This book covers all of the new and improved data-access features of Visual Basic 6 (VB6) and illustrates how to put the various components and techniques to work in real-world applications. The first chapter spells out the concepts of databases in general and then introduces the reader to the Data Control and the VB Data Form Wizard–a quick way to snap together a database interface. From there, author John Connell spends a few chapters illustrating how to code the data control and build a "bulletproof" user interface to your data.
After a discussion about planning your database structure, Connell steps you through the process of building a fully functional application that uses many important VB features. The chapters include screen shots, diagrams, and code snippets, with plenty of tips and step-by-step exercises. You can download the source code for the included examples from the publisher’s Web site.
Once you have the preliminary education under your belt, the author presents Microsoft’s Universal Data Access (UDA) architecture. He shows how to create your own data-bound ActiveX controls and use Active Server Pages (ASPs) to fetch and return database records via a Web browser. Connell finishes off this lengthy education with a brief foray into data mining and a discussion of how to export data to other applications.
