To the next generation: John, Jessica, Sarah, David, Meredith, Alyssa, and Our New Edition. --Mark Spenik
To my beautiful wife and best friend, Julie. I could not have asked for a better source of inspiration, support, and encouragement during the arduous ordeal of developing this book. You have been through this process before, yet you willingly accepted and shared in the sacrifices involved. Thanks for standing by my side with the love, patience, and support I needed to complete this undertaking. --Drew Kittel
To my son Tyler and his "little sister" Kayla. The times we spend together allow me to forget about everything else and focus on the much simpler and more important part of life--family. It's through the two of you that I receive all my energy and inspiration to drive forward in any adventure that I may embark upon. Thanks! --Mark Swank
Acknowledgments As with each and every other book the three of us have had the opportunity to be a part of, we could never have completed such a task without an immense amount of help and support from others. It's through the great efforts of this "team" of individuals that an author is able to build and sculpt what will become the final product.
To the folks at O'Reilly & Associates Software, thanks for the copy of WebSite Professional Web Server used for many of the CGI examples in this book.
To all of our contributing authors, your timely and precise material has helped to make this book the comprehensive resource that it has become. We could never have completed this endeavor were it not for the great wealth of experience you have brought to the book.
And finally, to Rosemarie Graham, Jodi Jensen, John Warriner, and the rest of the Sams support team: Thanks once again for bringing it all together and molding our rough edges into what becomes the complete book.
--Mark Spenik, Drew Kittel, and Mark Swank
I want to thank my wife Lisa for her love and support! She was most understanding during those late nights and weekends of writing yet another book. To my family John, Denise, David, Kim, Adam, Chris, Gary, Debbie, Lisa, David, Bonnie, and all my nieces and nephews--thanks for the support! Thanks to the Meyers (Sam, Marge, and Jonathan) and the Rimes (Denise and Pat) families for all their encouragement. To my father, John, and to my late mother, Anna Jane--thanks for giving me the tools to succeed. To William Vaughan, president of Keiter, Stephens Computer Services, Inc., thanks for getting the company on the Internet fast-track. To the contributing authors who I have the pleasure to work with at KSCS and who really came through for us on this project, Troy Rackley and Anne Yagerline, thanks for 110 percent! And finally, to my coauthors, Mark Swank, a giant in this industry, and Drew Kittel, a true Webmaster, thanks for giving me the opportunity to work with you on this book.
--Mark Spenik
Once again I'd like to thank my family for their support and encouragement in this book effort and in all my other undertakings. And a special thanks to my parents for always being there and providing the support necessary to stick to the paths I've decided to follow. It has provided me the opportunity to be involved in some wonderful undertakings that would not have been possible otherwise.
To my coauthors: It's always nice to know when you take on a project like this that you can count on your partners--and you guys have come through time and again! A hearty thanks to Mark Spenik for agreeing to sign on to this project and then shouldering such a heavy load. Without a doubt, you brought an unparalleled expertise in VB to this project and helped to turn a good book into a great book. To Mark Swank--the fact that we've toiled through three books together and we're still on speaking terms speaks volumes! As with our past efforts, it has been a pleasure working with you. Thanks for the opportunities and for all your hard and dedicated work.
--Drew Kittel
I'd like to thank my family and closest friends for understanding and encouraging me through this third book. If I had a penny for each time you cared enough to ask "How's the book coming?", I wouldn't have to write books. Thanks for all your support!
To Candy Burchell, you are always there to support me in anything that I do. Your confidence in me and encouragement has guided me through the completion of this book. Thanks for always being there!
And finally, to my two coauthors, Drew and Mark. Thanks for carrying the weight! It's funny how any one event can change the course of your life. Mark, were it not for you putting me in contact with Rosemarie, I wouldn't be writing this acknowledgment today. And Drew, had you not provided me the opportunities at the Department of Agriculture and agreed to partner with me on all our books, I most certainly would never have found the time to bring it all together and accomplish the things we have accomplished together. Thanks to both of you for everything.
--Mark Swank About the Authors Mark Spenik is the manager of Client/Server Technologies and Internet Development at Keiter, Stephens Computer Services, Inc., located in Richmond, Virginia. A graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, Mark entered the computer industry in 1985. He has designed and coded large scale C/S applications and has consulted with numerous firms in C/S development, implementation, and migration. He has a broad programming background, including HTML, assembly language, C, C++, and Visual Basic. Mark has hands-on experience with database implementation and administration. His specialty is Microsoft SQL Server, which he has used extensively since the early OS/2 days. Currently, Mark is busy helping clients in the Richmond area create active Web sites with Microsoft technologies. Mark is a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer. He is coauthor of Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 DBA Survival Guide (Sams Publishing) and Visual Basic 5 Interactive Course (Waite Group Press); he is a contributing author to Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 Unleashed (Sams Publishing). Mark can be reached via the Internet at mspenik@kscsinc.com.
