Managing ADO.NET 4 Connections and Commands with Visual Basic 2010

Overview/Description
ADO.NET connections and commands are crucial components of building data-driven applications. This course examines managing connections using connection pools and configuration files, as well as stored procedures, and using generic data-access code to establish a connection. Specific topics covered include optimizing ADO.NET connections and commands, ADO.NET transactions, and working with Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS) and asynchronous commands. This course is one of a series in the SkillSoft learning path that covers the objectives for the Technology Specialist: Accessing Data with Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Exam 70-516. Passing this exam will earn the learner credit towards the MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Data Access certification.

Target Audience
All organizations or individual consultants who are building or intend to build .NET Framework 4 applications with ADO.NET, Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Basic 2010; corporate employees, consultants, and university or college students who are preparing for the Technology Specialist (TS): Accessing Data with Microsoft .NET Framework 4 exam (70-516).

Prerequisites
Thorough knowledge of software-development concepts and the process of building business applications; experience building data applications with the Microsoft .NET Framework; working experience of Visual Studio 2010, Visual Basic 2010, and ADO.NET 4.

Expected Duration (hours)
3.0

Lesson Objectives

Managing ADO.NET 4 Connections and Commands with Visual Basic 2010

identify ways to pool connections

recognize the steps for retrieving a connection string from a configuration file

identify the steps for monitoring connection resources

recognize the code for using parameters with SQL statements

recognize the steps for using the ExecuteNonQuery method

identify the steps for creating a stored procedure with parameters

recognize how to use the DBProviderFactory, DbConnection, DbCommand, and DbException objects

identify the steps for using generic data access code to retrieve provider information

retrieve a connection string from a configuration file, based on a provider name

create a DBProviderFactory and DBConnection

create a DBCommand object

handle data source errors

recognize how the .NET Framework APIs can be used to configure transactions

identify the code for implementing implicit and explicit transactions and for managing concurrency

recognize the ways for managing and implementing transactions using the System.Transactions namespace

implement an asynchronous explicit transaction

implement an implicit transaction

implement concurrency

recognize the steps and considerations for enabling and using MARS

identify the code for using MARS to manipulate data

identify the uses of asynchronous design patterns in a given scenario

recognize how to poll an asynchronous operation, implement a callback, and monitor asynchronous operations

recognize the code for manipulating large objects

identify the code for moving large amounts of data

identify the benefits and uses of the SqlBulkCopy class

identify the code for populating a table-valued parameter

work with MARS, asynchronous commands, and special data types