Summary

Working with databases in Visual Basic is an enormous topic. This chapter does not cover every detail of database programming, but it does explain the basics. It tells how to build data sources and how to drag and drop tables and fields from the Data Sources window onto a form. It describes the most important database controls and objects, such as connection, data adapter, DataSet, and DataTable objects. It also explains the fundamentals of simple and complex data binding, and using CurrencyManager objects to navigate through data.

For more information on database programming in Visual Basic .NET, see a book about database programming. Database programming has changed considerably in Visual Basic 2005, so be sure to get a book that covers this version. Older books explain many of the fundamental database objects such as DataSet, DataTable, DataRow, and CurrencyManager, but they won’t cover new objects such as TableAdapter, DataConnector, and DataNavigator.

If you must build and maintain large databases, you should also read books about database management. These can tell you how to design, build, and maintain a database throughout the application’s lifetime. You should also read about the particular kinds of databases that you need to use. For example, if you are working with SQL Server databases, get a good book on using SQL Server.

Becoming an expert database developer is a big task, but the techniques described in this chapter should at least get you started.

Chapters 9, 10, and this chapter, describe a wide variety of controls. Chapter 9 describes the standard controls that applications use to interact with the user. Chapter 10 describes a special kind of control: forms. This chapter describes controls that you can use to manipulate databases.

Even all of these different kinds of controls cannot satisfy every application’s needs. Chapter 12 explains how you can build controls of your own to satisfy unfulfilled needs. These controls can implement completely new features or combine existing controls to provide a neat package that is easy to reuse.