Professional Visual Basic 6 web programming

This book looks at the special demands of web programming, as well as its flexibility, and will introduce you to DNA - Microsoft's web development structure. Programming the browser through a variety of techniques - DHTML, scripting and VB components is discussed. Then how you can use VB to incorporate and customize browsers in your traditional VB applications is covered using MTS and MSMQ. From here, combining ASP and VB to produce dynamic web pages and sophisticated business logic processing for your website is discussed. Once the data has been collected, retrieving data through SQL Server and ADO is covered. Finally data transfer across the web with XML and the new web programming mechanism, Web Classes are introduced. Web Fundamentals......Page 1 Why Web Technology?......Page 2 IT Strategy for the Millennium......Page 3 The Evolution of IT System Architectures......Page 6 Web Technology Fundamentals......Page 14 TCP/IP Networking......Page 15 The World Wide Web......Page 18 First Generation Web Applications......Page 21 Next Generation Web Applications......Page 22 Summary......Page 25 Windows DNA - a framework for building applications......Page 28 The Windows DNA Server Platform......Page 29 Windows DNA Application Services......Page 30 Component Object Model......Page 32 Software Component Characteristics......Page 34 Universal Data Access......Page 35 OLEDB & Active Data Objects......Page 36 Transactions......Page 37 Microsoft Transaction Server......Page 38 Security......Page 41 Internet Security......Page 42 Summary......Page 45 An Overview of Building Windows DNA Applications with Visual Basic......Page 47 ActiveX Scripting – Visual Basic Script......Page 48 ActiveX Controls......Page 53 WebClasses......Page 58 Dynamic HTML Applications......Page 62 ActiveX Server Components......Page 67 ActiveX Documents......Page 70 Traditional Windows Clients......Page 73 Summary......Page 78 Client-Side Programming with Visual Basic......Page 81 The Intranet Revolution......Page 82 Client-Side Scripting Using VBScript......Page 84 Overview of VBScript......Page 85 New Features in VBScript 5.0......Page 89 Using the Microsoft Script Debugger......Page 99 The Bare Essentials of XML......Page 101 How To Write a Scriptlet......Page 103 Using the Scriptlet......Page 105 ActiveX Out of the Box......Page 106 Hosting ActiveX Controls on a Web Page......Page 107 The Internet Download Service......Page 108 Using the ActiveX Control Pad......Page 109 Summary......Page 114 Building Client-Side ActiveX Controls......Page 116 Understanding ActiveX Controls......Page 117 The UserControl Object......Page 118 The ActiveX Control Interface......Page 119 ActiveX Control Creation Using Visual Basic......Page 121 Building the Sales Analyzer ActiveX Control......Page 122 Purpose......Page 123 Step 1: Starting the Project......Page 124 Step 2: Adding the Constituent Controls......Page 127 Interface......Page 128 Step 4: Working from the Auto-Generated Code......Page 134 Step 5: Coding the Business Logic......Page 136 on a Form......Page 140 Step 8: Adding Property Pages......Page 143 Step 9: Testing the Sales Analyzer Control on a Web Page......Page 148 Packaging your ActiveX Control......Page 151 Deploying your ActiveX Control......Page 153 Licensing ActiveX Controls......Page 155 Digital Signing and Authenticode......Page 157 Summary......Page 160 The Document Object Model......Page 162 Introducing DHTML Applications......Page 165 A Practical Example......Page 168 Getting Started......Page 169 Deploying DHTML Applications......Page 179 Packaging Our Application......Page 180 Publishing our Application's Package......Page 187 Summary......Page 190 Integrating Web Browsing Using the WebBrowser Objects......Page 192 The Heart and Soul of Internet Explorer......Page 193 IE-based Browsing Objects......Page 194 The 60-Second Browser......Page 197 The Recipe......Page 198 Surfing the Web......Page 200 Beyond Browsing......Page 201 Control Properties, Methods and Events......Page 206 Calling and Controlling Internet Explorer......Page 207 Control Properties......Page 209 Control Methods......Page 230 Control Events......Page 249 Summary......Page 260 Getting Started By Understanding ASP......Page 262 The HTTP Server......Page 263 Protocol Basics......Page 264 How the Server recognizes ASPs......Page 268 ASP Basics......Page 269 Collections......Page 272 The Request Object......Page 274 The Response Object......Page 279 The Application and Session Objects......Page 283 The Server Object......Page 287 Designing the Site......Page 289 Creating the global.asa file......Page 290 Creating our Main Page......Page 291 The ASP/VBScript Section......Page 294 The HTML Section......Page 296 Summary......Page 297 Building Server Components in Visual Basic......Page 299 Component Types......Page 300 ASP Objects......Page 301 Designing for IIS 3 versus IIS 4/5......Page 303 The Authors Sample Web Provider Component......Page 304 Points to Ponder......Page 330 Summary......Page 334 