Database Basics

Microsoft^® Visual InterDev™ gives you the capability to connect to data in most databases. For example, you can connect to SQL Server, Microsoft^® Access, or Oracle databases. Once you've established a connection to a database, you can select a particular set of records from the database, and display this set of records on your Web page.

To make displaying and editing data on your Web page easy, Visual InterDev supplies a wide variety of data-bound design-time controls:

• The Recordset control references a database and allows you to extract a set of records.
  
  
• The RecordsetNavbar control lets you move from record to record within the database from your Web page.
  
  
• Additional individual controls, such as labels, text boxes, and list boxes, display the data from the database.
  
  
• The Grid control makes it easy to display the data from your database on the Web page. You can display multiple records in a grid, sort the records, and control the formatting and layout of the data.

When you add a design-time control to an ASP or HTML page, the control automatically places script on the page, which displays the data and enables functionality such as editing the data or navigating through the records. You can also extend the functionality of the Web page (for example, add validation or custom navigation) by writing event handlers which can modify the state of the controls.

Note   You can also use the data environment to add data connections and create and manage data-bound controls in one location. This enables you to create powerful custom solutions directly, using the Visual InterDev editor and debugger to modify the script that displays and manipulates the data on the Web page. For more information, see The Data Environment.