Drew Kittel is a software developer and computer consultant in the Washington, D.C., area where he is currently working for Computer Science Corporation and NASA developing software to support the Landsat-7 Image Assessment System. Drew has over 13 years of software development and systems engineering experience. In the past, he has been involved in developing commercial Internet software, managing programs for technical services firms, managing a team of WWW application developers, and developing advanced satellite image processing and GIS applications for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Drew is coauthor of World Wide Web Database Developer's Guide and Designing and Implementing Microsoft Index Server, both by Sams Publishing and written with Mark Swank.
Mark Swank is a Senior Systems Computer Consultant in the Washington, D.C., area. Mark is currently working as a consultant for Mindbank Consulting Group on a project with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Mark has served in several capacities related to Web-based Internet/Intranet development projects for organizations such as the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Ryland Mortgage Company. He has over 11 years of experience, having served as a C/UNIX developer, a UNIX systems administrator, an Oracle database administrator, a Web developer, and a Web administrator. Mark coauthored World Wide Web Database Developer's Guide and Designing and Implementing Microsoft Index Server, both by Sams Publishing and written with Drew Kittel.
Sanjaya Hettihewa is an accomplished Webmaster and a consultant specializing in integrating Windows NT-based information systems on the Internet. He has been living in the Washington, D.C., area for the past six years and has done extensive research in deploying Internet information systems utilizing various powerful and unique features of Windows NT. Sanjaya is the author of Windows NT 4 Web Development and Windows NT Internet and Intranet Development, and he has coauthored Designing and Implementing Internet Information Server, Windows NT 3.51 Unleashed, FrontPage Unleashed, Internet Explorer Unleashed, and Internet Information Server Unleashed, all by Sams and Sams.net Publishing. You can reach Sanjaya at http://www.NetInnovation.com/ or, if you prefer the old-fashioned way, sanjaya@NetInnovation.com.
Troy D. Rackley is a consultant with Keiter, Stephens Computer Services, Inc. He began writing game programs on his Commodore VIC-20 and has continued to grow as technology has changed. Troy is currently certified as a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) and a Microsoft Product Specialist in Visual Basic (MCPS). He focuses on pushing the limits of object-oriented technologies, three-tiered client/server applications, and cutting-edge Internet Web designs. When he is not jacked into the local ISP, he enjoys becoming one with a totally different type of machine: his mountain bike. A perfectionist by nature, Troy also takes great enjoyment in disassembling things just to put them together again--somehow better. This applies to computers, software, Web sites, bicycles, and, recently, his house. He is currently trying to find time to build high-performance PCs to complete a multi-player game network at his Richmond home. Troy may be contacted at trackley@erols.com.
Orryn Sledge is a client/server consultant in the metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area. He specializes in developing high-performance, mission-critical systems using Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase SQL Server, PowerBuilder, Visual Basic, and Access. He has been actively involved with SQL Server consulting since 1992. In addition to SQL Server consulting, he has trained several Fortune 500 companies on SQL Server administration and development. He is certified in SQL Server Administration, SQL Server Database Implementation, Windows NT Server and Workstation, Access, and Windows System Architecture I and II. Along with Mark Spenik, Orryn wrote Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 DBA Survival Guide, Second Edition and contributed to Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 Unleashed, Second Edition, both by Sams Publishing. Orryn can be reached on the Internet at lnews:102254.2430@compuserve.com.
Anne Yagerline is a project manager for client/server development at Keiter, Stephens Computer Services, Inc., in Richmond, Virginia. She develops Windows-based applications using Access, Visual Basic, VBA, and SQL Server for local, national, and international firms based in the Richmond area. She specializes in financial systems, stemming from her prior experience in the mortgage securities industry. Anne can be reached at ahutchin@kscsinc.com. Tell Us What You Think! As a reader, you are the most important critic and commentator of our books. We value your opinion and want to know what we're doing right, what we could do better, what areas you'd like to see us publish in, and any other words of wisdom you're willing to pass our way. You can help us make strong books that meet your needs and give you the computer guidance you require.
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As the publishing manager of the group that created this book, I welcome your comments. You can fax, e-mail, or write me directly to let me know what you did or didn't like about this book--as well as what we can do to make our books stronger. Here's the information:
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Mail: Rosemarie Graham Sams.net Publishing 201 W. 103rd Street Indianapolis, IN 46290 Introduction As the number of available Web-based books continues to rise, finding the right book that covers the key topics for the subject material can be a daunting task. We've tried to make this book both a resource and a learning tool. For VB developers new to Web programming, the initial sections will help bring you up-to-date with Web technologies. If you are a Web developer eager to incorporate the functionality of Visual Basic, VBScript, and ActiveX technologies into your development platform, you will find the later chapters to be excitingly refreshing with real-world examples.
Be sure to check out the accompanying CD-ROM. It's jam-packed with software and all the source files from the book. If you're having problems with any of the examples, or if you have some comments or suggestions about the book, please let us know. We value your thoughts on this and any of the other books we've written.
Drew, Mark, and Mark (Yes, we were once called "The Marks brothers" at work.)
dkittel@clark.net mspenik@kscsinc.com mswank@clark.net
