Preparation

You will need some table data to query against. I am using the Northwind sample database. You can get links to download a copy of the sample database and instructions how to install from here.

I will be using the following technologies for this demonstration.

1. ASP.NET 2.0
2. SQL Server Express 2005 – Code should work with SQL Server versions 2000 and higher

For the impatient you can download the entire project here.

SQL Server

Stored Procedure

Copy the following code into a new stored procecure with SQL Server Management Studio or directly within the Visual Studio Server Explorer.

Stored Procedure: CountCustomers.sql

CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.CountCustomers
AS
SELECT COUNT(CustomerID) AS TotalCustomers
FROM Customers

ASP.NET

web.config

Add the following SQL connection string to your web.config if you already do not have a connection to your database.

Web Form

Create a new web site project or a new web form page to an existing web site. Add a label control to display the total number of customers. Web Form: ExecuteScalar.aspx

Total Number of Customers:

Code Behind

Add the following to your using statements.

using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Web.Configuration;

Place the following within your Page_Load or event you want the count to be displayed.

///
/// SQL
/// 

// Open SQL connection
SqlConnection myConnection = new SqlConnection(WebConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["NorthwindConnectionString"].ToString());
myConnection.Open();

// Create command
SqlCommand myCommand = new SqlCommand("CountCustomers", myConnection);
myCommand.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;

// Execute
int totalCustomerCount = Convert.ToInt32(myCommand.ExecuteScalar());

// Close SQL connection
myConnection.Dispose();
myConnection.Close();

///
/// Set control values
/// 

Label1.Text = totalCustomerCount.ToString();

Output

You should have the following output.

Download

Download the complete project.

                        

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Samples
http://www.codeplex.com/SqlServerSamples

SQL Server Database Examples
http://www.codeplex.com/SqlServerSamples#databases

I use the Northwind tables from the SQL Server 2000 Sample DBs.

How to Install the Northwind Sample Database

1. Unzip the sample database files you just downloaded
2. Open SQL Server Management Studio (Express if you don’t have the full version) and connect to your SQL Server instance
3. Create a new database called Northwind by right clicking Database and select New Database
4. Go to File/Open, navigate to where you unzipped the download
5. Select instnwnd.sql
6. Click Execute to start the import
7. It will take ~1 minute to complete

                        

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IDEs (Integrated Development Environment)*

Microsoft ASP.NET

Both of the IDEs below are top notch and my personal favorites for developing against Microsoft technologies. Both have incredible built in debuggers including JavaScript debugging, drag and drop Web Control functionality, direct SQL Server support, source control support, ASP.NET AJAX integration, the list goes on. Click on the links below to view a full feature list.

Microsoft Visual Web Developer – Free
http://www.microsoft.com/express/vwd/

Microsoft Visual Studio
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/products/default.aspx

PHP, Perl, Ruby, Java and Other Open Source Technologies

There are a lot more open source and commercial IDEs available for the Open Source technologies that are not listed here and quick search on Google will help if you are looking for something in particular.

I only develop against PHP in the Open Source space so I will list PHP IDEs that I use.

Eclipse PDT Project – Free – Cross Platform
http://www.eclipse.org/pdt/
This is an incredible Open Source (free) project that will give most developers just about every feature you will need. The one thing I must mention about Eclipse is that it is has a huge list of plugins that extend it’s base functionality from integrated database support, just about every programming language support, integrated remote server clients and much more.

EasyEclipse – Free – Cross Platform
http://www.easyeclipse.org/site/home/index.html
Similar to Eclipse PDT but with the most common used plugins already installed. The base Eclipse version may be behind from the latest version.

Zend Studio Professional for Eclipse – Cross Platform
http://www.zend.com/en/products/studio/
My experience with Zend Studio Professional for Eclipse has been mixed. It has all of the base functionality as the Eclipse PDT project (which a lot of Zend Studio is based on) as well as hooks into their proprietary products such as Zend Core and includes support for the PHP/Java bridge.

I love the extra functionality Zend Studio for Eclipse comes with that Eclipse PDT doesn’t have but it is slower and more buggy (crashes and constant workspace builds that run forever). Beyond a few bugs I encounter on a regular basis I believe it is worth the cost of a license since you do get support directly from Zend, a lot of incredible functionality and regular updates from Zend.

Aptana – Free – Cross Platform
http://www.aptana.com/
This is my favorite Eclipse plugin that can also be installed as a stand-alone application. I originally used this plugin for it’s excellent support for HTML, CSS and JavaScript but over time they have included some great tools such as their Jaxer Server and Aptana Cloud. If you are a Zend Studio user you will love the improvement of HTML, CSS and JavaScript support this plugin has over the built in tools. This plugin does support several other languages.

Database Management

Microsoft SQL Server

SQL Server Management Studio Express – Free
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=C243A5AE-4BD1-4E3D-94B8-5A0F62BF7796&displaylang=en
This is a great tool to management your SQL Server Express installation. This is a nice addition by Microsoft since the old Express version (MSDE, equivalent to SQL Server 2000) did not come with any managment software.

The biggest drawback to this is it does not have any direct method to backup or export all of your database data. I suggest grabbing a copy of the SQL Server Toolkit and use DTS to handle that or use the tool available from Peter A. Bromberg.

SQL Server Management Studio
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms174173.aspx
This is the full version of the SQL Server tools and has everything you need to manage your SQL Server data. A copy usually comes with a full version of Visual Studio.

MySQL

MySQL GUI Tools – Free
http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/gui-tools/5.0.html
MySQL has provided some basic tools to handle your MySQL installation from server and resource management to a query tool. Very handy but very basic as well. Does not include methods for direct export or import of data.

Navicat – Cross Platform
http://www.navicat.com/
This is the best MySQL management tool I have used. Very straight forward interface with everything you need at your fingertips. Has many data management tools with the ability to import, export, migrate data to and from other MySQL servers, schedule backups, create reports and much more. This is another commercial application that is worth the cost of the license.

They also provide versions for Oracle and PostgreSQL.

Glossary*

IDE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_development_environment

Continued

Read on to Part II of the My Essential Developer’s Toolbox series of posts.

                        

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Export Your Database

Grab a fresh copy of the free tool.

http://www.eggheadcafe.com/articles/20040913.zip

Once you have downloaded the zip file you can open the pre-built application in the following folder:

<extracted directory>\bin\Debug\WindowsApplication1.exe

If you are using SQL Express use the following Server string:

server\SQLEXPRESS

OR for local connections:

.\SQLEXPRESS

The only downside I see to this utility is that you cannot use Windows Authentication.

Enter the server information to connect to your database. Select your database, the objects you wish to export and click EXPORT.

Once the export process is complete it will ask you where you wish to save the file.

Import Your Database

Now that you have a full SQL file representation of your database you can use SQL Server Management Studio Express to create your exported database.

Fire up SQL Server Management Studio Express and log in.

NOTE: If you are migrating your data to a server that does not have a matching database you must first create a database with the same name from your export.

Open your fresh database export file.

Once your file has been loaded make sure that there are no SQL syntax errors.

If there are no errors execute.

Now your database should have all the objects and data you exported earlier.

Resources

SQL Server 2005 Express
http://www.microsoft.com/Sqlserver/2005/en/us/express.aspx

SQL Export Tool
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/articles/20040913.asp

SQL Server Management Studio Express
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=C243A5AE-4BD1-4E3D-94B8-5A0F62BF7796&displaylang=en

Credits

Many thanks to eggheadcafe.com and Peter A. Bromberg for this great tool.

                        

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• Sample Databases for SQL Server
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