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Team-Fly

WILLIAM R. VAUGHN

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Library of Congress Control Number: 00-133575

ISBN: 1-893115-16-X

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Technical Reviewer: Edward Jerzierski
Developmental Editor: Andy Carroll
Copy Editor: Freelance Editorial Services
Production: TSI Graphics
Cover Design: Derek Yee Design

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About the Author

WILLIAM VAUGHN (Bill) earned his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science Education from Mary Hardin-Baylor and a Master's degree in interdisciplinary studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. Before that, he volunteered to fly helicopters in Southeast Asia for the U.S. Army. Bill has been knocking around the personal computer industry since it was born in the North Dallas area in the late '70s. By that time, Bill had already worked for a couple of mainframe companies, including stints with EDS and the Texas Department of Public Safety. He switched to PCs full-time when Ross Perot found out he was building PCs in his garage.

Over the years, Bill soaked up technology like a sponge. His home lab and every available space is stuffed with hardware, software and spare parts. He picked up PC-integrated circuit experience at Mostek, systems software experience at Challenge Systems, and a little of everything else at Digital Research. He championed the Z80, CP/M, and Concurrent PCDOS before he came to Microsoft in 1986. For the last fourteen years, he has had numerous roles at Microsoft—working with the Windows 1.0 Developer Liaison team, Microsoft University, the Visual Basic User Education team, the Visual Studio marketing team, and finally at Microsoft Technical Education. He has taught OS/2, SQL Server from the earliest versions, Basic, Visual Basic and every data access technology invented by Microsoft. He has also helped to guide, mentor, and train developers from all over the world by writing and delivering courses, lectures and whitepapers on all of these areas. Bill is probably best known for his (initially self-published) Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic and SQL Server, now in its sixth edition. Data access developers who want to access SQL Server still recognize it as the "bible" of Visual Basic.

Bill has also managed to eke out a life between compiles. He has two beautiful and talented daughters: Victoria (George) and Chrissy (Fred). Victoria, who has a degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master's degree in Civil Engineering, has just provided him with his first grandchild. Chrissy graduates from Whitman College this spring with a degree in English—she writes even better than her dad does. Marilyn, Bill's wife of thirty-two years, is also the Treasurer and Executive Secretary of Beta V Corporation—which handles the business aspects of Bill's writing and publishing activities.

Dedication

To my daughters Victoria and Chrissy, of whom I couldn't be prouder.

Acknowledgments

THIS BOOK, LIKE THE REST OF MY WORKS, would not be possible if not for the patience, generosity, and knowledge passed on by countless contributors, reviewers, and mentors. These include, but are not limited to, David Sceppa, Dave Jezak, and many others at Microsoft mentioned elsewhere in the book. Edward Jezierski, my technical editor, also helped us get through a number of tough sections. And for help in the XML section, I'd like to thank Andrew Brust and his team. There are also a good number of contributors on the Microsoft and VBData-L alias who provided real-world issues to discuss, along with pragmatic working examples. My wife, Marilyn, has also been great at keeping the business side of the process straight and my body healthy.

Team-Fly