Getting Started with Data Access

This section provides information and preparatory instructions for working with data in Visual Studio applications that typically target the client and middle tier.

In This Section

• What's New in Data
  Provides information and links to new data features for client and data tier applications.

• Creating Data Applications by Using Visual Studio
  Discusses the fundamental concepts that you should understand about working with data in Visual Studio.

• Walkthrough: Creating a Simple Data Application
  Provides step-by-step instructions for creating an application that displays data from a database.

• Recommendations for Data Access Strategies
  Describes the two strategies for working with the ADO.NET data-access model, and discusses the strengths of each.

• Benefits of ADO.NET
  Discusses five advantages that ADO.NET has over previous versions of ADO and over other data access components.

• Comparison of ADO.NET and ADO
  Describes the features of ADO.NET by comparing them to ADO features.

• Data Sources Overview
  Describes the concept of data sources in Visual Studio.

• Local Data Overview
  Describes the features in Visual Studio that you can use to work with SQL Server Express and Access databases.

• Object Binding in Visual Studio
  Describes the features in Visual Studio that you can use to blind data to objects.

• Data Walkthroughs
  Provides links to pages about particular scenarios related to data access.

• How to: Install Sample Databases
  Provides information and links for installing sample databases used in the help topics and walkthroughs.

• How to: Create a Data Connection to the Northwind Database
  Provides details about how to connect to the various versions of the Northwind database.

• How to: Remove Data Sources from the Data Sources Window
  Explains how to remove items from the Data Sources window.

• Walkthrough: Creating a SQL Server Express Database
  Provides step-by-step instructions about how to create a SQL Server Express database.

• Walkthrough: Creating Update Stored Procedures for the Northwind Customers Table
  Provides step-by-step instructions about how to create stored procedures for use in other walkthroughs.

• Troubleshooting Data Access in Visual Studio
  Lists common issues that can arise when you work with data in Visual Studio.

Related Sections

• Connecting to Data in Visual Studio
  Describes how to create connections to databases, Web services, and objects from your application.

• Preparing Your Application to Receive Data
  Explains what typed datasets are and how to create and edit the individual objects that make up typed datasets.

• Fetching Data into Your Application
  Describes how you bring data into your application by executing SQL statements or stored procedures against a data source.

• Displaying Data on Forms in Windows Applications
  Describes how to display data on Windows Forms.

• Editing Data in Your Application
  Discusses how to manipulate data before sending it back to the data source or to another process or application.

• Validating Data
  Provides links to topics describing how to add validation to datasets.

• Saving Data
  Discusses the issues that need to be taken care of when working with disconnected stores of records residing in memory.

• Using SQL Server Compact 3.5 (Visual Studio)
  Provides links to topics about how to incorporate SQL Server Compact 3.5 databases into applications.

• Object Relational Designer (O/R Designer)
  Provides links to topics about how to create LINQ to SQL classes by using the O/R Designer.

• Hierarchical Update
  Provides links to topics about how to save related tables in a typed dataset by using the TableAdapterManager component.

• N-Tier Data Applications
  Provides links to topics about how to use Visual Studio features create n-tier applications.

• Occasionally Connected Applications
  Provides links to topics about how to incorporate Microsoft Synchronization Services for ADO.NET into applications.

• ADO.NET
  Describes the ADO.NET classes, which expose data-access services to the .NET programmer.

• Working with Data in Managed Device Projects
  Describes how to manage data for devices in Visual Studio.

• Data in Office Solutions
  Provides links to topics that explain how data works in Office solutions. Includes information about schema-oriented programming, data caching, and server-side data access.