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Visual Studio .NET Server Explorer
Discover the power and convenience that this RAD tool
can provide.
By Ken McNamee
As one of the most useful tools in
Visual Studio .NET, the Server Explorer provides an enormous amount of
information, design-time convenience, and run-time functionality. In fact, the
Server Explorer is actually several tools in one. At its simplest level, it
allows you to explore entities such as Event Log entries and database objects.
The next level allows you to manage the server by starting and stopping Windows
Services, creating database objects, and even changing data. The most advanced
level of the Server Explorer provides the developer with programmatic access to
some of the objects such as Event Logs, Performance Counters, Message Queues,
Windows Services, and database tables, views, and stored procedures.
Any description of the Server
Explorer has to begin with its database management and programming
capabilities, which can duplicate the features of SQL Server Enterprise Manager
and Query Analyzer - almost. Server Explorer allows you to graphically create
databases, tables, views, and stored procedures completely from within Visual
Studio .NET. You can also edit and delete existing database objects. However,
these management features pale in comparison to the power and convenience of
its other features. For example, you can drag and drop a table from the Server
Explorer onto a Web Form design surface and a slew of ADO.NET objects and code
is created for you to enable programming against that table. A SqlConnection
and SqlDataAdapter object are inserted into the code and SQL statements are
generated for selecting, inserting, updating, and deleting from that table.
Drag a stored procedure onto a Web
Form and a SqlCommand object is generated along with all the ADO.NET code
necessary to call the stored procedure. This feature can be a real timesaver
since typing in the code for possibly dozens of SqlParameter objects can be a
tedious and - more importantly - error-prone task.
Like Enterprise Manager and Query
Analyzer, Server Explorer also allows you to retrieve all the data from a table
and display it in an editable grid. You can also generate a "create script" for
any of the database objects and even create a database diagram. However, one of
the most convenient aspects of these features is that almost all the windows
that are generated appear as normal Visual Studio .NET tabbed windows. This
makes it very easy to integrate the features of the tool with the rest of your
development and switch between code-behind for a Web Form, a stored procedure
creation script, and a table design window without having to switch development
environments.
Figure 1. The Visual Studio .NET
Server Explorer allows developers to view Event Logs, manage Windows Services
and SQL Server databases, and even drag resources such as Performance Counters
and database tables onto Web Forms.
Counters, Queues,
and Logs
SQL Server database objects aren't
the only items that can be dragged off the Server Explorer and dropped onto a
Web Form. Performance counters, message queues, and event logs can also be
dragged and dropped to create PerformanceCounter, MessageQueue, and EvenLog
objects - respectively - in your code-behind. These objects can then be
programmed against to add some professional touches to your code with a minimal
amount of effort. Message queues in particular can be used to significantly
increase the scalability of your Web applications. Dragging and dropping a
specific public or private message queue onto your Web form automatically
inserts all the necessary initialization code and property assignments so that
you can worry less about the plumbing and more about your logic.
I've grown to depend on the convenience
that the Server Explorer provides. It may not always create the most efficient
code, especially for database operations. However, what it does provide is
always at least a good place to start. Many times I will drag a table onto a
form just to get some of the SQL statements that it generates - even if I have
no intention of using the object (which I then delete).
There is also no better place to
explore the myriad performance counters at your disposal. If you've ever been
frustrated by the System Monitor administrative tool just to see what
performance counters were available, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the tree
view interface in the Server Explorer. Depending on what you have installed on
your system, you may also see other options in the Server Explorer such as
Crystal Services, which allows you to drag and drop Crystal Reports objects
onto your forms for programmatic access.
The Server Explorer is one of the
best examples of the rapid application development features in Visual Studio
.NET. It is easy to use, provides a significant amount of functionality, and
requires almost no learning curve to get started. You may find that you have no
use for most of its features, but I bet you'll get hooked on at least one and
find yourself using it over and over again.
Ken
McNamee is a Senior Software Developer with Vertigo Software, Inc., a
leading provider of software development and consulting services on the
Microsoft platform. Prior to this he led a team of developers in
re-architecting the Home Shopping Network's e-commerce site, HSN.com, to 100%
ASP.NET with C#. Readers can contact him at mailto:editors@devproconnections.com.