Mastering Enterprise Development Using Microsoft Visual Basic 6
Course No. Course Length:	1016 5 days
This course will teach Microsoft Visual Basic programmers, who currently build desktop applications and access corporate databases, the basics of how to build three-tier client/server solutions. At Course Completion At the end of the course, students will be able to: Compare traditional client/server development with Internet development and describe Microsoft's enterprise development strategy. Use the Application Architecture Model from the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) to organize applications into user, business, and data services. Use the Microsoft Visual Basic programming system to build component object model (COM) dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) and implement them in a multiuser environment using Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS). Use MTS to address application infrastructure issues associated with building server-side COM objects that are used by many clients. Create COM objects that use MTS services to participate in transactions and that use security. Use programming techniques to increase the scalability of COM objects. Use ActiveX Data Objects from the middle tier to access data and invoke business and data services implemented in SQL. Implement business and data services in a Microsoft SQL Server database through the use of stored procedures and data integrity features. Apply basic debugging, error handling, and security techniques in a three-tier application. Prerequisites This course assumes that the student has intermediate programming competency with the Microsoft Visual Basic programming system. Before attending this course, students must be able to demonstrate the following skills: Build and debug a simple Visual Basic application Invoke and control an Automation server, such as Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word, from a Visual Basic application Create code components using Visual Basic and invoke them from a client application Use ActiveX Data Objects to open a database and work with record sets Completing either of the following courses satisfies the prerequisite skills listed above: Course 1013: Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Development Course 1017: Mastering Web Site Development Using Microsoft Visual InterDev 6.0
Course Outline
Day 1
Chapter 1: Introduction to Enterprise Development
Topics: Introduction to Microsoft enterprise development Applying the development tools Introduction to Microsoft Visual Studio 98, Enterprise Edition, development studio tools and features Case study using Microsoft technologies Introduction to the sample application: Island Hopper Lab: Exploring Island Hopper, the lab case study Skills: Students will be able to: Describe the architecture of an enterprise solution using the Microsoft enterprise development strategy. Discuss and select the Microsoft development tools, products, and technologies that are most appropriate for solving a given business problem. Describe the attributes of the business problem that will be solved in this course, and in what way Microsoft technologies were used to build the technical solution. Use Application Performance Explorer (APE) to analyze the impact of choosing different technologies for the sample application. Use the development environment of Visual Basic 6.0, Enterprise Edition, to accomplish basic tasks such as creating new projects.
Chapter 2: Microsoft Solutions Framework
Topics: Introduction to MSF MSF Team Model MSF Process Model MSF Application Architecture Model Island Hopper Lab: Reviewing the Island Hopper physical design Skills: Students will be able to: Explain the origins of MSF, and how it evolved from the best practices at Microsoft and in the computer industry into a widely accepted framework for solution development. Explain the Solution Development Discipline (SDD) as a part of MSF, which is focused on the construction phase of the information technology life cycle. Describe the characteristics of each member's role in the MSF Team Model. List the Microsoft tools that facilitate team development. List and describe the major phases and deliverables in the MSF Process Model, and understand what part of the process this course focuses on in the construction of the Island Hopper sample application. Describe the use of user, business, and data services in the MSF Application Architecture Model. Differentiate conceptual, logical, and physical design of components in the Application Architecture Model, and understand the physical design of the Island Hopper sample application components.
Day 2
Chapter 3: Building COM DLLs with Visual Basic
Topics: Implementing business services in Microsoft Visual Basic Creating COM DLLs in Visual Basic Working with COM DLL projects Implementing an interface Lab: Building a component Skills: Students will be able to: List the various ways that business services are implemented in an enterprise solution that is developed using Visual Basic. Use a class module to create an object within a Visual Basic project. Create a COM DLL that exposes methods. Create a client application that uses a COM DLL. Debug and test a COM DLL.
Chapter 4: Introduction to Microsoft Transaction Server
Topics: Introduction to MTS MTS architecture Using MTS Explorer MTS security architecture Deploying an MTS component Lab: Adding a component to MTS Skills: Students will be able to: List the issues related to developing multiuser three-tier applications. Explain how MTS addresses these issues. Describe the MTS architecture. Create a package with MTS Explorer. Add an existing component to the MTS package. Set declarative security on a component or package. Configure a client computer to use an MTS component.
Day 3
Chapter 5: Using MTS Transaction Services
Topics: Transactions Context object Component configuration issues Security (programmatic) Visual Basic-related issues Scaling MTS programming tips Debugging Error handling issues Labs: Creating an MTS component Creating a shared property Skills: Students will be able to: Describe what a transaction is, and the benefits of the ACID properties. Describe how MTS performs a two-phase commit with a distributed transaction. Call the Context object's methods from a component to participate in transactions. Use MTS Explorer to specify transaction properties for a component. Use programmatic security in a component to authorize a caller's actions.
Chapter 6: Accessing Data from the Middle Tier
Topics: Universal data access ActiveX Data Object architecture Object model overview Connections Using ActiveX Data Objects from the middle tier Using stored procedures from ActiveX Data Objects Debugging Error handling Security Lab: Using ActiveX Data Objects to implement data services Skills: Students will be able to: Compare and contrast the Microsoft data access technologies available for use in enterprise development. Understand how ActiveX Data Objects can be used to access and update a data source. Write middle-tier components that implement business and data services using ActiveX Data Objects. Call a stored procedure from ActiveX Data Objects. Implement error handling in an ActiveX Data Object component.
Day 4
Chapter 7: Building Stored Procedures with SQL
Topics: Introduction to Microsoft SQL Server Using data integrity Querying data Programming with T-SQL Writing stored procedures SQL Server security Labs: Using the Visual Database tools Creating and debugging stored procedures Skills: Students will be able to: Explain the role of data integrity when implementing data services in an enterprise solution. Choose when to implement services in database or MTS objects. Implement business and data services by using stored procedures. Write a stored procedure that uses advanced SQL programming constructs, such as conditional branching and looping structures, and error checking. Write a stored procedure that can be used by other services, such as a client application written with Visual Basic, and that generates return codes and performs error checking. Debug a stored procedure. Describe the characteristics of SQL transactions and explain how they work with MTS transactions.
Chapter 8: Advanced Topics
Topics: Introduction to COM Interfaces Dual interfaces Globally Unique Identifiers (GUIDs) and the registry COM threading models Labs: Examining key registry settings Using OLEVIEW Skills: Students will be able to: Describe what COM is, and the problems COM solves. Create multiple interfaces per class using Microsoft Visual Basic, and use OLEVIEW to view IDL files. Describe Automation and dual interfaces, and use the correct type of Visual Basic binding based on performance and flexibility requirements. Understand GUIDs and basic registry settings, and control them with Visual Basic project settings. Describe basic threading model concepts, use the Visual Basic Run Unattended switch, and control reentrancy issues when using the multiple apartment threading model.
Day 5
Chapter 9: Conclusion
Topics: Review of Microsoft enterprise development Review of the Microsoft Solutions Framework Alternative design considerations Skills: Students will be able to: Recall the architecture of an enterprise solution using the Microsoft enterprise development strategy, and describe how the lab solution fits into this architecture. Describe two additional scenarios to the one presented in the class lab solution that would require a different approach or different technologies. Explain where to find more information on advanced issues, such as performance, scalability, or security.