Saturday, September 15, 2007

Web Templates Are the Key to Good Web Designs

Using web templates to create a high quality web site is the best option one has these days. It is the quickest way to create a site. They also have another added advantage, and that is being very cost effective. There will be many problems that arise when it comes to creating a web site, as it has to be perfect.

Earlier, the site had to be designed from the basic step, and there was no other way to begin the web site creation. This included the creative side as well as the technical problems. It is a totally different scene with web templates. The web site is available as soon as the applications are applied.

There are many ways to present the site, as well as many styles to design it when it comes to the use of web templates and it is very exciting. When it comes to creating a web site, a customer does not need anything else. The designing cost may run high, if the web templates are not used when it comes to the site.

All that is needed for the web site will have to be designed from scratch. The web designer will have to work from step one. The customer just has to choose the type of template he wants when they are available. The designer is then faced with an easier job and the process becomes easier for both of them.

Only the necessary applications have to be applied and thus, as it easy, the cost of designing the web page will also reduce. The client will have requirements, and all the designer has to do is customize the needs. Thus the process is easier for the designer and the client and this can be done only with the help of the web templates.

All the costs of web designing are reduced when it comes to using web templates. There will be no need to spend thousands of dollars, when it comes to templates, as otherwise designers may charge so much. When it comes to hiring world class web designers, there will be a lot of money associated with it.

The web templates are very simple to apply, and it can be altered according to the taste of the client, so there will be no need to look for good designers. A good website will be ready to host, as the designer only has to make the changes according to the taste of the client. No major changes will be required.

Every method of web templates is designed to give a very unique look, so the client need not worry about quality. The customer can also choose what he wants from a variety of them, as there are shops that have many templates. At a very less cost, one can obtain a world class web site through web templates.

Thus websites designing is all about picking the right web templates, and also apply the required techniques to bring about a website that is attractive to all users.


About the Author: Paul Maddox started in the Internet industry in 1998 and has held executive positions in various sales, marketing and website development.To know more visit http://myacetemplates.net

Why Using An Oscommerce Template For Your Shopping Site?

Going shopping is an activity that one way or another we all have. Either by going to the market or to buy clothes, somehow it is part of us. But, with the development of the computers and of the Internet, some brilliant minds thought that it would be even better if people who do not have enough time to spend in shops, could buy stuff over the Internet. So online shopping has spread, nowadays, over all the domains, from clothes to electronic equipments. Logically, online shopping is strictly connected to the use of websites, because through the sites, people can place orders.

First of all, whenever you launch a shopping site the most important thing that you should take care of is the layout. Why? Simple. Who does not enjoy entering a website that has a nice, smooth design, something that catches the eye and makes the surfing interesting? Also, the layout should be clear and easy to work with. But the next question is, how can someone realize this when the knowledge about html is little or the sum of money is not very big? The solution: oscommerce templates.

Easily to use and to update without any developed web designing skills, for many beginners this kind of web templates are the perfect option. They are already made so you can, in a way, preview the look of your site. Also they can be easily modified and updated, and moreover, they have no errors, so there won’t be any worries concerning a line or a box not being where it should.

Oscommerce templates are made by web design specialists and put at your disposal in several shapes and colors. There are many such templates that can be found over the world wide web. Anyway, even though you must pay for them, the price is lower than if you would pay a web designer to create a personalized page.

This would also take much longer and much more stress might be involved because the final result may not show up like you hoped or thought. On the other hand, oscommerce templates give you the exact image as how your page will look.

The diversity is large and for all the possible purposes. Keep in mind that if you decide to launch an online shopping site, the layout you choose must be accessible and clear, the information you give must be specific and trustful. The design should be simple and neat. Some persons may consider a very complicated web layout as being hard to use.

As a conclusion, I want to say that it is not a shame to use an oscommerce template instead of hiring a web design team to create your own shopping site design. These web site layouts are made for you to use and are actually created by specialists to ease the work, mostly, for the beginners.

Before starting your own shopping website you should think what you really want to do, how your site should look, and then choose from the large number of web templates, the one that fits better. Good luck.


About the Author: This article was written by Christophe S. For more details about oscommerce templates for online shopping sites, you may visit www.flashtrue.com. This site is ideal for the beginners who want to start their own online shopping site.

Why Should One Use Web Templates

Whenever a person enters a website, the first thing that meets the eye is, of course, the layout. And there are many sorts of layouts: simple, elegant, colorful or full of drawings. Despite being so different, the purpose is the same: to make the site attractive and to outline what the site has to offer. Obviously, not many site owners have the money or the time to create a website design. And here come the advantages of the web templates.

What are web templates? Well, in a few words, they are already made designs for sites, that can be modified and adapted to the user’s needs. All over the Internet there are countless web templates, ready to meet everyone’s wishes and expectations. And now comes the question: Why shall we use them? Let’s take it step by step.

First of all, for a person whose time is little, whose funds are limited or who is not a web design expert, it is not very convenient to pay another person to make a webpage layout. This is, logically, what everyone ultimately wants: a fully personalized site. But for some it is just not the right option. So, searching and applying a web template is the best solution. It is fast and can easily be handled even by the beginners.

Secondly, given the fact that they are already made, you should not worry too much about the errors that you can face with when hiring someone to design your pages. For instance, a line may appear in the wrong spot, or a box is on the left side, when it should be on the right. With web templates you can see from the start how your page might look, and moreover, you can choose from a large number of layouts. In addition, if you really want to modify something, it is easy to do by yourself, without the need to ask someone else’s help. Not to mention that by studying the code of the template you might actually learn something about the whole designing stuff.

On the other hand, as I mentioned above, it is true that web templates are not entirely personalized, and there may be some aspects that you may dislike (if you are not lucky enough to find exactly the layout you wanted), but they prevent you from many problems and lost time. Another problem that can occur is that another person might have the same web template that you have. However, these cases are rare, and can happen mostly when talking about the free templates. Nowadays there are thousands of web layout already made, for all needs and purposes.

As a conclusion, it is obvious that for those who do not dispose of much free time, for those who want to handle their site easily by themselves and for those who do not want or who do not have enough money to pay another person to make a website design, web templates are always the perfect solution. So keep searching, because in the end, the perfect layout will come out.


About the Author: Chavez Fazli is a freelance writer and webdesigner. For more information about web templates and layouts you can visit his site, www.layoutbank.com, where you can find the answers to many of your questions.

Flash Templates

It can be hard to stay on top of the constantly shifting world of website design. New technologies are being developed daily, and the websites found throughout the internet reflect this. One of the latest technologies to be commonly integrated into websites is interactivity, or as it is more commonly known, flash. Flash is a process by which a user can modify or click on elements of an image and obtain a response. An entire site can be designed exclusively in Flash.

Although the Flash technology has been circulating the internet for some time, perhaps the simplest way to integrate the tool into a website is through Flash templates. Falsh templates are available in great quantities through hundreds of websites and online companies. Much like traditional Web templates, Flash templates provide a simplified framework for a user that includes Flash elements.

