Introduction

  • Article

Microsoft® SQL Server™ version 7.0 offers broad availability of solutions tailored for business operations, data warehousing, electronic commerce, and mobile computing. SQL Server 7.0 provides a comprehensive platform that makes it easy to design, build, manage, and use data warehousing solutions which enable your organization to make effective business decisions based on timely and accurate information.

The information available in the SQL Server documentation provides everything you need to know about installing and administering SQL Server, and customizing your business solutions with database and application design. SQL Server documentation can be used as a comprehensive reference for specific administrative, developmental, and programming tasks.

Microsoft SQL Server Introduction details the fundamental concepts of new technology, architecture, and installation for SQL Server 7.0 and Microsoft SQL Server OLAP Services. This volume also includes a comprehensive glossary of terms used in SQL Server documentation. The information in Microsoft SQL Server Introduction is divided into the following parts:

Part 1, What's New in SQL Server 7.0 

Provides information about new features and functionality available in SQL Server 7.0, including server, graphical administration, and architecture enhancements.

Part 2, Installing SQL Server 

Provides a detailed reference for installing your SQL Server system. Backward compatibility information is also included for upgrading from an earlier version of SQL Server.

Part 3, SQL Server Architecture 

Provides a complete discussion of the fundamentals of SQL Server architecture, including a description of SQL Server features and implementation details.

Part 4, OLAP Services 

Provides an introduction to OLAP Services, including feature, system architecture, and installation information.

Finding Information on the Internet

Information about Microsoft SQL Server is available on the Internet.

Description

Address

General information about SQL Server

https://www.microsoft.com/sql/ 

General information about OLAP Services

https://www.microsoft.com/sql/evaluation/bi/bianalysis.asp 

General information about English Query

https://www.microsoft.com/sql/evaluation/features/english.asp 

Technical support

https://support.microsoft.com 

Microsoft Usenet newsgroups where you can interact with other SQL Server users

news://msnews.microsoft.com

Microsoft newsgroup where you can interact with other OLAP Services users

microsoft.public.sqlserver.olap

Documentation Conventions

Three types of documentation are provided for Microsoft SQL Server version 7.0.

Type of documentation

Description

SQL Server Books Online

Provides the most comprehensive information about SQL Server 7.0. SQL Server Books Online offers full-text search functionality, as well as an online index, for greater ease of use. The online documentation also includes task-specific procedures that enable you to customize your SQL Server system.
On the Contents tab of SQL Server Books Online, topics are organized in a hierarchical structure by task or subject. All programming reference information, including Transact-SQL, is grouped by language or component under Building SQL Server Applications. Command prompt utility syntax is also found under Building SQL Server Applications.

SQL Server printed documentation

Combines the most essential conceptual and programming material for easy reference. Each volume is designed to address specific enterprise tasks. For more information about ordering the complete documentation set, see the coupon provided in this volume.

SQL Server online Help

Includes context-sensitive Help, which provides task-specific descriptions of user interface elements. Online Help also offers procedural, programming reference, and conceptual material to further assist in creating and using applications.

SQL Server documentation uses these conventions to distinguish elements of text.

Convention

Used for

UPPERCASE

Transact-SQL keywords.

Initial Capitals

Paths and file names.

Bold

Database names, table names, column names, index names, stored procedures, command prompt utilities, menus, commands, dialog box options, and text that must be typed exactly as shown.

Italic

User-supplied variables and new terms introduced in text.

Monospace

Code samples, examples, display text, and error messages.

See Also 

In Other Volumes 

"Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions" in Microsoft SQL Server Transact-SQL and Utilities Reference 

"DB-Library for C Syntax Conventions" in SQL Server Books Online

"DTS Syntax Conventions" in Microsoft SQL Server Building Applications 

"SQL-DMO Syntax Conventions" in Microsoft SQL Server Distributed Management Objects 

"Replication Syntax Conventions" in Microsoft SQL Server Building Applications 

Overview of Printed Documentation

SQL Server 7.0 printed documentation provides the most essential conceptual and programming material for easy reference. Each volume is designed to address specific enterprise tasks.

The following volumes comprise the complete documentation set, and can be ordered using the coupon provided in this Microsoft SQL Server Introduction volume.

Microsoft SQL Server Introduction 

Provides an overview of new features in SQL Server 7.0, describes SQL Server architecture, and provides comprehensive installation information. It also contains a glossary of SQL Server terminology.

Microsoft SQL Server Administrator's Companion 

Provides information that the system administrator needs to start SQL Server, manage servers and clients, set up automated tasks, and perform various other tasks.

Microsoft SQL Server Database Developer's Companion 

Provides a complete discussion of how to design, create, and maintain the components of a database, and use the Transact-SQL language to access and modify the data stored in the database.

Microsoft SQL Server Building Applications 

Describes how to use database application programming interfaces and the Transact-SQL language to build applications that create, manage, and query SQL Server databases and data warehouses.

