Where Does Visual Basic Fit In?

·       For database management, we say our Visual Basic application acts as a front-end to the database.  This means the Visual Basic application provides the interface between the user and the database.  This interface allows the user to tell the database what he or she needs and allows the database to respond to the request displaying the requested information in some manner.

·       A Visual Basic application cannot directly interact with a database.  There are two intermediate components between the application and the database:  the data control and the database engine:

·       The data control is a Visual Basic object that connects the application to the database via the database engine.  It is the conduit between the application and the engine, passing information back and forth between the two.

·       The database engine is the heart of a Visual Basic database management system.  It is the actual software that does the management.  Having this engine saves programmers a lot of work.  The database engine native to Visual Basic is known as the Jet engine.  It is the same engine used by Microsoft Access for database management.  Hence, it is primarily used to work with Access databases, but it can also work with others.

·       As mentioned, the Jet engine will save us lots of work.  An observation that illustrates the power of using Visual Basic as a front-end for database management systems:

Using Visual Basic, it requires less code to connect to an existing database, view all information within that database, and modify any and all information within that database, than it does to add two numbers together.

That’s right - all the database tasks mentioned above can be done without writing one line of code!  That’s the power of the Jet database engine!

·       So, if the Jet engine is so powerful and is the same engine used by Microsoft Access, why not just use Access as a DBMS instead of writing a custom Visual Basic application?  There are two primary advantages to using Visual Basic as a DBMS instead of Access:

1. Your users don’t need to have Access installed on their computers or know how to use Access.

2. By building a custom front-end, you limit what your user can do with the information within the database.  Under normal operation, Access provides no such limits.

·       So, in this course, we will look at how to build Visual Basic applications that operate as front-ends to databases.  Research has shown that over half of all Visual Basic applications involve working with databases.  We will look at how to make our applications into complete database management systems, being able to view, search, modify, add, and/or delete database information.

·       Before going any further, let’s review the steps in building a Visual Basic application and then build a simple application for practice.