Database Reference
In-Depth Information
application components hidden under the Microsoft Access cover use SQL to call the DBMS,
which is also hidden under that cover. At Microsoft, the current DBMS engine within Microsoft
Access is called the Access Database Engine (ADE). ADE is a Microsoft Office-specific version of
Microsoft's Joint Engine Technology ( JET or Jet) database engine. Jet was used as the Microsoft
Access database engine until Microsoft Office 2007 was released. Jet itself is still used in the
Microsoft Windows operating system, but you seldom hear about Jet because Microsoft does not
sell Jet as a separate product.
By The Way Although Microsoft Access is the best-known personal database system,
it is not the only one. OpenOffice.org Base is a personal database sys-
tem distributed as part of the OpenOffice.org software suite (which is available
at www.openoffice.org ), and the personal database system LibreOffice Base is
distributed as part of the related LibreOffice software suite (which is available at
www.libreoffice.org/ ) .
Although hiding the technology is an effective strategy for beginners working on small
databases, it will not work for database professionals who work with applications, such as
most of those described in Figure 1-5. For larger, more complex databases, it is necessary to
understand the technology and components that Microsoft hides.
Nonetheless, because Microsoft Access is included in the Microsoft Office suite, it is of-
ten the first DBMS used by students. In fact, you may have already learned to use Microsoft
Access in other classes you have taken, and in this topic, we will provide some examples using
Microsoft Access 2013. If you are not familiar with Microsoft Access 2013, you should work
through Appendix A, “Getting Started with Microsoft Access 2013.”
By The Way With Microsoft Access 2000 and later versions, you can effectively replace
the Microsoft Access database engine (either Jet or ADE) with Microsoft's
enterprise-class DBMS product—Microsoft SQL Server. You would do this if you
wanted to process a large database or if you needed the advanced functions and fea-
tures of Microsoft SQL Server.
What Is an enterprise-Class Database System?
Figure 1-16 shows the components of an enterprise-class database system . Here the applica-
tions and the DBMS are not under the same cover as they are in Microsoft Access. Instead, the
applications are separate from each other and separate from the DBMS.
Database applications in an enterprise-Class Database System
Earlier in this chapter, we discussed the basic functions of an application program, and these
functions are summarized in Figure 1-8. However, as exemplified by the list in Figure 1-5, doz-
ens of different types of database applications are available, and database applications in an
enterprise-class database system introduce functions and features beyond the basics. For ex-
ample, Figure 1-16 shows applications that connect to the database over a corporate network.
Such applications are sometimes called client/server applications because the application pro-
gram is a client that connects to a database server. Client/server applications often are written
in programming languages such as VB.NET, C++, or Java.
A second category of applications in Figure 1-16 is e-commerce and other applica-
tions that run on a Web server. Users connect to such applications via Web browsers such
as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. Common Web servers
include Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) and Apache. Common languages for
Web server applications are PHP, Java, and the Microsoft .NET languages, such as C#.NET and
VB.NET. We will discuss some of the technology for such applications in Chapter 11.
 
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