Microsoft SQL Server English Query 

Describes the concepts, process, and the tools for developing applications that can be used to query SQL Server databases in English, rather than a query language.

Microsoft SQL Server Transact-SQL and Utilities Reference 

Contains the reference material for all Transact-SQL statements and the SQL Server command prompt utilities.

Microsoft SQL Server Distributed Data Operations and Replication 

Provides the information required to implement replication and to use Data Transformation Services (DTS). Replication allows you to make duplicate copies of your data, move those copies to different locations, and automatically synchronize the data so that all copies have the same data values. Using DTS, you can import and export data between multiple heterogeneous sources, transform data to build a data warehouse, and transfer database objects between computers running SQL Server 7.0.

Microsoft SQL Server Diagnostics 

Provides a discussion of how to optimize the performance of your database system, and information about how to troubleshoot and resolve the most common errors you may encounter.

Microsoft SQL Server OLAP Services 

Provides information necessary to configure and administer OLAP Services and use the user interface to create and maintain objects such as databases, dimensions, cubes, partitions, and security roles, and to view multidimensional data.

Microsoft SQL Server Distributed Management Objects 

Provides the information necessary to programmatically automate repetitive SQL Server administrative tasks, create database objects, manage SQL Server Agent jobs, alerts, and operators, and install and configure SQL Server replication.

Using the HTML Help Viewer

SQL Server Books Online is displayed using the HTML Help Viewer.

Using Full-text Search

A basic search of Help topics consists of the word or phrase you want to find. Several options for refining your search are available:

  • Using words, phrases, and wildcards 

  • Using operators: AND, OR, NOT, and NEAR 

  • Using nested expressions 

Some guidelines apply when performing a full-text search:

  • Searches are case-insensitive; you can type your search in either uppercase or lowercase characters. 

  • Punctuation marks, such as the period (.), colon (:), semicolon (;), comma (,), and hyphen (-), are ignored. 

  • Group the elements of your search using double quotation marks or parentheses. If you are searching for a file name with an extension, group the entire string in double quotation marks, for example, "filename.ext". Otherwise, the search will treat the period as an AND. The period is a delimiter that breaks the file name into two terms. 

To search topics and topic titles using full-text search 

Words, Phrases, and Wildcards 

You can search for words or phrases and use wildcard expressions. This table displays the results of these different kinds of searches.

Search for

Example

Result

Single word

select

Topics that contain the word select. (You will also find grammatical variations, such as selector and selection.)

Phrase

"new operator"
Or
new operator

Topics that contain the literal phrase "new operator" and all its grammatical variations. Without the quotation marks, the query is equivalent to specifying "new AND operator," which finds topics containing both of the individual words, instead of the phrase.

Wildcard expressions

esc*

Topics that contain the terms ESC, escape, escalation, and so on. The asterisk cannot be the only character in the term.

 

80?86

Topics that contain the terms 80186, 80286, 80386, and so on. The question mark cannot be the only character in the term.

 

*86

Topics that contain the terms 386, 486, x86, QEMM386, 8086, and so on. The asterisk cannot be the only character in the term.

Note Select Match similar words to include grammatical variations for the word(s) on which you search. For example, a search on the word add finds add, adds, and added.

Operators: AND, OR, NOT, and NEAR

The AND, OR, NOT, and NEAR operators allow you to refine your search. If no operator is specified, AND is used. For example, the query "spacing border printing" is equivalent to "spacing and border and printing."

Search for

Example

Result

Both terms in the same topic

dib AND palette

Topics containing both the words dib and palette.

Either term in a topic

raster OR vector

Topics containing either the word raster or the word vector.

First term without the second term

ole NOT dde

Topics containing the word OLE, but not the word DDE.

Both terms in the same topic, close together

user NEAR kernel

Topics containing the word user within eight words of the word kernel.

Note The |, &, and ! characters do not work as Boolean operators (use OR, AND, and NOT).

Nested Expressions 

Nesting allows you to create more complex search expressions. For example, "control AND ((active OR dde) NEAR window)" finds topics containing the term control along with the terms active and window close together, or containing control along with the terms dde and window close together.

Some guidelines apply when searching Help topics using nested expressions:

  • Use parentheses to nest expressions within a query. The expressions in parentheses are evaluated before the rest of the query.

  • Searches that do not contain a nested expression are evaluated from left to right. For example, "Control NOT active OR dde" finds topics containing the term control without the term active, or topics containing the term dde. (However, "control NOT (active OR dde)" finds topics containing the term control without either of the terms active or dde.)

  • You cannot nest expressions more than five levels deep.

Other Features of the HTML Help Viewer

To find information in a Help topic 

These are the tabs available in the navigation pane of the HTML Help Viewer for finding a Help topic:

  • To browse through topics by entries in the table of contents, click the Contents tab. 

  • To see a list of index entries, click the Index tab, and then either type a word or scroll through the list. Similar to the index in a printed book, topics are often indexed under more than one entry.

