Chapter 8 - Creating a Message Board with ADO and XML

Abstract

This chapter details the process necessary to design and implement a message board using ADO.NET and XML. First, the necessary processes to create the data structures in MS Access and SQL Server have been outlined. The application breaks down the data into small pieces in order to represent them in a database that has been examined. Next, the best way to design the application is determined along with the design of all the classes. Once the data analysis is done, classes can be developed that will represent the core “"business objects” in the application. These objects will be the guts of dotBoard and may be used in the user interface (UI) to allow users to interact indirectly with the data in the database. The last step is creating the UI itself and allowing users to interact with the message board. The user interface is somewhat extensible in that it dynamically applies styles to multiple types of WebControls that is defined using CSS and an XML document. Each Web Form created inherits the FormBase class, which allows all the Web Forms to have access to a few common methods and properties, in addition to the System.Web.UI.Page methods and properties. The user interface contains all the necessary interfaces to browse through Boards, Threads, and Messages, as well as interfaces to administer users, and those that contain interfaces to create and delete Boards, Threads, and Messages.