Beginning Web Development, Silverlight, and ASP.NET AJAX

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CHAPTER 5 ■ ASP.NET WEB SERVICES
Figure 5-6. Configuring your database connection
You can choose a configuration that is preconnected from either a known database
or an existing Web.config setting (as shown in Figure 5-5). If you don’t have an existing
connection, you can create one by clicking the New Connection button. If you want to
look at the steps involved in doing this, refer to Chapters 3 and 4.
Once you have selected your connection, click Next. This will take you to the command
type configuration page (see Figure 5-7).
You can choose from three options on this page. The first is to use SQL statements
embedded in your code (dynamic SQL), which can be used to select, insert, update, or
delete data from the database. The second option enables you to create a stored procedure,
which is precompiled code that resides on the database and therefore provides
performance, security, and code maintenance benefits. Finally, if you have existing stored
procedures in your database, you can use them by selecting the third option.
For this example, pick the first option—because we will be using a parameterized
SQL query and there is no existing stored procedure—and then click Next.
The next page enables you to type or build the SQL that you’ll use to access the database.
You can see this in Figure 5-8.