOAP. They facilitate the transfer of the data on any platform, operating system or language. The code will be written in the same way, but the compiled result is distributed through the Internet, no matter if it uses a home PC, a laptop, a cell phone or PDA. 4. The use of XML for integration in the heterogeneous mediums XML(eXtended Markup Language) is the centre of several new technologies, representing the language of the new informational era. The scripting languages rolled on part of the server (ASP and its successor ASP.Net; PHP;JSP etc.), are already mature technologies, which offer the possibility to develop some complex applications destined to the Web. The creation of a universal language which can be understood by all this diverse equipment, has become an imperious necessity. XML is the answer to these solicitations, representing a new step in the evolution of the informational era and facilitating the data exchange between diverse equipments. XML or extended Markup Language is in fact the brother of HTML language (HyperText Markup Language), and there is a series of similarities, but also fundamental differences between the two languages. First of all, both of them have a common origin represented by SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language), this one being a general language, which offers the users the possibility to organize their documents and data in an electronic format. Unlike HTML, XML language offers the user the possibility to build his own set of labels which is going to be used in formatting the respective document. Thus, a special flexibility is offered, this element being necessary to define the specialized electronic documents. SGML is very complex, being very difficult to use on a large scale and that is why they created a simplified system represented by XML. HTML defines the way of displaying the information, emphasizing their form and aspect. Unlike this one, XML deals with the way to define and stock the information, being destined particularly to organize the electronic data. HTML will be destined to build the Web pages, but XML is the technology which will facilitate the information exchange from the database. The particular way in which the information from the XML file will be displayed in the browser, can be done using the XSL style papers. The style papers have a similar role with the declarations of formatting from the CSS files (Cascading Style Sheet). In this way, they can establish a table like structure of displaying the data, the colours and fonts to format the information and also other elements of formatting the data from the XML file. Though, despite adopting XML on a large scale, the efficient development of the goods transaction is in danger because of the viruses and all the advantages derived from the simplicity and rapidity of this XML protocol can be annulled by its instability and bad security. The firewall XWall solution already offers protection against the attacks through XML, it is conformable to WS-I Profile, assures WSDL Access Control and XML Schema Restriction. 4.1 XML and the database: XML represents the easiest and also the most efficient way to transfer the data through the Internet. XML is a kind of container in which the information from the database is stocked and distributed

6 The 2nd International Conference on Virtual Learning, ICVL through the Internet, assuring that the data stocked in these files will be accessible for any device and on any platform. XML in comparison with other means of transferring the data, has the advantage of simplicity, of efficient organization of information and also of transferring the information on any platform or device. The last versions of the administration systems of the well-known client-server database (Oracle, SQL Server or IBM DB2) have integrated the support for XML technology, thus the users having the opportunity to do these operations very easily with the help of some supplementary parameters to the SQL instructions. SQL server is a system of relational database client-server, having SQL language as support in database exploitation. Essentially, this architecture needs a central database on a server, which is accessed by many clients at the same time. These clients connect as users in the local network or as users of the Internet. The consultation and updating of the database through the Internet needs some applications which will be rolled in the Web browser and will be interconnected with the data basis through some ASP scriptures or XML technology. The access of the Internet users also implies the collaboration between the database server and the Web server (for instance, Microsoft Internet Information Server), the two components working in tandem to fulfill the demands of the Internet users The conversion of the documents The conversion of the documents represents one of the key activities of the econtent Solutions division. It is about the conversion of the documents on paper support or different customary electronic formats in the process of creating the documents (Word, PDF, Quark, FrameMaker, etc) towards "intelligent" organized formats (XML, SGML) or towards formats used for publishing on the Internet and for electronic books (HTML, lit, OeB, Adobe ebook Reader, etc.). Being organized, the content can be introduced in the systems of documents management or intelligent archives, always having the opportunity of securized distribution on multiple supports: Internet, CD-ROM, database, wireless devices. 5. Conclusions The new Microsoft technology facilitates the real "portability" of applications and languages for programming because since now, people can talk about distributed applications and cross-language applications. The platform also introduces a new technology of access to the database - ADO.NET. The objects for the access to the database have been changed. ADO.NET gives up OLEDB and introduces a new technology of access to the database, passing to the pattern "disconnected" (no connexion). Instead of the old technology, ADO.NET uses the so called "drivers" (or "managed providers"), which are connected directly to the data basis. ADO.NET can also read and write XML. Web Services allows the integration and interoperability between sites, no matter what technology or operating system are used. XML is a central element of several mediums of development for the applications or administration systems of the database. It functions on any platform, it is well supported and it doesn't need a licence. It is modular, it allows defining a new document format combining and using other formats again. XML standard represents the ideal solution for archive and document management. It facilitates the use, exchange and efficient exploitation of the information (index, intelligent search), allows the term reduction and the publishing costs - a unique investment that does not require supplementary costs. The transaction solution supported by XML replaces successfully the expensive methods based on the proprietor code which assured the transaction connection between two or more companies. ASP.NET offers the implementation of the Web Services concept, through the inclusion of some technologies such as XML or SOAP. They facilitate the transfer of the data on any platform, operating system or language. The code will be written in the same way, but the compiled result is distributed through the Internet, no matter if it uses a home PC, a laptop, a cell phone or PDA.

7 The 2nd International Conference on Virtual Learning, ICVL References: [1] Developing Microsoft ASP.NET Web Applications Using Visual Studio.NET, Microsoft, U.S.A., 2002; [2] Developing XML Web Services Using Microsoft ASP.NET, Microsoft, U.S.A., 2002; [3] Programming with Microsoft ADO.NET, Microsoft, U.S.A., 2002; [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Database Systems: Design, Implementation, and Management Tenth Edition. Chapter 14 Database Connectivity and Web Technologies

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