April 2000
This document provides a brief description of each MSDN Library sample collection, together with information on how to find MSDN Library samples.
Learn how to create and use ActiveX components, controls, data access, and more with the Visual Basic sample applications. For an overview and installation details, see "Visual Basic: Explore the Samples."
Visual C++ sample code covers add-ins, Active Template Library (ATL), compiler Component Object Model (COM) support, creating a customized AppWizard, Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), OLE DB templates, and building software development kit (SDK) samples. To look through the documentation abstracts and browse the Visual C++ samples directory structure, see the Visual C++ Samples page.
The Visual FoxPro sample applications are designed to let you see how the sample works, how it is coded, and how you can apply its features in your own applications. For more information, see "Visual FoxPro: Explore the Samples."
Web design samples, database samples, scripting samples, and integrated samples are a few of a number of samples you can use as a baseline for building your own interactive Web applications. For a guide to Visual InterDev samples, see "Visual InterDev: Explore the Samples."
Visual J++ includes a number of samples that you can examine to learn more about the new technologies available in this product. For a list of technologies demonstrated in these samples, together with installation instructions, see "Visual J++ Samples."
The Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 sample application, Island Hopper News, illustrates how you can design and structure applications using the Microsoft platform and the Visual Studio suite. The sample was developed using Visual Studio 6.0 and uses Component Object Model (COM) objects managed by Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), a SQL Server database, Microsoft Internet Information Server, and Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. In addition, Island Hopper uses Active Server pages (ASP) and ActiveX Data objects (ADO).
For an overview, including installation instructions and information on technologies used in the samples, see "Island Hopper News Sample."
For Island Hopper News technical articles that are new for the April 1999 MSDN Library release, see "Island Hopper News Sample Overview" and other articles in the MSDN Library/Technical Articles/Enterprise/Island Hopper News Samples bin.
Several hundred individual technical articles in the MSDN Library/Technical Articles node contain stand-alone samples. In addition to these, there are several collections of technical articles built around sample applications, described below.
Duwamish Books is a sample sales and inventory system. As the fictional Duwamish Books grows from a single store to a Web-based operation, the sample migrates from a desktop application (classical architecture) to a basic client/server environment (three-tier) and, finally, to a Web-based retail store (distributed three-tier, or n-tier).
Technologies and products featured include Visual Studio 6.0, Visual Basic 6.0, Visual C++ 6.0 (including ATL), ActiveX Controls, ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) (including disconnected recordsets and shaped recordsets), Component Object Model (COM), Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), and SQL Server (including stored procedures).
For an overview of all phases of this sample suite, go to "An Introduction to the Duwamish Books Sample."
The Fitch & Mather Expense Reporting Sample shows how to build an n-tier, Web-based expense reporting system. The application was created by Vertigo Software, a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider, for the fictitious Fitch & Mather Corporation. Vertigo's goal is to build a flexible, inexpensive, scalable solution using Visual Studio 6.0. For an overview and summary of the technical articles and samples, see "Fitch & Mather Sample: Document List."
The Fitch & Mather Stocks Application illustrates the architecture and design principles surrounding a high-performance Web application. The application was commissioned by Microsoft and developed by Vertigo Software, Inc. as part of a Windows Distributed interNet Architecture (DNA) performance and scalability study. To read about and install the application on your own system, see "Fitch & Mather Stocks: Start Here."
The Fitch & Mather Corporate Media Library Application is an n-tier Web application that combines the technologies of Visual Studio 6.0 and Microsoft BackOffice Server to deliver an interactive library catalog. This sample is part of the BackOffice Developer's Guide. See "Fitch & Mather Corporate Media Library Application" for an introduction to the sample documentation.
The HelpDesk sample is designed to demonstrate how to put together a Web-based application that is fast, practical, and fully extensible. Technologies featured include Active Server Pages (ASP) for the thin client, Active Data Objects (ADO) for generic data manipulation, and Collaborative Data Objects (CDO) for e-mail connectivity. (Note that the HelpDesk samples were built with Visual Studio 97 and have not been tested with Visual Studio 6.0.)
For an introduction to the HelpDesk sample, see "The HelpDesk Sample: Overview of an Automated Solution." See "MSDN HelpDesk Sample Installation and Deployment" for installation details.
Microsoft Visual Modeler is a tool for designing three-tier distributed applications, using class and component diagrams. With Visual Modeler you can visually design models of the classes and components your application needs, then convert these models to Visual Basic or Visual C++ code.
The tutorial "Visual Modeler Quick Start with Visual Basic" introduces you to Visual Modeler 2.0 and links to the Visual Modeler ORDERSYS sample. A second tutorial, "Visual Modeler Quick Start with Visual C++," introduces you to C++ code generation using Visual Modeler 2.0 and links to the ENROLLVM sample. See "Other Visual Modeler Samples" for a description of sample applications that demonstrate how to use Visual Modeler in conjunction with Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects 2.0 and Microsoft Transaction Server.