Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Data Management:
DataServer for Microsoft SQL Server

Initial Programming Considerations

An application developed in the OpenEdge Studio can use the DataServer for MS SQL Server to access data from multiple sources transparently. With the DataServer, your applications can access information in both OpenEdge databases and MS SQL Server databases.

This chapter discusses fundamental considerations you need to know to plan your applications and design your databases. For example, you need to know the differences between OpenEdge databases and MS SQL Server databases, as well as the DataServer strategies for resolving these differences, which your application might need to accommodate. Specifically, it discusses the topics as outlined in the following sections:

Database design issues
Data types
Record creation
Data source record locking
Transactions
Error handling
Cursors
Progress 4GL issues
RDBMS stored procedures

Follow these initial guidelines carefully when you develop your application to ensure that it can access OpenEdge databases and MS SQL Server databases transparently. Once you are comfortable with this information, refer to the stored procedure details presented in Chapter 3, "RDBMS Stored Procedure Details," and the advanced guidelines in Chapter 4, " Additional Features to Enhance DataServer Performance."

Note: The material in this chapter is also of interest to users who plan to migrate an OpenEdge database to an MSS data source. However, such a migration raises additional issues that you must consider when designing your application. For details, see the "Running the Progress-to-MSS utility" section.