Although actually creating Flash can be relatively pain-free for professionals with significant knowledge of programming and design, for most individuals, however, this is not the case. It is far simpler to use the services of a company in the business of proving Flash templates along with excellent support and customization. Most providers offer customization as a part of obtaining that company's Flash templates.

For example, an individual would purchase a template from a reliable online source, and before delivery, that online source would input the relevant company information, such as the company name, slogan, original content, or even a logo into the Flash design. Even with this customization, a Flash template is significantly less expensive than creating an original design through a professional. It also takes considerably less time.

Once the interactive portion of the Flash template has been customized, the buyer would simple modify any remaining portion of the template using simple commands and often without needing any knowledge of HTML coding. Once the template is complete with all relevant content, it is uploaded and the Flash portion will be live.

While these templates might seem more complex than a traditional design template, an individual would actually complete the same type of modification for both. The Flash is already integrated into Flash templates before a customer even receives the framework to modify. Thus, there is no additional work, but the added benefit of the Flash template to a respective website could be significant.


About the Author: Author name – Hasan Saleem
Author’s website – http://www.templatesfactory.net

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Going Self-Employed – A Few Handy Hints

The day you decide to take the plunge and work for yourself will be one of the most life-changing choices you ever make, whether starting a company large or small, or as a freelance; from the very first moment of being self-employed, you and you alone will stand or fall by your decisions and actions. You will be responsible for steering your business through all its ups and downs, good times and bad times with no guarantee that everything will turn out right in the end.

When you are in charge the buck stops at one place. There is no management line to help with complications; no colleagues to share the blame for mistakes, there is only you to deal with any problems that crop up, only you to decide how those problems are dealt with, and only you to face the consequences of your decisions whether they turn out to be right or wrong. Whilst there are many pitfalls and worries in running your own business, there are by contrast also times of extreme satisfaction, personal achievements, financial rewards and periods when everything runs to perfection – it’s not all doom and gloom but it is most certainly very hard work.

There are important issues to be considered by anyone thinking of becoming self-employed and all of them should be given very serious thought. Assuming at this point that you know your chosen field of expertise enough to go it alone, sufficient time to plan the setting up of your business is vital. This part of the process may be a tedious and drawn-out exercise but it is necessary to try and ensure the smoothest possible start to your venture.

The most immediate priority is of course money. When you start working for yourself it is recommended that you have enough funds to support you (and your family if applicable) for at least three months, by which time you should hopefully be generating an income from your business. However, saving this amount of money would not be an easy task and so a great deal of forward planning and patience is an absolute must if you want to make it a viable alternative to a bank loan, especially if you have already borrowed money to start the business.

It is worth bearing in mind that a vast number of companies have a ‘cheque run’ on a designated day of every month to pay their suppliers. If you miss this day because you did not send your invoice soon enough you will not get paid until the next cheque run. Experience has taught me that they will rarely if ever deviate from this rule. It is in your best interests to send invoices as soon as possible; too late and you may have to get by for a month with little or no income.

A must-have for any business is a good accountant. How you choose one is usually a matter of pot luck or a referral from someone you know, the latter usually being the best way to find one. Whilst accountants are not exactly inexpensive, they will save you money in the long term. It would be a huge mistake to think that you could do their job better or cheaper than they could – unless of course you are an accountant yourself.

Many a person has tried to do without one to save money and have found themselves having all sorts of problems with the Inland Revenue because they have not filled in their return forms correctly or made glaring errors in their accounts. It is worth noting however that there are also the odd few small businesses whose financial arrangements are so straightforward that they can get by without an accountant although this is generally not the norm.

Opening a business bank account can be a helpful factor in running your new enterprise. It would be a wise precaution to keep personal finances separate from your business ones and a business bank account will enable you to do that. There are no sinister motives here; it simply makes sense to track and maintain company transactions from a dedicated account rather than having to identify and separate them from a statement that contains your personal banking details as well.

A useful point to bear in mind is that a good working relationship with your bank manager is an asset to any business large or small. A new business will find help and advice from their bank manager invaluable. There must be give and take though; you do have to be honest with the bank. If you are experiencing financial difficulties in business, don’t try to hide it – inform the bank as soon as possible, they can then decide how best to go about solving the problem quickly.

With your chosen accountant acquired and your business bank account open, two key components of your enterprise are now in place. Other things to think about are premises, equipment, supplies or maybe staff. As the principal character in your new company only you will know what other requirements are needed to complete your set-up in order to commence trading, and no doubt have been giving a serious amount of thought to these particular matters.


Apart from the points already mentioned there are a myriad of other considerations involved in setting-up your business. All of them must be addressed at some point but obviously in order of importance. At times all this may seem like an insurmountable task, but the very fact that you made the decision to work for yourself means that you possess the determination and drive needed to see it through.

This article is the property of the author and may only be reproduced in its original form.


About the Author: John Sheridan is a professional proofreader of hard copy items and website copy. He also writes web copy and occasionally accepts small copy-editing assignments. He can be contacted at: john@textcorrect.co.uk website: www.textcorrect.co.uk

Freelance Writing Opportunity: Tired of Receiving Rejection Letters and Working for Chump Change?

LOS ANGELES, CA (Fast Track SEOP) March 5, 2004 - The fact that you are reading this should be testament enough to the fact that internet publishing is changing the way businesses communicate with the general public. That being said, of the thousands of press releases published on the internet every day only a small handful are seen, let alone read and for several reasons. The vast majority of writers producing those releases not only don’t know how to write, most know very little about the world of internet press release distribution, let alone the value of writing optimized, search engine friendly copy.

This blind spot affords both aspiring and seasoned freelancers, an extraordinary opportunity to generate a substantial income writing promotional copy that gets local, regional, national, and international exposure as well as continuing readership on the first page of natural search engine results for months on end. A well placed release will generate 50,000-100,000 online readers in a week or less. An optimized one will continue to be read month after month.

As a freelance writing opportunity, a knowledge of the intricacies of internet press release distribution and search engine optimization is even opening doors for veteran writers looking for a way to get the attention of prospective clients.Sharon Dotson, President of BayouCityPR.com and a highly respected publicist in Houston, can attest to that. “As a traditional publicist and website copywriter, I had been trying for years to get my foot in the door with a large national service provider here in Houston, but I was turned away time and time again.

“That all changed after I completed Fast Track’s press release promotion and optimization training program. When I showed the company’s marketing director a press release I had written on my own behalf not only sitting in Google News but at the top of Google’s natural search results, I had her attention. When she discovered that I’d placed that release in those locations in less than a week, he gave me the proverbial key to the executive washroom,” she says.

Freelance writing opportunities abound, but the process is cumbersome and the pay is all too often paltry. For the writer without credentials, it’s an experience often fraught with frustration and disenchantment. Typically, the budding freelancer will send a query letter out to a number of editors hoping to generate interest in an particular article. To add insult to injury, writers have to frequently enclose a self-addressed envelop the editors use to mail them a boiler plate rejection letter.

Should an editor eventually express interest, the writer will then spend a couple of days, weeks, or months researching and writing a spec piece, submit it, and then wait for a month or more to find out if it has been accepted. If jumping through those hoops wasn’t enough, even when a piece is accepted, the writer sometimes doesn’t get paid until the article actually appears in print and that may take another month or two.

