Description
Full of examples, best practices, and real-world advice, this book thoroughly explores Transact-SQL, a full-featured procedural language that extends the power of SQL on both Microsoft SQL Server 6.5/7.0 and Sybase version 11.5. Comes with a CD-ROM containing extensive examples.
Full Description
Transact-SQL is a procedural language used on both Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase SQL Server systems. It is a full-featured programming language that dramatically extends the power of SQL (Structured Query Language).
The language provides programmers with a broad range of features, including:
- A rich set of datatypes, including specialized types for identifiers, timestamps, images, and long text fields
- Local and global variables
- Fully programmable server objects like views, triggers, stored procedures, and batch command files
- Conditional processing
- Exception and error handling
- Full transaction control
- System stored procedures that reduce the complexity of many operations, like adding users or automatically generating HTML Web pages
In recent years, the versions of Transact-SQL have diverged on Microsoft and Sybase systems; the book explains the differences. It also contains up-to-the-minute information on the latest versions: Microsoft SQL Server versions 6.5 and 7.0 and Sybase version 11.5.
A brief table of contents follows:
PART I: The Basics: Programming in Transact-SQL
1. Introduction to Transact-SQL
2. Matching Business Rules
3. SQL Primer
4. Transact-SQL Fundamentals
5. Format and Style
PART II: The Building Blocks: Transact-SQL Language Elements
6. Datatypes and Variables
7. Conditional Processing
8. Row Processing with Cursors
9. Error Handling
10. Temporary Objects
11. Transactions and Logging
PART III: Functions and Extensions
12. Functions
13. CASE Expressions and Transact-SQL Extensions
PART IV: Programming Transact-SQL Objects
14. Stored Procedures and Modular Design
15. Triggers
16. Views
17. System and Extended Stored Procedures and BCP
PART V: Performance Tuning and Optimization
18. Transact-SQL Code Design
19. Code Maintenance in the SQL Server
20. Transact-SQL Optimization and Tuning
21. Debugging Transact-SQL Programs
PART VI: Appendixes
A. System Tables
B. What's New for Transact-SQL in Microsoft SQL Server 7.0? C. BCP
The book comes with a CD-ROM containing an extensive set of examples from the book and complete programs that illustrate the power of the language.
Colophon
Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animals on the cover of Transact-SQL Programming are wallcreepers (Tichodrama muraria), colorful nuthatches with two subspecies, whose habitat is the alpine regions from Eurasia to North Africa. The wallcreeper is a rock dweller, and seeks food by climbing in its native rocks and ravines-hence the name. Its hind toes have long claws with which the bird can grasp small protrusions. While climbing, wallcreepers flap their wings, showing brief glimpses of a red band of feathers; this coloring is intensified in males during mating season. An adult wallcreeper is about seven inches long. Its nests are built of feathers, moss, and other materials found in the rock cliffs. Jeffrey Liggett was the production editor for Transact-SQL Programming; Sheryl Avruch was the production manager; Norma Emory was the copyeditor; Ellie Maden, Sarah Jane Shangraw, and Melanie Wang provided quality control. Robert Romano created the illustrations using Adobe Photoshop 5 and Macromedia FreeHand 8. Mike Sierra provided FrameMaker technical support. Ruth Rautenberg wrote the index.
Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book, using a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. The cover layout was produced with QuarkXPress 3.32 using the ITC Garamond font. Hanna Dyer designed the CD label. Whenever possible, our books use RepKover(TM), a durable and flexible lay-flat binding. If the page count exceeds RepKover's limit, perfect binding is used.
The inside layout was designed by Nancy Priest and implemented in FrameMaker 5.5 by Mike Sierra. The text and heading fonts are ITC Garamond Light and Garamond Book. This colophon was written by Nancy Kotary.
