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Applications: Microsoft MSXML 3.0+, Microsoft Active Server Pages, Microsoft SQL Server 7.0/2000 Operating System: Microsoft Windows
In this month's article "Manage application configuration settings with XML and XPath," we demonstrate a technique whereby you can store mission-critical settings in external XML files. As we show you, this solution allows you to leverage the full arsenal of XML-related technologies bursting onto the scene in today's rapidly evolving IT landscape. We also promote using Session variables instead of Application variables for maintaining these settings across the lifetime of your users' Web sessions. To make this approach more useful, it would be nice to be able to monitor multiple databases for open connections. This way, you could determine, for example, when your user pool had successfully transitioned from one server to another as described previously. In this article, we'll show you how to develop just such a utility for Microsoft SQL Server.
What we'll cover
We'll start by briefly recapping the most likely scenarios in which you might utilize a tool such as the one we'll build. Then, we'll examine the code necessary to implement the database session monitor for SQL Server. Finally, we'll consider one or two related points about the use of the utility. So, without any further ado, let's dig right in.
Why monitor?
One of the advantages to the session-based technique we proposed for XML configuration settings is the ability to dynamically redirect connecting users to...