  • To locate every occurrence of a word or phrase that may be contained in a Help topic, click the Search tab. You can narrow your search by defining subsets of topics that you specify. 

  • To add a topic to a list of frequently used topics, display the topic you want to add, click the Favorites tab, and then click Add. 

To navigate through previously viewed topics 

  • To display the previous Help topic listed in the table of contents, click Previous.

  • To display the next Help topic listed in the table of contents, click Next.

  • To display the last previously viewed Help topic, click Back.

  • To display the next Help topic in a previously displayed sequence of topics, click Forward.

  • To display the Home page topic for the Help file you are viewing, click Home.

Note The HTML Help Viewer toolbar may not contain all the above options for moving through topics.

To link to other Help topics 

  • In a Help topic, click colored, underlined words to see other information related to the topic. 

To copy and paste a Help topic 

  1. In the topic pane of the HTML Help Viewer, right-click anywhere in the topic, click Select All, right-click again, and then click Copy.

    This copies the topic to the Clipboard. 

  2. Open the document into which you want the topic copied.

  3. Position the cursor where you want the information to appear, and then on the Edit menu, click Paste.

Note To copy only part of a topic, select the part that you want to copy, right-click your selection, and then click Copy.

To print a Help topic 

  • In the topic pane of the HTML Help Viewer, right-click anywhere in the topic, and then click Print. 

Note If you print from the Contents tab, you will see options for printing either the current topic or all of the topics under the selected heading.

To hide or show the HTML Help Viewer navigation pane

  • To hide the navigation pane, that contains the table of contents, index, search, and favorites list, click Hide. Only the topic pane will be displayed.

  • To display the navigation pane, click Show.

Note If you close the HTML Help Viewer, it will reopen using the last size, position, and navigation pane settings you selected.

To change the color of the HTML Help Viewer topic pane 

  1. In Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0, on the View menu, click Internet Options.

  2. On the General tab, click Colors.

  3. In the Colors dialog box, select the options you want, and then click OK.

  4. On the General tab, click Accessibility.

  5. Under Formatting, select the check boxes for the options you want, and then click OK.

  6. To apply the new color settings, in the Internet Options dialog box, click OK. 

Note This only changes the color of the HTML Help Viewer topic pane.

To change the font size in the HTML Help Viewer topic pane

  • On the Help toolbar, click Font. 

Note This only changes the font in the HTML Help Viewer topic pane.

To use accessibility shortcut keys in the HTML Help Viewer 

The following keyboard shortcuts can be used for navigation in the HTML Help Viewer version 1.2.

Action

Shortcut

Close the HTML Help Viewer

ALT+F4

Switch between the HTML Help Viewer and other open windows

ALT+TAB

Display the Options menu

ALT+O

Hide or show the navigation pane

ALT+O, and then press T

Print a topic

ALT+O, and then press P

Refresh the topic that appears in the topic pane

ALT+O, and then press R

Move back to the previous topic

ALT+O, and then press B

Move forward to the next topic (provided you have viewed it previously)

ALT+O, and then press F

Switch focus between the navigation pane and the topic pane

F6

Scroll through a topic

UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW

Move to the end or beginning of a topic

CTRL+END and CTRL+HOME

Scroll through the links in a topic, or through all of the options on a tab

TAB

The following keyboard shortcuts can be used for navigation on the Contents tab.

Action

Shortcut

Display the Contents tab

ALT+C

Open a book or folder

ENTER

Close a book or folder

ENTER

Select a topic

DOWN ARROW or UP ARROW

Display the selected topic

ENTER

The following keyboard shortcuts can be used for navigation on the Index tab.

Action

Shortcut

Display the Index tab

ALT+N

Select a keyword in the list

UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW

Display the associated topic

ALT+D

The following keyboard shortcuts can be used for navigation on the Search tab.

Action

Shortcut

Display the Search tab

ALT+S

Start a search

ALT+L

Select a topic in the results list

ALT+T, and then UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW

Display the selected topic

ALT+D

Using Help

Microsoft SQL Server offers different types of Help to assist you.

SQL Server Client Network Help 

For context-sensitive Help, click the Help button or press F1.

SQL Server Enterprise Manager Help 

For a list of Help topics, click a command on the Help menu.
For context-sensitive Help, click the Help button or press F1 in any dialog box.

SQL Server Profiler Help 

For a list of Help topics, click a command on the Help menu.
For context-sensitive Help, click the Help button or press F1 in any dialog box.

SQL Server Query Analyzer Help 

For a list of Help topics, click a command on the Help menu.
For context-sensitive Help, click the Help button or press F1 in any dialog box.

Transact-SQL Help 

When using SQL Server Query Analyzer, select a statement name, and then press SHIFT+F1.

OLAP Services Help 

For access to the full online Help, click a command on the Help menu.
For context-sensitive Help, click the Help button or press F1 in any dialog box.