MSDN Events
Autumn, 2008
Building Applications with SQL
Server 2008

What Will We Cover?
• SQL Server Spatial support
• T-SQL Enhancements
• Visual Studio integration
• SQL CLR
• Reporting Services

Helpful Experience
• SQL Server database development
• .NET Framework application development
• Visual Studio 2008
• Windows Presentation Foundation
• ASP.NET
• Microsoft Virtual Earth
• OpenGIS

Agenda
• SQL Server 2008
– New features
– Enhancements
– Programming
• Demos!

What is Spatial Data?
• Spatial data represents locations
– Which properties overlap?
– Which roads intersect property or each other?
– How many stores/restaurants/houses/car dealerships are
located within a geographical area?
• Represented by two primary data types
– Geometry: small areas where curvature of the Earth isn’t so
relevant when making calculations
• Flat Earth model
• X, Y coordinates
– Geography: large areas where the curvature of the Earth does
matter when making calculations
• Round Earth model
• Latitude and longitude coordinates

What is Spatial Data?
• You query for location information as you would any SQL
Server data type
– Data types dictated by the OpenGIS standard
– Calculations easy to perform (“black box”)

Representing Spatial Data
• Geospatial data in SQL Server
– Stored in a proprietary binary format
– Can be input using simple text
• Parse methods exist to convert the text into the internal storage
format
– Represents areas using
• Points
• Linestrings
• Polygons
• MultiPoints
• MultiLinestrings
• MultiPolygons
• GeomCollections

Representing Spatial Data
• Polygonal areas must be defined in counter-clockwise
direction
– Interior areas (“holes”) must be defined in clockwise direction
• Inherently support various calculations and methods
– Spatial Reference ID (SRID) identifies ellipsoid used (flat/round,
meters/feet)
– Only instances with like SRID can be directly compared

Geographical Data
• GEOGRAPHY type has additional requirements
– Coordinate order is longitude/latitude
– A single GEOGRAPHY object cannot span more than a logical
hemisphere
• Will throw exceptions if too large

Demo
SQL Server Geospatial and
Virtual Earth

Enhancements to T-SQL
• Table Value Parameters
• New Date/Time types
• Time zone awareness
• New MERGE keyword
• New shorthand notation

Table Value Parameters
• TVPs are used to insert/update multiple tables at one
time
– Multiple tables can be inserted/updated within a single
transaction
– MARS-like capability for writing
• ADO.NET updated to include support
– New parameter type: SqlDbType.Structured

Dates and Time
• Several new types added
– datetime2
– date
– time
– datetimeoffset
• New functions added
– CONVERT
– SYS* Functions
– DATEDIFF

MERGE
• MERGE allows for insert, update, delete with one
keyword
– Merge two tables, source and target
– Target table will be modified based on contents of source table
• Syntax and use can be complex!
– Be sure to review SQL Server Books Online for more details

Shorthand Notation
• Allows you to declare a variable and assign a value in
one line of code
– More like contemporary programming languages, C# or Visual
Basic .NET

Demo
T-SQL Enhancements

Visual Studio Integration
• Enhanced project types
– Analysis Services
– Reporting Services
• Entity Framework

Entity Framework
• Essentially an OR/M tool
• Models relational data using entities
– Can model any relational data source for data access (provider
may be required)
– Application-specific domain
– You can work at a higher level of abstraction
– Appropriate amount of information returned
– Lazy-loaded
• What is an entity?
– Structurally like an object
• Has scalars and relationships
• Has identity
– Represent nouns in your application domain

Demo
Visual Studio Integration

SQL CLR
• SQL Server has the ability to execute managed code
– Stored procedures
– Functions
– Aggregates
– Table value functions
– User-defined types
– Triggers
• Visual Studio can manage both creation and deployment
• SQL CLR is “off by default” for security reasons
• Can be remotely debugged
• With great power comes great responsibility
– Your code executes in the SQL Server processing stream

Programming SQL CLR
• Visual Studio provides templates for the various SQL
CLR constructs
– Uses Database project type
– Simply “add new” like any other item you might add
• Metadata controls SQL Server behavior
– Attributes control programmatical type
• Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.SqlProcedure
• Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.SqlFunction
• Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.SqlUserDefinedAggregate
• Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.SqlTrigger
• Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.SqlUserDefinedType

Programming SQL CLR
• You write your logic using a .NET-supported language
• You work with other objects in the
Microsoft.SqlServer.Server namespace to retrieve and
return data
• Very ADO.NET-like, but not ADO.NET
• Can be assigned security levels
– Safe, External, Unsafe

Demo
SQL CLR

Reporting Services
• SQL Server standard for reporting
– Managed enterprise reporting
– Ad-hoc reporting
– Embedded reporting
– Web-based reporting
• Reports can be formatted in a variety of ways
– PDF
– Word 2007
– HTML
• Reports are exposed via a Web Service
– Can be integrated with SharePoint
– Dependency on IIS removed (uses http.sys)

Programming Reports
• Strong designer and wizard support in Visual Studio
• Enhanced configuration and administration tool
• Design reports in Visual Studio 2008 SP1
– Query for data
– Assign query results to report
– Design report style
• Colors
• Fonts
– Deploy report
• Web Service
• SharePoint Services
• Wizard available for initial report design

Demo
Reporting Services

For More Information
• Visit MSDN at msdn.microsoft.com

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