Querying SQL 2000 Server from ColdFusion
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Following a brief explanation about the database drivers and the application environment in which the ColdFusion MX Server is installed, this tutorial describes a step-by-step method of creating a ColdFusion data source from the administrative panel of a ColdFusion MX 6.1 Server which derives its data from a MS SQL 2000 server. The tutorial then describes a ColdFusion application for running a database query against this data source.
Database Connectivity
If queries to a database on the SQL2000 server have to be run, the very first thing that is needed is database connectivity. The environment in which the application is run is also very important. Most of the previous tutorials on ColdFusion by this author were run on the Windows platform (specifically Windows XP Professional) and the database tutorials assume you are using the Windows XP Professional Operating System and IIS. ColdFusion uses JDBC drivers to interact with databases. Additionally it uses the DataDirect SequeLink Software (instead of DataDirect Connect) to connect databases, possibly because it allows interaction with a larger number of database products.
When ColdFusion MX 6.1 is implemented for Internet Information Server by installing it on a Windows platform, basically three services are added. These are shown in the next picture. The application server is needed to run any ColdFusion application. The ODBC Server and Agent are needed for database connectivity. These can be set to start automatically, or they can be started manually by accessing the start link from Start -> Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services. The ODBC server is used for ColdFusion MX DataDirect drivers for Microsoft Access and ODBC Socket, and the Agent is used for ColdFusion MX ODBC Server. The MS SQL 2000 Server connects through a Type4 JDBC Driver similar to Oracle, DB2 and Informix.
Next: Using ColdFusion data sources to connect to SQL Server 2000 >>
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