As an internet publicist, freelancers don’t have to cater to editors, let alone play the waiting game. Applying their writing skills to feature stories and promotional copy, they can easily garner $500 fee for every piece their write. What’s more, they get paid within a week. “A skilled writer can put together an 800 - 1,200 word press release in a day or two. Once approved by the client, it can be publihed and distributed to the world the following day. Even better, payment can be exacted immediately,” Ron Scott, Fast Track SEOP’s president says.

“We charge two fees when we write a press release for a client. The first, an editorial fee of $350, is charged when the piece appears in Google News. The second, an optimization fee of $150, is charged when the press releases appears in Google’s natural search results,” he says. ‘Normally, the entire process from start to finish takes a week or less.”

Recognizing that press release optimization affords a rare freelance writing opportunity, Fast Track SEOP has recently added mentoring to its portfolio of services. “We have every reason to believe this particular freelance writing opportunity is sustainable, timely and unique,” Scott says. “We give writers all the tools they need to make money quickly doing what they love to do. What is more, the writing opportunities our program affords are virtually unlimited.”

When Scott talks with freelance writers unfamiliar with press release promotion and optimization he provides one example after another. It’s not hard to imagine the impression even a beginning writer can make with a prospective client calling to inquire about his/her press release services. “By way of introduction, we ask callers to Google a specific search term so they can see an illustration of what we can do for them. They can’t help but be impressed when they see one press release after another holding a top ranking on eleven of the world’s most popular search engines.

“When we point out that these releases aren’t just sitting at the top of search results, they are sitting at the top of millions of competing pages, we get their undivided attention. Obviously, once they’ve seen the results we get, the cost of our services is superceded by the need to know how long it will take for us to get them the same kind of exposure,” Scott says.

And that’s not all. “When we also inform them that a release they are looking at generated 50,000 to 100,000 reads the first week and further explain that our clients don’t pay us anything until they actually see their release online, any resistance they might have put up has dissipated," he says. "Concerns about cost are displaced by the need to know how long it will take for us to do get the same kind of exposure for them."

Fast Track’s press release promotion and optimization course doesn’t teach writing. “If you are in need of a writing course, you’ll have to go elsewhere. What we ‘do do’ is provide struggling writers the insider knowledge they need to get their business clients immediate, targeted, long term internet exposure,” Scott says.

Most business owners and publicists these days are savvy enough to know that it is to their advantage to publish their releases on the web using syndicates like PRWeb, PRNewswire, PrimeZone, and BusinessWire but, according to Scott, that’s just not good enough. “Recognizing the value of long term exposure, a couple of online distributors now charge upwards of $250 to just optimize a release," he says. “Now I ask you. Why would anyone pay them to do what he/he can learn to do for himself/herself.”

And this still isn’t all. The market for an internet publicist is not restricted to companies with web sites. “The skills we teach enable freelancers to secure top rankings for their clients even if they don’t have a web presence. If you think about it, a well distributed and strategically placed press release can make the phone ring just as easily as it can be used to drive traffic to a website,” he says.

Regarding the relative value of top search engine placement, current research shows that more than half of all internet users put greater credence on generic search results than they do sponsored advertisements. Pay-for-performance (PPC) advertising certainly has its place but it also has its limitations. Getting top search engine placement assures a business owner that at least 50% of the people looking for a particular product and/or service are going to see and read his/her release for an extended period of time. Of those searches, the vast majority find what they are looking for on the first page of natural search results.

“Our personalized, public relations training course usually doesn’t take more than four hours to complete (it's done over the phone with students sitting in front of their own computers) and we’re there to mentor our students through the process until they see one of their releases holding top placement. Half of our fee is collected at the beginning of training. The other half is collected when our students see their first release on the first page of Google search results,” he says.

Is the training affordable? “That gets to the heart of the matter doesn’t it,” Scott says. “College students, more often than not Journalism and English students, pay 1,000s of dollars a semester to basically learn how to go to work for someone else. By contrast, Fast Track offers students the means to not only start their own publishing business in a week or less, but the ability to recoup their investment and make a profit publishing their first two releases."

As far as curriculum is concerned, “Students learn where and how to conduct a keyword analysis. How to evaluate the competition and, thereby, the probability of securing a virtually unlimited number of top ten rankings for their clients’ releases. They learn how to format their press releases and where to publish and where not to publish them. They are finally shown how and where to generate business,” he says.

If you are tired of dealing with faceless editors, rejection slips, and an empty bank account, take a few minutes to visit Fast Track SEOP's website or drop them an email.. This could very well be the freelance writing opportunity you've been looking for.


About the Author: Pat Spinelli is a freelance writer who lives near Los Angeles.

Working From Home - Could You Cope?

It is a well-known fact that more and more people are choosing to work from home rather than face the daily agony that is otherwise known as commuting. There are many companies that are even encouraging this practise amongst their permanent staff as a viable alternative to travelling to work.

In most cities, workers will have to commute to and from the office, which depending on where they live could mean adding an extra one or two hours to their average day. At its very best commuting can be a tiresome and stressful activity made up of countless public transport delays, shoulder-to-shoulder contact with complete strangers and to a large extent, mind-numbing routine.

This sort of start cannot possibly be conducive to a productive working day and at long last, there are a lot of companies beginning to realise this. However, it is worth mentioning those at the opposite end of the scale that actually thrive on running the commuter gauntlet morning and night and would never consider doing anything else, though I think they must be very much in the minority.

For many people, working from home has long been seen as the sole domain of freelancers, who many think get out of bed when they want to, start work and stop work when they want to and generally come and go as they please, which on occasion may be true, but more often than not it’s exactly the opposite as one vital requirement of working from home is self-discipline: without it, you may as well go back to commuting.

There are multiple distractions in the home that all too easily lure the unwary away from their work. There is no manager looking over your shoulder, nobody to tell you how long to have for lunch; you can wander away from your desk at any time you like. There might be a television programme you want to watch, the grass may need cutting, a visitor arrives or the dog needs walking. You can do all this if you want to and it sounds good doesn’t it? – until at the end of the working day you suddenly realise that you haven’t actually done much work at all whilst leaving a backlog to catch up on the following day.

However, once you are over the distraction stage it can be very rewarding to work in the comfortable and familiar surroundings of the home. You may find that you like the solitude in which to conduct your work, or welcome the fact that there isn’t a colleague constantly taking up your time for one reason or another; you could discover that you can think more clearly without having photocopiers, fax machines and telephone noises constantly assaulting your eardrums. One of the foremost pleasures would be not having to travel to work, affording you the luxury of an extra hour or two in the day to do what you want.

There is one piece of advice I would give to anybody who is thinking about working from home, and it is this: When you get up in the morning don’t attempt to start work wearing your dressing gown. Get properly dressed as you would if you were travelling to work. This is more psychological than anything as it puts you in the right frame of mind for the day ahead – even if you are only working from the living room. If you slob around in a vest and shorts or your pyjamas you will not work to the best of your ability.

