Role of Web Assistant Wizard and Displaying Records from the XML_EX Database

Web Assistant Wizard in SQL 6.5 provides a wizard that steps the process of creating a Web Task, hiding all the underlying functionality with the Graphical User Interface. The SQL Server Web Assistant is a simple way to quickly generate Web Tasks.

Step-1: Creating a database, table and inserting the data.

1. Click on Enterprise manager by selecting Start, Programs, Microsoft QL Server 7.0. A small window will appear.

2. In the Enterprise Manager window expand the tree by clicking the + symbol near SQL group, the system name and databases. All the databases created by the system will be displayed.

3. If haven’t created any user-defined database, right click on Databases and select New database. A small window will appear and the new database should be given a name, example - xml_ex in the Name field, leaving the other columns with the default value and click ok.

4. The name xml_ex is added to the database list. Right click on the database name xml_ex and select New., Table. A window will appear on the database and enter Bookinfo as the table name in the Choose Name dialog box and click ok. The following values are entered in the window named “New Table in ‘xml_ex’ on the system name and the window is closed.

The table Bookinfo is created. The datas should be entered in the table. Double click on the Tables icon, a list of available tables (tables created by the system and user) will appear. Right click on the table Bookinfo, selecting Open Table, returning all rows. A window called “Data in Table ‘BookInfo’ ” The values are entered in the window and closed.

Displaying Records from the xml_ex database:

Step 1

The first step is to create a template file called Bookinfo.tpl. The procedure for creating the file is the same as an xml document.

Step 2

From the programs menu the Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and then the Enterprise manager is selected from the programs menu.

Step 3

A server group is selected by clicking the icon.

Step 4

The various components of the server group such as the databases contained Management tools, Data Transformation Services etc are displayed. The Database such as xml_ex is selected.

Step 5

The various user defined and system tables available in the xml_ex database are displayed. Over the tool bar click on the icon tool tip displaying “Run a Wizard” .

Step 6

The window that appears shows various wizards available. The “Web Assistant Wizard” is selected and the ok button is clicked.

Step 7

A welcome screen that guides through the steps needed to complete the wizard appears. The “Next” button is then clicked.

Step 8

The list of all the databases available in the server group are displayed. The desired database is selected. In the example, xml_ex (name of the database ) is selected and “Next” button is clicked.

Step 9

A text field is provided for entering the name of the “Web Assistant Wizard” .The data can be retrieved from the database in three different ways. They are as follows:

1. Data from the tables and columns- This is a straight forward method of extracting information. The columns that should be included in the output are selected after selecting the table.

2. Result set from a store procedure- Any backend store procedure that retrieves rows, that would be the source for the data.

3. Data from the SQL statement- When the data has to be extracted from a single table or multiple tables, it can be done using joins option.

Hence in the above example, the first way is used. Then the “Next” button is clicked.

Step 10

The list of tables available in the selected database is displayed. When a table is chosen, the fields available in the table are displayed. The required fields alone can be selected by selecting the field and the “ADD” button is being clicked. If all fields are required , then the “AddAll” button is clicked, followed by “Next” button.

Step 11

A screen that allows the user to filter the records based on the criteria appears. The three different types of filters are:

1. All records- No filter is used. All the records from the table are extracted.

2. Only the records that meet the criteria- When the option is chosen, the user can filter records based on the condition such as <field value> <mathematical operator> <numeric value>.

3. Records that are fetched using SQL statement- The records can be filtered based on the where clause.
After selecting any of the options, the ”Next” button is being clicked.

Step 12

The various refresh options are:

1. Only one time- This option is used to refresh the page only at the time of its creation.

2. On demand- Update the web page on the user’s request.

3. Only one time at- Specify the time at which the page should be updated.

4. When data changes- Update the page as soon as source data changes.

5. At regular changes- Update the page at specified regular intervals.

Any one of the above options is selected and the “Next” button is being clicked.

Step 13

The window that appears, requires the path where the xml file should be created and saved. The directory on the server should be specified. The “Next” button is clicked then.

Step 14

The screen that appears has two different options. They are:

1. Help me format Web page- This option creates a web page according the design. The xml tags cannot be inserted from the template file.

2. Choose the template file- The template file “Bookinfo.tpl” is selected by specifying the path.

Step 15

The screen that appears next displays various options regarding the retrieval of rows. They are:

1. Return all rows- All records from the table are extracted.

2. Return n rows- Returns the specified number of records.

3. Put all data in one scrolling page- Displays all the records with a scroll bar attached to the page.

4. Link rows in page- Display n rows in a page with the next subsequent records linked by hyperlinks.
The option “Return all rows” and “Put all data in one page” is selected. Then the “Next” button is being clicked.

Step 16

The final screen appears that requires the confirmation to complete the wizard. Finally click the “finish” button. If the wizard is successful, the following message “Web Assistant Wizard” screen appears, followed by the clicking of “Ok” button.

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