SQL Server XML Technology Preview

September 30, 1999

This Microsoft® SQL Server™ XML Technology Preview demonstrates XML capabilities using SQL Server and Internet Information Server (IIS). It is an IIS ISAPI extension that provides HTTP access to SQL Server and XML data formatting and updating capabilities. Please take special note that this is a preview with unreleased product code, and as such it has not been thoroughly tested in the high load and high stress testing conditions that a heavily loaded Web server is likely to generate. Do not expect the level of performance of final, generally available Microsoft products.

With the appropriate configuration, it will allow URL queries like:

http://IISServer/northwind?sql=SELECT+*+FROM+Customers+FOR+XML+AUTO

or allow you to store "canned" queries (including stored procedure calls) on your IIS server that can be executed with optional parameters from the URL or POSTed from an HTML form.

The layout of the XML returned can be specified  in many ways (including a useful "Auto" mode) and includes the ability to include schema information either in DTD or XML-Data formats.

Support and Updates

This product is not an official Microsoft product and it is not supported by normal Microsoft Product Support options. However, the Microsoft newsgroup microsoft.public.sqlserver.xml is monitored by the group that created this technology demonstration and they will answer questions posted here as time permits. Microsoft is not obligated to make available or provide any support or answer any questions concerning this technology preview or any later updates or versions.

This Technology Preview is an ongoing effort and the current plan is to update it several times before the end of 1999. Check the updates page for this CD  for newer versions of this Technology Preview.

Installation Instructions

Install the Technology Preview.

Note: IIS must be present on the target machine. This will copy the ISAPI dll and create a Start menu that includes links to the documentation, samples, and online locations for support and updates.

After the program is installed, you will need to configure IIS using the provided regxmlss utility menu option (called Registration Tool). Assuming you have a SQL Server installed with the sample database Northwind, a useful starting point is to use the regxmlss defaults and provide a SQL Server userid and password and to turn the URL query option on. Note that the SQL Server does not need to be on the same machine for this configuration to work. You can then use a browser on that machine to try your first query, for example: 

href=http://localhost/Northwind?sql=select+firstname,
lastname+from+employees+for+xml+auto

With this running successfully, you'll be able to try the more advanced samples and examples from the documentation.

One special point to note: The virtual root name you choose (for example, Northwind) can be used only for accessing your SQL data. Any other Web files (such as .htm or .asp files) will not be accessible from this virtual root. This space is reserved for so-called template files that contain "canned" queries.

This preview has been tested on Windows NT® 4.0 and Internet Information Server 4.0, as well as Windows® 2000 and Internet Information Server 5.0 with SQL Server 7.0 and SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5. Any other combinations are unlikely to work consistently, if at all. In particular, Windows 98 and Personal Web Server will not work.