Working from home merits serious thought before you decide to take the plunge because it will not be to everyone’s taste; ironically, some people who tried it found that they preferred the daily battle of commuting to the comparative peace and quiet of their homes, and subsequently returned to working at the office. To anyone working from home for the first time it will possibly be a bit of a culture shock but at the same time exciting, and once you adapt to the different rules, learn to manage your time effectively you will gradually begin to enjoy it.


About the Author: John Sheridan is a professional proofreader of hard copy items and website copy. He also writes web copy and occasionally accepts small copy-editing assignments. He can be contacted at: john@textcorrect.co.uk website: www.textcorrect.co.uk
This article is the property of the author and may only be reproduced in its original form.

How To Generate Low Cost Website Traffic.

Are you looking for some inside information
on Website Traffic?

Here's an up-to-date report from Website
Traffic experts who should know.

There is one hard and fast rule in
generating income for your website: A steady
flow of website traffic. If no one goes to
your site, it hardly bares a chance of
generating an income. Many sites have tried
and failed in doing so, and these results to
the sites demise. It takes money to maintain
an income generating site; it also takes
money to make money. BUT, it doesn’t take a
whole caboodle of cash to generate website
traffic for your site.

Ever wonder how does big hit sites drive
traffic top their site? Most of them are
spending tons of money to drive the traffic
to their sites, investing in many
advertising campaigns and different forms of
marketing schemes and gimmickries. This is
all worthwhile because, well, they are what
they are now, high earning, big hitting
websites.

You don’t have to do this if you don’t
really have their resources. There are many
ways to generate low cost website traffic
without having to spend what you don’t have
or can’t afford. Many people have banked on
high cost methods and have ended up losing
their shirt over it.

Here I present to you the Top five ways to
generate low cost website traffic that could
help your site a whole lot. Even if you only
get a small percentage of successful
visitors in to client ratio it still works
especially if you get a high number of
website traffic.

1. Exchange Links

This is a sure and proven method. Rarely
would you see a site where there is no link
to another site. Many webmasters are willing
to exchange links with one another so that
they could produce more public awareness
about their sites. You’ll soon see and feel
the sudden upsurge of the traffic coming in
to your site from other sites.

A major prerequisite in exchanging links
with other sites is having the same niche or
content as the other site. They should share
a common subject so that there is continuity
in the providing of service and information
to what interests your target traffic.
Exchanging links also boosts your chances of
getting a high ranking in search engine
results. It is common knowledge that search
engines ranks high sites that have inbound
and outbound theme-related links. With a
good ranking position in the search engines,
you will generate more traffic in your
website without the high costs.

2. Traffic Exchange

This is like exchanging links but on a
different higher level. This may cost a bit
more than exchanging or trading links but
could be made cheaper because you get to
earn credits. You can use those credits when
viewing others traffic, while you earn
credits when someone views yours. The more
authentic information about Website Traffic
you know, the more likely people are to
consider you a Website Traffic expert. Read
on for even more Website Traffic facts that
you can share.

Traffic exchange services are the viewing of
another’s site or page. This is done vice
versa where a site can use your sites
contents and so can you to his or her site.
You both benefit from each others efforts to
generate traffic. The other sites visitors
can go to your pages and know more about
your site as well as theirs. Once again the
public awareness of your sites existence is
boosted.

3. Write and Submit Articles

There are many e-zines and online
encyclopedias in the internet which provides
free space for articles to be submitted. If
you want to save costs, you can do the
articles yourself. There are many freelance
writers who are willing to write for you for
a small fee, but to save money, it is wise
to do those articles yourself.

Write articles that are themed along with
the niche of your site. Write something that
you have expertise on so that when they read
it, they can feel your knowledge about the
subject and will be eager to go to your
site. Write articles that produce tips and
guidelines to the subject or niche your site
has.

Include a resource box at the end of your
article that can link them to your site.
Write a little about yourself and your site.
If you provide a light, information-laden
and interesting article, they will go to
your site for more.

4. Make a Newsletter.

This may sound like hard work because of all
the articles you may need to use to build a
newsletter but on the contrary, this is not
so.

There are many writers and sites that are
willing to provide free articles as long as
they can get their name in on your
newsletter. This will also provide free
advertising for them as well.

As your newsletter gets pass around, you can
widen your public awareness and build an
opt-in list that can regularly visit your
site.

5. Join Online Communities and Forums

This only requires your time and nothing
else. You can share your knowledge and
expertise with many online communities as
well as your website. You can get free
advertising when you go to forums that have
the same subject or niche with your site.

Share your two cents and let them see how
knowledgeable you are with the subject. As
you build your reputation, you also build
the reputation of your site, making it a
reputable and honest business that could be
frequented and trusted by many people.

That's how things stand right now. Keep in
mind that any subject can change over time,
so be sure you keep up with the latest news.


About the Author: Fernando Soave is the author of "Cutting
Edge MLM News." He has been in marketing for
20 years and is helping individuals succeed
online with a proven method anyone can
implement to very easily earn an extra $500,
$1000, Even $5000+ Every week... Just set it
and forget it! Click here now to get it
http://www.cuttingedgemarketing.ws Subscribe
to the Cutting Edge MLM Newsletter. Click
here and send email
http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk
mailto:mnet@followup101.com?subject=SUBSCRIBE

Saturday, September 8, 2007

.NET (DOTNET) Programming And Development

The latest technology in computers is the .NET. It provides services to connect information, people, systems, and devices through software. It has been integrated across the Microsoft platform, .NET technology gives customer the ability to quickly build, organize, control, and use connected security-enhanced solutions with Web services. It not only enables businesses to integrate their systems more rapidly but also in a more responsive manner. Moreover it helps them realize the promise of information anytime, anywhere, on any device.

It helps to develop and organize a Web service-connected IT architecture. Additionally it also helps in servers to host Web services, development tools to create them, applications to use them, and a worldwide network.

Visual Basic .NET programming is amongst a number of new languages that have been designed specifically for the CLR and the .NET Framework. C# and C++ are the other languages which are making waves in the .NET programming. Like Visual Basic .NET, C# is a language designed exclusively to target the CLR and the .NET platform. However, unlike Visual Basic .NET, C# has been designed to be user friendly to programmers who are already proficient in C and C++.


A latest development in the filed of technology is ADO. The main point of concentration in this regard is to spotlight on the connection of applications to databases of one sort or another. At Paladin there has been considerable development in this field. It has been recognized that ADO.Net needs a few new methods of accomplishing some of the simple tasks of interacting with data. The development of custom programming and software using ADO.Net has been done at great length at Paladin.


At Paladn.com, ASP.Net is the latest technology aside from being part and parcel of the Microsoft .Net framework which is designed to help build web applications. The new ASP.Net technology is intended to carry influential sophisticated web forms and services to a browser independent community. Delivery and transfer of data has been made very fast through binding, managed code. The information delivery and transfer between the client and server has no need of session variables and cookies with ASP.Net programming by Paladin.

>VB.NET programming is an object-oriented computer language that can be viewed as an evolution of Microsoft’s Visual Basic (VB) implemented on the Microsoft .NET framework. It has been developed by Paladin to make custom software for clients successfully. Along with Paladin a great majority of VB.NET programming developers use Visual Studio .NET as their integrated development environment.

