Microsoft Toolkit To Open Up SQL Server To Web Services

Microsoft

SQL Server 2000 Web Services Toolkit, now available, is a set of code, sample applications, white papers and documentation to help database developers quickly build Web services atop the SQL Server database "but in the context of Visual Studio.Net," said Jeff Ressler, lead product manager for SQL Server. The toolkit will be unveiled Tuesday at the Visual Studio.Net launch here.

The core component is SQL XML Version 3.0, which has been in beta for more than a month.

Solution providers are bullish on the idea.

"This makes a ton of sense given what Microsoft has done with .Net, which is separating the interface or how we talk to customers--whether it's from a Web page or a WAP phone--from the business logic. This will give DBAs the ability to perform more tasks and have more control. DBAs can do that stuff now, but inside the database. Now they can expand out to provide that same functionality through Web services," said Keith Landers, CTO of Extreme Logic, an Atlanta-based Microsoft Gold Certified partner.

The software is available as a free download.

Visual Studio.Net, a collection of development tools, is viewed as a key building block for Microsoft's .Net strategy, which aims to convert software and functions typically delivered on disks into services deliverable via the Web.