| More than 70 percent of all copies of Visual Basic are
sold to corporations for developing in-house applications,
and more than 90 percent of those custom programs interact
with structured databases, according to Microsoft. So it's
no surprise that the latest version of VB adds new tools
for database connectivity. Both Standard ($199) and Professional ($495) editions of VB 3.0 now have the same database engine found in Access 1.1, Microsoft's RDBMS (relational database management system) for Windows. Thus, VB 3.0 can interact with databases stored in several common formats: Access, dBase, FoxPro, Paradox, and Btrieve. A new visual data control in the toolbox lets VB programmers hook into these databases without writing any of the code normally required. In addition, the textbox, checkbox, picture, label, and image controls have been made data-aware. A VB application can now easily access a personnel file that includes portraits of employees. The Professional edition of VB 3.0 adds a programmatic object layer that provides complete control over the Access engine. While the Standard edition lets VB programs interact with existing databases, the Professional edition lets programmers write code that creates and manages databases in any of the supported formats. The Professional edition also has ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) drivers for SQL Server and Oracle. VB 3.0 supports OLE 2.0 automation, so VB programs can communicate with and control other Windows applications that also support OLE 2.0. The Facts
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