About the Author: Chris is well known author who writes about online consultancy, IT consultant, .Net programming and custom programming. For more information visit www.paladn.com

Webhosting - Which Operating System?

There are basically two operating systems out there to choose from when you select a web hosting provider - Windows or UNIX. LINUX is a derivative of UNIX and is most commonly found in the hosting world under the RedHat label.

But which one is the best?

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Both have their supporters and detractors too. I have to admit that I am squarely in the LINUX camp.

Why? Let's look at some of the features and benefits of both.
The Windows servers integrate Microsoft programs such as FrontPage, Access and MS SQL (not to be confused with MySQL). They also offer specific programs such as Active Server Pages (ASP), Visual Basic Scripts and Cold Fusion that make web hosting a breeze.

Most important, Windows servers can be easily managed and multiplexed due to .NET technology. They provide excellent levels of support, security and integration for the Microsoft family of products. But note - Microsoft is not Open Source, and almost all of the Microsoft Products have licensing requirements. There are very few 'free lunches' associated with Windows hosting. This does not make it a good option for small businesses.

The UNIX platform is mostly represented by LINUX in the shared hosting world. Their most important characteristic is that they can handle large volumes of traffic, are robust and capable of hosting multiple sites. Moreover, they are very flexible and webmasters can customize their services in real time from any computer. Also, unlike Windows, UNIX system is not limited to special remote administration program. Any computer connected to the Internet can access a typical UNIX system without special or costly software.

Many webmasters choose UNIX or LINUX servers because of the server uptime. It is not that Windows servers do not promise 99 per cent uptime. But to achieve it the web host has to be extremely capable and proficient in Microsoft systems. This is not a limitation in the case of UNIX servers.

In summary then, the biggest advantages of LINUX hosting as opposed to Windows hosting are the following

1. LINUX hosting is much more cost effective than Windows hosting for small to medium businesses getting into the Internet arena. This is equally valid for personal or hobby websites. You are going to have to pay licensing fees (or more expensive hosting to cover the lisence fees) if you opt for Windows Hosting.

2. There are tons more free scripts, tools and utilities available for PHP and MySQL than there are for ASP. Just as an example - on the Hotscripts site where there are thousands of free scripts available, there are over 15000 scripts available for PHP, which is the dominant software that runs on Linux hosts (where ASP runs on Windows hosts). The amount of scripts available in ASP and ASP.NET combined is just over 5000. Most of the Open Source (in other words, free to use) tools and utilities have been written in PHP and MySQL.

If you want to easily install and run shopping carts, forums or blogs - Linux hosts that offer PHP and MySQL is the answer.

About the Author: Christine Anderssen is the owner of Tailormade4You Web Design and Web Development Services and Internet Web Hosting for South Africa. Read the original article on http://www.internet-web-hosting.co.za/webhosting-info/web-server-and-web-hosting-services.html

What Is Type Library And How Is It Related To The Registry?

A Type Library is a software file that describes software interfaces in an operating system, typically Windows. It also describes co-classes, and other resources in a Common Object Model server. A type library file created by Visual Basic will always have a .TLB extension. The .TLB file is required by a client to connect to a server.

A type library can be thought of as a binary version of an IDL (interface Definition Language) file. Visual basic creates a type library when you create a VB server object, thus eliminating the need for an IDL file. A C-like language used to define interfaces and co-classes for COM. Ole View is a COM utility that reverse-engineers a type library into a readable form of IDL. IDL is used to provide language-independence for COM interfaces so that identical interfaces defined in VB, C++, and Java look the same in IDL even though they look different in the language used for implementation.

Other Types of Type Library

There is also the type library in the system that is used to display the type or font on the screen and printed document. This type or font library is located in the systems registry. Every time a program calls upon the type library top to display the font, the type library looks up the registry to locate the type that has to be displayed. If the type is not present in the library the page displays the default of the closest matching font for that type.

So What Is The System Registry?

The operating system must have the knowledge as to where to find certain files when the programs call on them for some function. This information was initially stored in the information folder denoted as INF in earlier versions of Windows primarily 95 and 98 first edition. Microsoft introduced the registry in windows 98 Second Edition to speed things up while loading and locating programs. But this can also slow the system down drastically. This Registry is a database used to store settings and options for the 32 bit versions of Microsoft Windows including Windows ME and NT/2000. The Registry contains information and settings for all the hardware, software, users, and preferences of the PC. This registry is constantly growing and updating itself. There will come a time when it will need to be cleaned. This can be done with one of the free XP registry cleaner if you are using XP or any other Microsoft free registry cleaner.

The physical files that make up the registry are stored differently depending on your version of Windows; under Windows 95 & 98 it is contained in two hidden files in your Windows directory, called USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT, for Windows Me there is an additional CLASSES.DAT file, while under Windows NT/2000 the files are contained separately in the SystemRootSystem32Config directory. You cannot edit these files directly, you must use a tool commonly known as a registry cleaner to make any changes in the Registry. It is in fact, advisable never to fool around with the Registry unless you have a trusted registry windows cleaner such as the PC registry cleaner or the Eusing free Registry cleaner which are available on many download sites free.

About the Author: Author is admin and technical expert associated with development of computer security and performance enhancing software like Registry Cleaner, Anti Spyware, Window Cleaner, Anti Spam Filter. Visit: Home Page. Read More at Anti Spyware and Registry Cleaner.

Custom Programming and Web Development

Paladin Consultants, LLC has been providing custom programming as an original service for the past twenty years. The service is still centerpiece of the company’s activities. The custom programming staff includes experts in a variety of the languages and tools necessary to produce custom software, ranging from CRM applications to accounting, to robotics and industrial, to sophisticated financial engineering programs used by global corporations and investment banks. Paladin usually works with the best custom-programming tool for a particular job from the simplest Microsoft Access database to high-performance data-driven web sites. Although purchasing shrink-wrapped software is often tempting, rather than creating your own through custom programming. It may be that a pre-programmed shrink-wrapped solution does not offer the specific applications that a given business needs. Custom programming is the best answer to such problems. Paladin helps its clients create software that can be modified as needs change.

Web development, on the other hand, incorporates all areas of developing a website for the World Wide Web. It encompasses graphical web designs, actual coding of pages, backend programming, and web server configuration. However, among web professionals, Web development usually refers only to the non-design aspects of building Web sites like writing markup and coding.

As custom programming consultants, Paladin has expert level facility in the following languages:

• C and C++
• Visual Basic (VB)
• Dot Net Technology
• Java and C#
• FoxPro and dBase
• SQL Server
• JavaScript and VBScript

Interestingly the company credits most its success to the application of these five principles:

~ Foremost listen carefully and thoroughly understand the whole problem. Then make the plan. This helps to deliver the projects on time, under budget, and above expectations

~ Fashion solutions cleverly so they can be adapted and re-used. It employs using the Rapid Application Development (RAD) methodology, also called component architecture.

~ Understand that the software development is here to serve the business. Business realities like workflow and user preferences must always be in alignment with areas of data transfer and reconfiguration, user interfaces, documentation, and training.

