Content Management Systems allow someone with no computer
programming skills and no website design experience to be able to add/edit
content on a website. In this article Teodor Kuduschiev will guide you through the basic of the Content Management Systems and will show you why you need a database in order to use DMXzone's Dreamweaver extension - Advanced HTML Editor 3.
I still remember it was a neatly done report that got me my first pay raise. Ever since, I am very passionate about report writing (every one likes a pay raise right?). In this article, I will guide you through step by step on how to create a simple report using MS Reporting Services 2005; and host it with a Smart Client application.
So, are you ready to get your pay raise? Why not! Who knows, your neatly done report can just do that.
Prior to this article, I wrote three others, which were addressing different issues related to the reporting services. However, all of them were targeted towards the intermediate-advance level audience. From all the feedback I received, one was common, quite a few of you asked for an article which will be specially geared towards the novice-beginner level.
I assume the reader has a basic understanding of Visual Studio 2005 IDE and is comfortable with writing code using C#. You don’t have to know MS Reporting Services to understand this article; although, any pervious experience with writing a report would help.
Although, I am calling this article 101, my intention is to adopt the applied approach rather then discussing each and every topic associated with reporting services. I am touching the most common aspects of report design and I use the most common controls. I would strongly encourage you to go through the MSDN documentation for more detailed information.
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Image: 1.0
We hear this all the time, “Two birds with one stone.” What if I say, “Four birds with one stone”? I am sure four sound much better then two. So, what are my four birds and one stone?
My four birds are four distinct different outputs generated using source NorthWind->Orders (SQL Server 2000) and my stone is single physical Ms Reporting Services .rdlc file, which I am using as template to produce different outputs. This particular figure of speech is perfectly applicable to the technique, which I am going to share with you.
The application of this technique is not something new; we all have done same or similar while dealing with reporting of data. What is new here is the approach, which I can call to reuse of report (as we commonly reuse the code).
Let us discuss a practical scenario here. If I ask you, what kind of output you see in (image 1.0); you would probably say a simple report listing orders information. Well, you guessed it right. What will you do if the end-users want same report using data grouped by CustomerID(image 1.1)? In most cases, you might end up writing a new report. In this article, I will demonstrate how to reuse the report to produce the demanded output without the need of writing a new report.
I assume the reader of this article is comfortable using Visual Studio 2005, C#, Sql Server 2000 and Windows Forms. Basic understanding of how report designer works is helpful to work with attached code.
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Download Source Code / PDF Help File: 
Tutorial #15 Today we'll add the sortable columns behavior to our master records page, this also know as creating a sortable datagrid. This is our first step with making our master records page more user friendly.
Read MoreThis Tutorial shows you how easy it is to import an Excel sheet into MySQL.
Read MoreLast time we introduced designing a MySQL database with multiple tables in mind. We discussed the basics of how to put together some SQL to JOIN our tables together in useful ways. This tutorial follows on, looking a bit closer at using the database we created in Dreamweaver.
This time we're going to look at using some JOIN queries in a web application, using Dreamweaver MX 2004 and its server behaviours. Again we'll be using our CD database as an example. We'll also look at some of the functions we can use to group rows returned by our queries together.
Read MoreWhen you're creating your PHP applications with Dreamweaver, it's necessary to have a good basic knowledge of how SQL works and how to get the information you want, from the tables you've got.
In this article, we're going to explore the mysteries of working with multiple tables, and the relationships they have between them. We'll start off by talking about how to define your data so each table has a logical relationship to each other table, then move on to using those relationships to create useful queries. It's aimed squarely at people who only have the basics of how to work with MySQL, and want to delve a bit further.
We're going to use a simple database about a CD collection to show off the concepts.
When you first start out, it's very easy to just dump bits of data about a concept into one table.
A typical table that somebody new to database might create would be:
CDs
|
Id (BigInt) |
Name(Varchar 60) |
Artist(Varchar 60) |
Owner(Varchar 60) |
Publisher(Varchar 60) |
|
1 |
Regular Urban Survivors |
Terrorvision |
Matt |
EMI |
|
2 |
Appetite For Destruction |
Guns and Roses |
Matt |
Geffen |
Now, the problem with this is that you get a lot of repetition. Every time I add a new CD I re-type the Band, the Owner and the Publisher, if somebody different owns the CD I have to add a new CD with a different owner. This isn't very good for storage purposes (I'm storing the names multiple times), results in very big tables and just isn't very efficient. With just 5 columns this isn't too noticeable, but when we start adding more details like owner contact number, owner addresses, publisher addresses, the duplication will start to become really unwieldy.
Read MoreHandling strings in SQL requires an understanding of basic string syntax, from declaring tables with character columns, to entering strings in SQL for inserting, updating, or searching for rows.
But that's just the start. Databases also have a huge assortment of string functions, from simple concatenation to SUBSTRING, LENGTH, and a variety of even more powerful functions.
In this article, Rudy reviews the basic syntax and gives several tips for working successfully with strings, and then provides a number of examples of string functions in action, examples which you may think might only ever be solved with application scripting logic but which, upon closer inspection, can be accomplished with string functions in single queries.
Read MoreHave you ever run across the suggestion that you should always use NOT NULL when creating a database table? What is NULL, anyway? Why would you want to use it? What are the advantages to using NULL? How does NULL figure in to LEFT OUTER joins?
Rudy answers these questions with plenty of examples in this article about NULL. The advantage to using NULL is described in the context of designing database tables where a column's value can be unknown or not appropriate. NULL is also discussed in the use of aggregate functions. Finally, an illustration of NULL in LEFT OUTER joins is provided.
Should you use NULL? This article answers the question positively.
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The tips are divided into these categories:
The syntax tips cover reserved words, NULLs, strings, parentheses, and IN lists. You'll also learn what's wrong with "select star", why JOIN syntax is better, and when to write RIGHT OUTER JOINs (hint: never).
The performance tips barely scratch the surface (database performance is a career unto itself), but they include the importance of indexes and how to make sure you don't sabotage your own indexes.
The design tips include advice about first normal form, using simple datatypes, and autonumbers.
If you like these tips (or not), if you want to see more, or if you have any feedback on them at all, please post a comment in the discussion forum for this article.
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By analyzing the performance dynamics of paging in general, and then exploring the specific SQL to carry it off, Rudy's tutorial will give you the confidence to implement paging on your own site.
SQL can, to someone learning it, seem incredibly difficult beyond the simplest statements. There's nothing wrong with simple SQL, though. Part of the art of SQL is getting complex results with simple statements. And as parents who have read this book many times can confirm, even Go, Dog. Go! is filled with subtlety, intrigue, beauty, power, wonder, infuriation, surprise, and joy, all while being written in simple language. Just like SQL.
This article describes CASE expressions and what you can do with them. The syntax is covered briefly, mainly because there's little to explain, since it's rather straightforward. At least, so it appears on the surface. Then come the examples, which reveal how comprehensive, powerful, yet simple your SQL can be with CASE expressions.
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