Roles and InfoCenters (SQL Server Express)
Roles and InfoCenters help you find the information in SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (SQL Server Express) that relates to how you use the product. Roles define general categories of SQL Server users and the tasks those categories of users typically perform. InfoCenters are overview topics that guide you to important information for a given role and technology.
Roles
Roles represent three categories of SQL Server Express users. Each role associates users in that category with the sets of tasks they perform when using SQL Server Express, and the knowledge they need to successfully complete those tasks.
Every topic in SQL Server Express Books Online is associated with one or more of these three roles.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
|
Runs the daily operations of a system in such areas as system availability, performance monitoring and optimization, deployment, upgrades, troubleshooting, and configuration. |
|
Designs, implements, and tests Web pages, reports, or applications that implement specific parts of the overall system designed by the architect. In particular, database developers design, implement and test the schemas and objects, such as tables and stored procedures, in a database. |
|
Defines the end-to-end technology and infrastructure design for a system. Defines the vision, scope, and interoperability for the projects to implement each part of the system. |
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Note The audience roles discussed here are not the same as the security roles used by the SQL Server technologies, such as the server-level roles or database-level roles defined for the Database Engine.
Matching a Role to Your Job
Books Online uses a small number of roles that map to a range of job classifications. Using relatively few roles simplifies the presentation of information, but it also means that few users will perform exactly the set of tasks defined for a given role. Workers in large enterprises will often have jobs that focus on a more narrowly defined set of tasks than described by a given role, while people in small to medium size organizations may have jobs that include tasks from two or more roles. For example, enterprise developers might only work on applications or Web sites or databases or reports, and some enterprise administration tasks might be performed by database administrators, data center operators, and help desk operators. By contrast, in a small organization the same person might perform both database administrator and database developer tasks.
Therefore, use the roles as general guidelines for the type of information contained in a topic. Look for topics related to the role, or combination of roles, that best fits the tasks you perform with SQL Server Express.
SQL Server Express Books Online topics have a Roles for this topic ScreenTip at the right side of the topic title. When you move the pointer over the ScreenTip, a box is displayed that lists the roles for which the material in the topic is relevant. The material in some topics applies to only one role. Other topics, such as overview topics, have material that relates to three or four roles.
InfoCenters
InfoCenters guide you to the information and tasks that are most important for being successful in a given role. For example, the SQL Server Express Administrator InfoCenter has links to the information that is important for administrators.
In addition, topics in SQL Server Books Online contain an InfoCenter menu item at the left side of the topic title. This menu lists all of the InfoCenter topics in Books Online, allowing you to quickly and easily navigate from one role to another