~ Don't rush into the newest technology: make sure a solution is well tested before you risk it on a client. Although well heeled in technology, Paladin tends to strike a balance between pioneering and maintaining excellent standards.

~ Anything worth doing is worth doing well. All the software from the stables of Paladin is guaranteed to work as designed for the life of the project.

About the Author: Chris is well known author who writes about online consultancy, IT consultant, .Net programming and custom programming. For more information visit www.paladn.com

Web Languages: PHP vs. ASP.NET

While the average web developer has a lot of options these days. It's really more of a bi-partisan system between ASP.NET and PHP, the rest being just independents. The battle rages between the supporters of the two languages, with no clear winner every coming out. While both can be used to complete the same project, it really depends on what you're looking for: price, speed, security, etc.

ASP.NET
If you program in ASP.NET you'll typically get too responses from the other side. Either you're rich (or your company is) or you're a Microsoft lover. While the name comes from Microsoft's old ASP technology, they made a huge leap with the .NET Framework, and the CLR allows you to use other languages for back end processing: typically Visual Basic.NET or C#.

ASP.NET's strength lies in object oriented features, and it's flexibility. Because of the CLR you can have C# programmers and VB.NET programmers working on the same project, or switch languages half way through and not have to rewrite all of your old classes. The .NET class library is organized into inheritable classes based around particular tasks, such as working with XML or image manipulation, so a lot of the more common tasks have been already handled for you.

Visual Studio .NET is a massive development IDE that (as long as your computer is fast enough) will shave tons of time of your coding. It has built in debugging along with IntelliSense, which allows for auto-completion of methods and variables so you don't have to memorize everything.

On the down side, ASP.NET is expensive. One it uses tons more resources on the web server so you'll require either better server or more servers in the farm. Windows 2003 and Visual Studio .NET are pretty tough on the pocket book as well. It's extremely rare for an ASP.NET app not to be running on IIS. And if you pay attention to any of the bug reports, you'll notice that Windows and IIS have had a bit of a history with vulnerabilities being exploited.

PHP
PHP works in combination of HTML to display dynamic elements on the page. PHP only parses code within its delimiters, such as <?php ?>. Anything outside its delimiters is sent directly to the output and not parsed by PHP.

PHP strength lies mostly in LAMP. The LAMP architecture has become popular in the Web industry as a way of deploying inexpensive, reliable, scalable, secure web applications. PHP is commonly used as the P in this bundle alongside Linux, Apache and MySQL. PHP can be used with a large number of relational database management systems, runs on all of the most popular web servers and is available for many different operating systems. This flexibility means that PHP has a wide installation base across the Internet; over 18 million Internet domains are currently hosted on servers with PHP installed.

With PHP 5 finally came exception handling and true OOP, but it still lack namespacing to prevent class naming collisions. PHP's type checking is very loose, potentially causing problems. Another drawback is that variables in PHP are not really considered to have a type. Finally, for some reason big corporations feel that if they're not paying for something, then it's not worth buying. If that's you're company's mentality, they just need to wake up and check out all the awesome free software that's out there.

So Which Is Better?
We'll I have my opinions and you may have yours as well. But in general, PHP is cheap, secure, fast, and reliable, while ASP.NET has quicker development time and is easier due to its class library system can probably be maintained more easily. Both are great languages, and it's up to you to make the decision.

About the Author: Kevin is a software engineer and the creator of Scratch Projects. A web site dedicated to teaching others to program through actual programming projects instead of just giving away code snippets.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

The ADO.Net DataReader

The Data Reader is a simple object – a use one time and throw away container for holding the results of an ExecuteReade()r method of the command object. The Data Reader’s principal method is the Read() method, which reads one record from the result set.

Since in a client server environment, it is considered good programming practice to be frugal in retrieving records, the DataReader at any one time will contain relatively small amounts of data. For instance, in a typical form procedure, the trip to the server may only return a single record, or perhaps a single record with associated child records needed to populate one screen.
When multiple records are retrieved, they are read from the data reader in loop structure one record at a time.
Dowhiledr.Read
Process stuff
Loop
Each record is processed and/or stored in turn, because the DataReader has ho no capacity for returning to any record after the application has passed it. The only way to revisit a record in the DataReader is to re-connect and request the data again.
In more sophisticated applications, the DataReader may contain multiple records which may be read and mapped into a DataGrid. The Grid may be equipped with edit, append and delete buttons to allow changing of the data and eventual uploading of the changed results back to the server through the command object. It is also possible to use the GetSchemaTable() method to acquire characteristics of the data columns and built a local DataTable on the client – either virtually or in an auxiliary Access, or XML table. The System.Data.DataTable() method is used to built the structure. A key property is the Item property, which will allow you to get field names like the fields collection in a DAO recordset.
It is also possible to retrieve multiple resultsets at the same time into a DataReader. This is frequently the result of a batch SQL Server stored procedure with multiple SELECT statements. The NextResult method allows you to advance to the next recordset within the DataReader.
Do while dr.NextResult
Do while dr.Read
Process stuff s
Loop
Loop
Resources
• Information on .Net Resources
This is an excellent resource that links you to comprehensive resources on .Net.
• Article on Microsoft .Net
This resource provides a comprehensive information on Microsoft .Net

About the Author: Chris Kemp is a well knoen author who writes best quality articles on IT, Software, Programming, etc. For further details please visit the site www.paladn.com

The ADO.Net DataAdapter Object

The key to using the DataSet object to its full capability is the DataAdapter. You’ll recall that the DataSet is built usually by downloading data from tables in a dataset on the server. The connection to the server is then closed. The user then can manipulate and update or append data on the client, and at the appropriate time, he can upload those data changes to the server. It is the DataAdapter than that maintains the memory of the connection to the server, and correlates all of the interactive operations between the data on the client and the data on the server.
There are several DataAdapters. Because of the proprietary nature of the server databases, each database needs its own set of drivers to get the most out of that data manager. So there is a SqlDataAdapter, an OleDbDataAdapter, etc. In fact, for each future version of .Net classes which support a separate database manager on the server, there will be a DataAdapter for that database (such as Oracle, Sybase, etc.) For now there is the OleDbDataAdapter, a one-size-fits-all approach for generic server databases. The reason that a different adapter is preferable is because each database manager has a slightly different syntax and grammar and capabilities of manipulating data. For instance , SQL Server will use its T-SQL language to manage data commands, whereas other database managers will not recognize some of the T-SQL commands.