Components That Provide Business Rules......Page 336 Typical Uses of Business Server Components......Page 337 In-Process Threading......Page 339 Interfacing with Other Services......Page 340 ActiveX Data Objects......Page 341 Common Techniques......Page 342 The AuthorData Business Component......Page 348 AuthorData Project......Page 353 Summary......Page 390 Interfacing With Server Services in Visual Basic......Page 392 Microsoft Transaction Server......Page 393 Microsoft Message Queuing......Page 401 Collaboration Data Objects......Page 406 Active Directory Service Interfaces......Page 411 Practical Examples......Page 416 Summary......Page 428 Introducing Webclasses and IIS Applications......Page 430 A New Type of Web Application......Page 431 IIS Application Basics......Page 432 General Advantages......Page 434 Comparison to DHTML Applications......Page 436 IIS Apps vs Visual Interdev......Page 438 IIS Application RoadMap......Page 440 Web Server Required......Page 443 Webclass Hosting Requirement......Page 445 Visual Basic......Page 449 Summary......Page 451 The Fundamentals of IIS Applications......Page 453 Events, Properties, and Methods......Page 454 Webitems......Page 467 Typical Event Candidates......Page 472 Connecting Attributes......Page 474 Updating Changes in the Webclass Designer......Page 477 Summary......Page 480 Advanced Webclass Techniques......Page 483 HTML Template files......Page 484 Response Object......Page 493 Processing HTML Template Files......Page 496 Active Server Pages – Dynamic, but Limited......Page 497 Webclass Tag Processing......Page 499 Building an IIS Application......Page 506 Basic IIS Application......Page 507 Implementing Advanced Techniques......Page 512 Summary......Page 532 Using RDS – an Introduction......Page 534 Why Use RDS? An Example......Page 535 RDS Eases the Network Burden......Page 536 Data Can Be Accessed From Virtually Anywhere......Page 537 The Structure of RDS......Page 538 RDS and n-tier Applications......Page 539 RDS Architecture......Page 541 The RDS.DataSpace Object......Page 543 The RDSServer.DataFactory Object......Page 547 The RDS.DataControl Object......Page 550 Methods of the RDS.DataControl object......Page 552 Properties of the RDS.DataControl object......Page 554 Events of the RDS.DataControl Object......Page 557 Putting the Pieces Together......Page 558 Summary......Page 560 XML as a second language......Page 562 Putting XML in perspective......Page 566 DTDs and Valid XML......Page 567 XML Companions......Page 568 A Tree Grows in XML......Page 569 Transforming XML for Display Using XSL......Page 572 Step-by-Step......Page 574 Generating XML using Visual Basic 6......Page 577 Generating HTML from XML on the server......Page 597 HTTPRequest Object to Send an XML File to the server......Page 602 Receiving an XML File on the server......Page 608 Summary......Page 611 Why a message board?......Page 613 A Look at the Finished Product......Page 616 Logical View......Page 617 Interaction between tiers......Page 618 The Database......Page 619 Creating the Middleware Business Object......Page 632 Mid-Study Summary......Page 645 Creating the Presentation Layer......Page 647 UNKNOWN......Page 0 Displaying the Message Headers......Page 648 Row Highlighting Using Mouse Rollover......Page 660 Retrieving a Message Using Remote Scripting......Page 661 Creating a New Message......Page 672 Displaying a Helpfile......Page 677 Deploying the Message Board......Page 679 Deploying the Database......Page 680 Deploying the Business Object......Page 682 Deploying the Webclass......Page 685 Summary......Page 686 HISTORY......Page 689 Design......Page 690 Implementation......Page 696 Configuration......Page 710 Real Life Examples......Page 712 AppClient......Page 719 Summary......Page 733 EDA Requirements......Page 735 Implementing EDA......Page 736 Create a DHTML Application project......Page 737 Importing the HTML file......Page 739 Implementing the User Interface......Page 740 Saving the Employee Data......Page 744 Adding an ActiveX Control to the Web Page......Page 748 Using ActiveX Controls in VB......Page 751 Persisting the Employee Data......Page 752 Saving State Information......Page 757 Where To Go From Here......Page 760 CGI Overview......Page 762 Advantages and Disadvantages......Page 763 Visual Basic and CGI......Page 764 CGI Fundamentals......Page 765 Breaking the Standard I/O Barrier with CStdIO......Page 769 (CAF)......Page 774 Implementing the CGI Application Framework......Page 777 Using CAF to Implement CGIEmpData......Page 789 Testing the CGIEmpData Program......Page 796 The Employee Data Entry Application Client......Page 797 Running the Employee Data Client......Page 805 Summary......Page 806 Common HTML Tags by Category......Page 808 How to Use this Tutorial......Page 816 The Tag......Page 817 Exercise 1: Adding VBScript to a Web page......Page 818 An Introduction to Variables......Page 822 Declaring Variables......Page 823 Scope of Variables......Page 824 Arrays......Page 825 Exercise 2: Working with Variables......Page 826 