Books Online

With all programs comes documentation; SQL Server's documentation, and indeed Books Online, is a very helpful tool containing answers to many of the problems you run into in SQL Server. It is automatically installed when you successfully install SQL Server and is shown in Figure 1.7. This immense resource is discussed in greater detail near the end of this chapter.

Figure 1.7. SQL Server Books Online preview.

Using Books Online

Books Online is an amazing resource that can answer literally any question about any topic related to SQL Server. From the opening screen, you can click any topic listed in the Contents pane. The first time you enter Books Online, you should peruse the Table of Contents to become familiar with its organization and to begin to feel comfortable with the depth of topic coverage.

Use the index pane to look up topics by key term or definition. The index is an alphabetical, cross-referenced alphabetic listing of all SQL Server and related terminology. It is easy to use and links you to the most probable locations to get assistance. If you know an exact word or statement in SQL Server, you can look it up. The Index tab mainly serves as a reference used to find coding statements used in T-SQL, but doesn't necessarily need to be used for this purpose. Code assistance can usually be found through context-sensitive searches that you can perform if you press the F1 key while you are coding.

If you still don't find what you're looking for, then you can click on the Search tab. This is useful when the exact terminology is not known. You can also use the tab to drill down deeper into a topic and attain more specific results. You can type in any keyword in the Search text box and expect to get information from every aspect on the topic. For example, if you type enhancing performance , and then press List Topics, you get over 50 topics.

If you find a topic that you think is interesting and well worth reading, you might want to keep it for later use and read it more thoroughly when you manage to get time. To do this, click on the Favorites tab and then click Add. This creates a shortcut to the page you were previously on.

General Contents

The Contents tab gives you an overview of what's contained in Books Online. It's divided into broad categories; each category divides into several others and each of those into smaller subcategories . The following sections list some of the categories or "books" and offer a brief summary of what they contain.

Getting Started

The Getting Started book provides overviews with links and the references to topics in the rest of the books, conventions (so you can know the syntax), and a list of contacts you can use for technical support. It also gives information on backward compatibility.

What's New?

This section, or book, contains a summarized overview of SQL Server features that are new ”that is, for people who have already used the previous versions of SQL Server.

Installing SQL Server

The Installing SQL server book gives in-depth help on how to start, set up, and install a new instance of SQL Server 2000.

SQL Server Architecture

This book explains why and how everything works in SQL Server 2000.

Administering SQL Server

This book deals with how to administer SQL Server 2000 by looking at security, adding permissions, and so on.

Creating and Maintaining Databases

This book documents how to create and take care of databases and all tables, views, and objects presented in databases.

Creating and Using Data Warehouses

This book provides information on a more complex topic called data warehousing. It documents tools for data warehousing, creating data warehouses, and also understanding just what data warehouses are.

Accessing and Changing Relational Data

This book talks about different ways to access and manipulate data. It provides information on both advanced and basic techniques. It also gives information on locking, cursors , and the full-text searches.

XML and Internet Support

This chapter introduces the new feature of XML support in SQL Server. It gives most of the basics of retrieving XML data. However, you should know XML to an extent to understand this book.

Transact-SQL Reference

This is a reference to the whole Transact-SQL. It covers the complete syntax for each and every statement. This is a very useful tool for the SQL programmer.

Optimizing Database Performance

This book teaches you how to optimize SQL Server in the most efficient ways. If you use smart strategies in your database design, you can easily boost performance.

Replication

Replication is explained in this chapter, as well as replication tools, replication programming, and other information. Replication is a solution in which you can modify, copy, and distribute data across an enterprise.

Data Transformation Services

This book explains what DTS is and how to manage DTS. DTS is a graphical tool that enables you to consolidate and transform data from different sources into one or many destinations.

Analysis Services

This book explains Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services, which are used for online analytical processing (OLAP) and also used for data mining. This points out the features of Analysis Services including architecture, administering, and troubleshooting.

English Query

This book explains what Microsoft English Query is and how you can create English Query applications from your databases. English Query enables end-users to pose questions in English rather than as a SQL query.

Meta Data Services

This book presents the basic of Meta Data Services, a set of services that enables you to manage meta data. Using Microsoft Meta Data Services requires that you understand meta data characteristics. Meta data describes the structure and meaning of data, as well as the structure and meaning of applications and processes. It is important to remember that meta data is abstract, has a context, and can be used for multiple purposes in a development environment.

Building SQL Server Applications

This is a huge book. It contains the whole T-SQL reference, as well as a programming reference for various client/server technologies. If you are writing programs that use ODBC, OLE DB, or ADO, then this is a good book for you.

Using SQL Server Tools

This book documents almost every utility that ships with SQL Server 2000, including utilities for administration and configuration, importation and transformation, and utilities that do everything SQL developers and administrators need to do.

Troubleshooting

The Troubleshooting section helps you resolve some of the common problems associated with the use of SQL Server. For additional resources in troubleshooting more involved problems, you can refer to the Microsoft technical online reference found at www.microsoft.com/technet. For SQL Server, the specific section is www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/defaultasp .

Glossary

The Glossary is a dictionary of common terminology found throughout SQL Server 2000.

How-To

The How-To book is a how-to reference for specific procedures, such as installing, creating, or administering databases.