SqlDataAdapter Class Members
Constructors
Visibility Constructor Parameters

public SqlDataAdapter ( )

public SqlDataAdapter ( SqlCommand selectCommand )

public SqlDataAdapter ( String selectCommandText , String selectConnectionString )

public SqlDataAdapter ( String selectCommandText , SqlConnection selectConnection )



Properties
Visibility Name Value Type Accessibility

public AcceptChangesDuringFill Boolean [ Get , Set ]

public Container IContainer [ Get ]

public ContinueUpdateOnError Boolean [ Get , Set ]

public DeleteCommand SqlCommand [ Get , Set ]

public InsertCommand SqlCommand [ Get , Set ]

public MissingMappingAction MissingMappingAction [ Get , Set ]

public MissingSchemaAction MissingSchemaAction [ Get , Set ]

public SelectCommand SqlCommand [ Get , Set ]

public Site ISite [ Get , Set ]

public TableMappings DataTableMappingCollection [ Get ]

public UpdateCommand SqlCommand [ Get , Set ]


Methods
Visibility Name Parameters Return Type

public fill (DataSetName, TableName) Void

public updatet (DataSetName, TableName) Integer


Events
Multicast Name Type

multicast Disposed EventHandler

multicast FillError FillErrorEventHandler

multicast RowUpdated SqlRowUpdatedEventHandler

multicast RowUpdating SqlRowUpdatingEventHandler

A new instance of SqlDataAdapter can be constructed in four ways. This is accomplished by overloading the constructor function. The most verbose form is passed a SQL Select statement and a connection string. Variations can be passing a stored procedure instead of a SQL Select command, or the name of a connection object. Alternatively, one can create a new DataAdapter without arguments, and set the properties programmatically later.
Do not use the AcceptChanges method on the DataSet when using the Update method of the DataAdapter. AcceptChanges sets the rowstate indicator to Unchanged, and it is this property which marks rows which need to be reported back to the database on the server. If a row is market Unchanged, there will no way for the DataAdapter to know that its changes need to be reconciled with the server. By default, changes are processed in the order of their primary key. You can manipulate this somewhat by using the DataViewRowtate property and referencing it in the select method of the DataTable property:

dataadapter.Update(datatable.select(Nothing, Nothing, DataViewRowState.Deleted))

Resolving Conflicts
In an environment where only one user is updating a table, orm portion of a table, there will at all be no conflicts. As more and more users contend for the same data, the probability of conflicts increase. A conflict occurs when one user ‘checks out’ a updates a record and changes it, while another user does the same thing. When each users’ records are updated on the server, which changes prevail?
In the normal handling, when a table is updated through the dataadapter, all the rows are updated. If an error occurs (a conflict), all the remaining rows updating process is aborted. You need to control this by trapping these errors in a Try/Catch block. You can test the whole dataset using the DataTable’s HasChanges property, or by trapping on the RowUpdated event.
You can also set the DataAdapter’s ContinueUpdateOnErrors property to True to avoid stopping the update process when one row shows a conflict. However, ultimately you will have to resolve the conflicts either by inspection and manual intervention, or programmatically. You can display the conflicting rows using the GetChanges method of the DataTable dt.GetChanges().Rows.Count and dr.RowState. A more refined approach is to use a SELECT command.
When appropriate, you can control the conflict resolution on a row by row basis using program code and avoiding manual intervention, when the business logic of the application can be so defined. You can even enroll the updates as part of a transaction which can be rolled back in case one of the updates fails.
Resources
PPT Presentation on ADO.Net and DataAdapter

This resource provides comprehensive information on ADO.Net and DataAdapter.
• Tutorial: ASP. NET Tutorial
This tutorial discusses ASP.Net Database maintenance and Dataadapter in detail.

About the Author: Chris Kemp is a well knoen author who writes best quality articles on IT, Software, Programming, etc. For further details please visit the site www.paladn.com

The ADO.Net Connection Object

Either in connected or disconnected mode, the first thing one needs to do is to connect to the database(s). This is accomplished in ADO.net by creating a connection object that points to the subject database.


The properties of the connection object are:
Connection string
A string used to connect to the database.
Connection Timeout
The number of seconds till a connection times out (Read Only)
Database
Returns the database name as specified in connection string (Read Only)
DataSource
Returns the source attribute as specified in connection string (Read Only)
ServerVersion
Returns version of connected server.
State
Returns state of current database in integers. Values can be Closed, Connecting, Open, Executing, Fetching, Broken
Provider
Returns the value of provider attribute as specified in connection string (Read Only) (OleDb Only)
PacketSize
Returns size in bytes of network packets (SQL Server only)
WorkstationID Identifies client, as specified in connection string (Read Only)
In the above table, the only property that is NOT read only is the connection string. Some folks say that it is the connection string that is the most difficult aspect of ADO and ADO.Net. If so, it is an easily learned one. A typical connection string consists of 4 items:
The Provider, which specifies the name of the underlying OLEDB provider. Appropriate values are SQLOLEDB (for SQLServer), Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0 (for Microsoft Access) and MSDORA (for Oracle);
The Data Source attribute, which shows the location of the database. It can be a path on a network, or the IP address of a machine on the net;
The UserID and Password, which grant access permission to the database;
The Initial Catalog, which specifies the name of the database in the data source.
Here are some common configurations:
For SQL Server –
Data Source=Jupiter;Initial Catalog=pubs;User Id=ElmerFudd;Password=wabbitt;
Server=Jupiter;Database=pubs;Trusted_Connection=True;Connection Timeout = 10
Data Source=200.192.23.155;Network Library=Wiley3301;Initial Catalog=pubs;User ID=ElmerFudd;Password=wabbitt;
C#:
using System.Data.SqlClient;
objqlConnection oSQLConn = new SqlConnection();oSQLConn.ConnectionString=connectstring;;oSQLConn.Open();
obj VB.NET:
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Dim objSQLConn As SqlConnection = New SqlConnection()
objSQLConn.ConnectionString="connectstring"
objSQLConn.Open()
For Oracle:
Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;Data Source=mydatabase;User Id=ElmerFudd;Password=wabbitt;
Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;Data Source= mydatabase;OSAuthent=1;
C#:
using System.Data.OracleClient;
OracleConnection objOracleConn = new OracleConnection();
objOracleConn.ConnectionString = my connectionstring;
objOracleConn.Open();

VB.NET:
Imports System.Data.OracleClient
Dim objOracleConn As OracleConnection = New OracleConnection()
objOracleConn.ConnectionString = myconnectionstring
objOracleConn.Open()
For MS Access:
Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=pathnamebiblio.mdb;User Id=ElmerFudd;Password=wabbitt;
Notice that the last instruction in the code using the method ‘open()’. After the connection has been made, and the data retrieved, you need to close the connection using the connection method ‘close()’. This should be done within an ‘if’ statement which first checks whether the connection is, in fact, open:
If (objConnection.state and ConnectionState.Open) 0 Then
objConnection.Close
End If
Note that the state property is ‘0’ if the connection is already closed. Testing for a closed connection is necessary to prevent an error when you are invoking the ‘close’ method.
The connection objects methods are:
Open Opens connection
Close Closes connection
BeginTransaction Begins database transaction
ChangeDatabase Changes the name of database connected to
CreateCommand Creates a command object
GetOleDbSchemaTable Returns schema tables and associated restricted columns
ReleaseObjectPool Shared method which allows closing of connection pool when last connection is closed

Exception Handling
All ADO connection procedures should be protected with a Try/Catch Block. When dealing with a connection to another server, this is especially important to let your users know that it was the connection that failed, rather than the application code.