Adding Objects to Your Web Pages......Page 830 Exercise 3: Working with Objects......Page 831 Lesson 4: Controlling Your VBScript Routines......Page 834 Conditional Statements......Page 835 Looping Statements......Page 837 Looping Statements......Page 839 Lesson 5: Using VBScript with Forms......Page 844 Validating Your Forms......Page 845 Form......Page 847 Summary......Page 851 Array Handling......Page 853 Error constant......Page 854 Date and Time constants......Page 855 Message Box Constants......Page 856 String constants......Page 857 VarType constants......Page 858 Control Flow......Page 859 Functions......Page 860 Conversion Functions......Page 861 Date/Time Functions......Page 862 Math Functions......Page 863 Script Engine Identification......Page 864 String Functions......Page 865 Variable Testing Functions......Page 866 MsgBox......Page 867 Visual Basic Run-time Error Codes......Page 870 General Information......Page 876 Variables......Page 877 Assignment Operators......Page 878 Other Operators......Page 879 Input/Output......Page 880 Prompt......Page 881 Conditional Statements......Page 882 Loop Statements......Page 883 Built-in Functions......Page 885 Array Object......Page 886 Date Object......Page 888 Error Object......Page 891 Arguments Object......Page 892 Math Object......Page 893 Number Object......Page 894 RegExp Object......Page 895 String Object......Page 896 VBArray Object......Page 898 Reserved Words......Page 899 The Request Object......Page 901 The Response Object......Page 902 The Application Object......Page 903 The Session Object......Page 904 The ObjectContext Object......Page 905 Configuring Master Properties......Page 907 Configuring Web Site Properties......Page 908 Configuring Operator Properties......Page 910 Configuring Performance Properties......Page 911 Configuring ISAPI Filters Properties......Page 912 Configuring Home Directory / Virtual Directory / Sub Directory Properties......Page 913 Configuring Document Properties......Page 916 Configuring Directory Security......Page 917 Configuring HTTP Headers......Page 918 Configuring Custom Errors......Page 919 Introduction......Page 921 DataControl Object......Page 922 Other Properties and Methods for DataControl......Page 923 Other Methods......Page 924 Other Properties......Page 926 DataControl Error Codes......Page 928 DataSpace Object......Page 929 Configuring your Business Objects......Page 930 DataFactory Object......Page 931 Objects......Page 934 Properties......Page 935 Methods......Page 936 Properties......Page 937 Properties......Page 938 Properties......Page 939 Methods......Page 940 Properties......Page 941 Methods......Page 942 Methods......Page 943 Properties......Page 945 Events......Page 947 Parameter......Page 948 Recordset......Page 949 What are CDONTS?......Page 951 The NewMail Object......Page 952 The "Session" Object......Page 959 The " Folder" Object......Page 962 The "Messages" Collection Object......Page 963 The "Message" Object......Page 964 The " Recipients" Collection Object......Page 967 The " Recipient" Object......Page 968 The " Attachments" Collection Object......Page 969 The " Attachment" Object......Page 971 The CDO MAPI Object......Page 973 Objects......Page 986 ObjectContext......Page 987 SecurityProperty......Page 988 Objects......Page 990 Methods......Page 991 Properties......Page 992 Methods......Page 995 Properties......Page 996 Properties......Page 997 Properties......Page 999 Constants......Page 1000 Support and Errata......Page 1015 Wrox Developer's Membership......Page 1016 Finding an Errata on the Web Site......Page 1017 Adding an Errata to the Sheet Yourself......Page 1019 Editorial......Page 1020 How to Tell Us Exactly What You Think......Page 1021 1. Web Fundamentals -- 2. Windows DNA: a framework for building applications -- 3. An Overview of Building Windows DNA Applications with Visual Basic -- 4. Client-Side Programming with Visual Basic -- 5. Building Client-Side ActiveX Controls -- 6. Dynamic HTML Applications -- 7. Integrating Web Browsing Using the WebBrowser Objects -- 8. Getting Started By Understanding ASP -- 9. Building Server Components in Visual Basic -- 10. Advanced Visual Basic Server Components -- 11. Interfacing With Server Services in Visual Basic --12. Introducing Webclasses and IIS Applications -- 13. The Fundamentals of IIS Applications -- 14. Advanced Webclass Techniques -- 15. Meet RDS -- 16. A Guide to XML -- Case Study 1. Message Board Part 1 -- Case Study 1. Message Board Part 2 -- Case Study 2. Web Based Document Management -- Case Study 3. DHTML Applications -- Case Study 4. CGI Integration With Version 6, VB has added the ability to develop internet applications on Internet Information Server (IIS), the free web server that comes with NT Server.

Previously web functionality was static and limited but using IIS, ASP and ADO sophisticated, dynamic, data-driven web applications can be created. The web is the fastest growing programming area, now a powerful new platform for VB6 programmers to program web-based applications exists.