Try
connSQLNorthwind.ConnectionString = _
"Server=Jupiter;Database=pubs;Trusted_Connection=True;Connection Timeout = 10"
Catch ExSQL As System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException
Dim strErrorMsg As String
Dim strerror As System.Data.SqlClient.SqlError

For Each strerror In ExSQL.Errors

Select Case strerror.Number
Case 17
strErrorMsg = "Missing server"
Case 4060
strErrorMsg = "Missing database"
Case 18456
strErrorMsg = "Missing user name or password"
Case Else
strErrorMsg = strerror.Message
End Select

MessageBox.Show(sErrorMsg, "SQL Server Error: " & strerror.Number, MessageBoxButtons.OK MessageBoxIcon.Error)
Next


Catch ExcpInvOp As System.InvalidOperationException

MessageBox.Show("Close the connection first!", _
"Invalid Operation MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error)

Catch Excp As System.Exception ' generic exception handler

MessageBox.Show(Excp.Message, "Unexpected Exception MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error)


End Try

Resources
• Information on ADO.Net Course
This resource provides information on ADO.Net course
• Article on Microsoft .NET
This is a useful resource that discusses .Net technology in detail.

About the Author: Chris Kemp is a well knoen author who writes best quality articles on IT, Software, Programming, etc. For further details please visit the site www.paladn.com

The ADO.Net Command Object

In a connected mode environment, after a connection is established with the data, the data is manipulated and returned using the command object. The command object is passed a SQL query SELECT statement, which is run by one of the Execute methods. The three Execute methods are ExecuteNonQuery (for updates or deletes or appends), Execute Reader (for returning datasets to the client), and Execute Scalar (returns a single value).


The command objects themselves are either of SqlCommand, OleDbCommand, or ODBCCommand types. And the principal properties are the command text (the sql statement and the connection object previously created.) Other properties are the Command Type, Transaction, Command Timeout, Parameters, and UpdatedRowSource.
Dim cmd as New SqlCommand
cmd.connection=conn
cmd.CommandText=”SELECT * FROM tblBooks;”
Dim dr as SqlDataReader = cmd.ExecuteReader()
The preceding code will execute a SQL command and put the results into a DataReader after having made and opened a connection. Had the SQL statement been an INSERT statement, the appropriate method would have been ExecuteNonQuery(), rather than ExecuteReader(). There is an additional Execute XMLReader() method which is new in SQL2000, and is used for processing SELECT queries from an XML dataset. ExecuteScalar() is another method used for returning a single value from a dataset.
Parameters
In the OleDb model, you can define parameters in the CommandText using question marks.
SELECT * from tblBooklist where YearPublished = ?;
Then you need to create and define the parameter prior to passing them into the command object.
Dim Parm as New OleDBParameter(“YearPublished”, OleDbType.Integer)
Parm.Value=1994
cmd.Parameters.Add(parm)
You can even have ADO.Net populate the list of parameters for you using the DeriveParameters method.
Dim cmd as New SqlCommand(“up_getshotgun”, conn)
cmd.CommandType=CommandType.StoredProcedure
SqlCommandBuilder.DeriveParameters(cmd)
Debug.writeline(cmd.parameters.count & “parameters”)
For i = 0 to cmd.parameters.count-1
Debug.writeline(cmd.parameters(i).ParameterName)
Next
Stored Procedures
Stored Procedures are handled using the parameters in the previous section and setting them with the Parameters.Add method. The only difference from the previous code is the calling of the stored procedure itself. This is accomplished using the CommandType property, rather than the CommandText property.
Dim cmd as New SqlCommand(“up_getshotgun”, conn)
cmd.CommandType=CommandType.StoredProcedure
cmd.Parameters.Add(“@Brand”,”Remington”)
Dim dr as SqlDataReader=cmd.ExecuteReader()
Resources
• PPT Presentation on .ADO Net
This PPT presentation provides you with the overview of .ADO Net.
• Information on ADO Net resources
This resource provides comprehensive information on .ADO Net resources.

About the Author: Chris Kemp is a well knoen author who writes best quality articles on IT, Software, Programming, etc. For further details please visit the site www.paladn.com

The ADO.Net Model

ADO.Net is the latest in a series of technologies from Microsoft which focus on the connection of applications to databases of one sort or another. From the DAO which (and is) was the native mode of connection for MSAccess, through the short-lived RDO, and the now comparatively long-in-the-tooth ADO, this is the next generation of technology. And, although it is not likely that there will not be some future add-ons, enhancements, and upgrades, it appears that this structure of database connectivity is a keeper.
It is not a COM technology, so it can be used on other platforms in addition to Windows, and agnostic when it comes to the brand of database it facilitates connection to. In addition, it allows more extensive support to the XML paradigm.
The .Net platform will continue to allow you to use the older ADO connection technology, but technology. However, under most circumstances, this is a poor choice because of the performance penalty, which comes from using the unmanaged code in the COM object.
ADO.Net requires some new methods of accomplishing some of the simple tasks of interacting with data. For example, server-side cursors and are not supported any more because of the increased overhead and the potentially large number of lacks required on the server. Accordingly, the only connection s allowed are forward only, read- read-only result sets, and disconnected result sets. There are rumors of server side cursors being planned for future releases, probably due to the loud complaint from the developer community. However, there are a number of techniques and tools provided which greatly lessen the need for server side cursors, so by the time of the next release, there may be less need for them.



To gain access to the ADO.Net class libraries, you must add the following statements to the top of your source files:
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.OleDb* or, if you are connecting to SQLServer
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
There is also support for the ODBC connections through Imports System.Data.ODBC
These commands expose the objects needed to connect to the data source.
Data Retrieval
Like ADO, ADO.Net uses a connection object to point to external data. Under the .Net model, a connection is opened, data is retrieved, and then the connection is closed. The closing of the connection is necessary to free up resources. The connection string (the part of the comment which identifies the source of the data, as well as access to it through username and password) is identical to the connection string grammar under the old model ADO.
The first way to access data is after you have defined and opened the connection; invoke the command object providing it with a SELECT statement, or stored procedure name with parameters. The Data Reader will allow the application to gain access to the returned result set. An Execute Reader method will allow a line by line reading of the data retrieved. However, be aware that this is a forward only dataset – once a line is read, unless you save its contents somewhere, somewhere the data can be lost. The only way to make it available again is to re-establish the connection and read it again.
The second method opens a connection, retrieves a record set, and then stores that record set in an object called a Dataset. The Dataset acts and functions like a local database, storing the data retrieved – even from multiple sources. It can even link and establish relationships between multiple tables. At the conclusion of the data retrieval, the connection is closed, so that in processing the Dataset is completely disconnected from the data source(s).
The mapping of data between the Dataset and the outside data sources is handled by the Data Adapter object. In addition to keeping track of the connections to the data sources, the Data Adapter also facilitates the updating, deleting, and insertion of data back to the source.
XML
XML is the native format for ADO.Net. It is so tightly integrated that you can define and read schemas, and can seamlessly exchange data in the XLM format, both reading and writing with any application on any platform.
Resources
• Information on ADO.Net Professional Training
This resource provides an insight to Microsoft’s ADO.Net Professional Training.
• Information on course of .Net programming for wireless device.
This resource discusses a course of
.Net programming for wireless device

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